Call of Darkness
by lalunaticscribe
Summary: Sequel to Boss Rush. Chase Princeton here.It's been a few years since my best friend and not-really-mortal-enemy disappeared. The Movement's run ragged chasing missing people, and the world's getting weirder. The only thing I can do... well, I can see spirits. It's a start. *Arc 4: Last Arc - Thousand-Eyes Bible*
1. Prologue: Next to be Lost

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**An LLS Production**_

_**Dedicated to one huge fan, Serpentdragon**_

* * *

**Prologue: Next to be Lost**

_There are two things you have to accept if you want to understand what's going on. First, the tough one._

_Magic is real._

_There's an entire world that exists alongside the everyday life of mankind. There are powers, nations, monsters, wars, feuds, alliances – everything. A lot of other things you've heard about in stories, and even more you've never heard of. Vampires. Werewolves. Faeries. Demons. Monsters. It's all real. You know that there are weird things out there. You've seen the evidence of them._

_Maybe, if we said that people have the ability to sense and affect their environment in ways we do not really understand yet, you could accept it. Maybe you call it magic, and someone calls it ESP, and someone else calls it the Force, and some more people call it Psychic power, but it's not new. Maybe, there are people whose genetic make-up makes them better able to employ these abilities. It's a big universe; it's sort of arrogant to assume that we're the only thinking beings in it._

_No one knows? Oh, lots of people know. The ones in the know, they just don't go around talking about it all that much. They don't want to get locked up in a loony bin for three months for observation, for starters._

_What about regular people who see things, you ask? Like sightings and close encounters and stuff?_

_That, readers, is the second thing you have to understand: people don't want to accept a reality that frightening. Some of them open their eyes and get involved. Most of them don't want anything to do with the supernatural. So they leave it behind and don't talk about it, don't think about it. They don't want it to be real, and they work really hard to convince themselves that it isn't. You don't need to buy it. As a race, we're an enormous bunch of idiots. We're more than capable of ignoring facts if the conclusions they lead to make us too uncomfortable, or afraid. If misogyny, homosexuality and the fallacy of religion could be so simply ignored, monsters are pretty much just a step up._

_Wait a minute, you cry. You're saying that a whole world, multiple civilizations of scientific study, advancement, theory and application, all based around the notion of observing the universe and studying its laws is in error about dismissing magic as superstition?_

_Not just in error. Dead wrong. Because the truth is something that people are afraid to face. They're terrified to admit that it's a big universe and we're not. Look at history. How long did the scholarly institutions of civilization consider Earth to be the centre of the universe? No one wanted to believe that we all lived on an unremarkable little speck of rock in a quiet backwater of one unremarkable galaxy. The world was supposed to be flat, too, until people proved that it was not by sailing all the way around it. No one believed in germs until years and years after someone actually saw one. Time after time, history demonstrates that when people don't want to believe something, they have enormous skills of ignoring it altogether._

_Most of the time, the entire race of humanity is in denial. It's not a bad thing. It's just who we are. __The weird stuff doesn't care about that __– __it keeps on happening. Every family's got a ghost story in it. Most people have had something happen to them that was impossible to explain. But that does not mean they go around talking about it afterwards, because everyone knows that those kinds of things are not real. For everyone. Every time. They just keep quiet and try to forget it. Unnatural things happen all the time; no one talks about it. At least, not openly. The preternatural world is everywhere; it just doesn't advertise._

_People walk throughout life, determined to ignore it __and get back to their normal life. __Because it's terrifying. You find out about monsters that make the creatures in the horror movies look like cartoons, and that there's not a thing you can do to protect yourself from them. You find out about horrible things that happen— things you would be happier not knowing. Rather than live with the fear, you get away from the situation. After a while, you can convince yourself that you must have just imagined it. You rationalise what you can, forget whatever you can't, get back to your life. Things that hunt and kill human beings could be there among us without our knowing, and we ignore it. There are six billion people on the planet; a few could definitely disappear unrecorded. Gone. Just gone. No one knows where they are. _

_Where did they go?_

_Nobody knows. Nobody talks about this kind of thing. But all those people are still gone. Maybe a lot of them just cut their ties and left their old lives behind. Maybe some were in accidents of some kind, with the body never found. The point is, people don't know. It's an extremely scary thing to think about, and because it's a lot easier to just get back to their lives they tend to dismiss it. Ignore it. It's easier. Even with proof, there are just so many hoaxes. There's no point. Because it's too terrifying to acknowledge... do you believe everything you see? It's okay; you can say it. There's no such things as monsters... famous last words._

_Look, you're your own ideal example. You've seen things you can't explain away. You've suffered for trying to tell people that you have seen them. And you're still arguing whether or not magic is real. Because you don't want to believe it._

_Scared? Good. That's smart. You run into something you totally don't get, and it's scary. But __once you learn something about it, it gets easier to handle. __The world is getting weirder, every single day. If you know your fairy tale monsters well enough – and of course you do – then you remember that fairy tale monsters can be defeated._

_Monsters exist; you don't need fairy tales to know that. But fairy tales tell you how to kill it._

_Yet, sometimes... sometimes, even fairy tales don't end happily._

* * *

My boots slipped and slid on the tile floor as I sprinted around a corner and toward the exit doors to the abandoned school building on the south-west edge of Neo Domino. Distant streetlights provided the only light in the dusty hall, and left huge swaths of blackness crouching in the old classroom doors.

I carried the carved wooden box, about the size of a laundry basket, in both my arms, and its weight plus that of the comparatively lighter DuelDisk made my shoulders burn with effort. The muscle burn quickly started changing into deep, aching stabs. Damned box was heavy, not even considering its contents. Inside the box, a bunch of floppy-eared grey and black puppies whimpered, jostled back and forth as I ran. One of the puppies, his ear already notched where some kind of doggy misadventure had marked him, was either braver or more stupid than his litter-mates. He scrambled around until he got his paws onto the lip of the box, and set up a painfully high-pitched barking full of squeaky snarls, big dark eyes focused behind me.

I ran faster, my knee-length black duster swishing against my legs. I heard a rustling, hissing sound and jerked left as best I could. A ball of some noxious-smelling substance that looked like tar went zipping past, engulfed in yellow-white flame. It hit the floor several yards beyond me, and promptly exploded into a little puddle of hungry fire.

I tried to avoid it, but my boots had evidently been made for walking, not sprinting on dusty tile. They slid out from under me and I fell. I controlled it as much as I could, and wound up sliding on my rear, my back to the fire. It got hot for a second, but the duster I had slapped on kept it from burning me.

Another flaming glob crackled toward me, and I barely turned in time. The substance, whatever the hell it was, clung like napalm to what it hit and burned with a supernatural ferocity that had already burned a dozen metal lockers to slag in the dim halls behind me. Stars.

The goop spattered the wall beside me. I flinched nonetheless, lost my balance, and fumbled the box. Fat little puppies tumbled onto the floor with a chorus of whimpers and cries for help.

I checked behind me.

The monster dripped lava all over the tiles. One had escaped the carefully placed Compulsory Evacuation Device trap set up by Youkai, and it was hot on my tail, slowly plodding down the halls in long strides. As I watched, it reached a dripping hand to rip a hunk off of _itself_ and hurled it with a basso roar, and it combusted mid-flight. I had to duck before the noxious ball of incendiary melted rock smacked into my nose.

I grabbed puppies and scooped them into the box, then started running. The Lava Golem spirit made real groaned. Squeaky barks behind me made me look back. The little notch-eared puppy had planted his clumsy paws solidly on the floor, and was barking defiantly at the oncoming monster.

"Dammit," I cursed, and reversed course. I made like a ballplayer, slid in feet first, and planted the heel of my boot squarely on the Golem's nose.

Fun fact; if you can see spirits, they can see you. If you can touch them, they can touch you. What I'm getting at is that for everything they could do to you, you could return the favour. I'm not heavily built, but no one ever thought I was a lightweight. I kicked hard enough in a place it wasn't dripping melted rock to make it screech and veer off, throwing its weight back. It slammed into a metal locker, and left an inches-deep dent for the price of one melted sole.

"Stupid little fuzz-bucket," I muttered, and recovered the puppy. The puppy kept up its tirade of ferocious, squeaking snarls. I pitched him into the box without ceremony, ducked two more flaming blobs, and started coughing on the smoke already filling the building as I resumed my retreat. Light was growing back where I'd come from, as the flaming missiles chewed into the old walls and floor, spreading with a malicious glee.

I ran for the front doors of the old building, slamming the opening bar with my hip and barely slowing down. A sudden weight hit my back and something pulled viciously at my hair. The chains dangled with a tinkling crash as the other Golem, this one a Grinder Golem, started tearing at my neck and ear. It hurt. I tried to spin and throw it off me, but it had a good hold. The effort, though, showed me the Lava Golem heading for my face with a glowing fist.

I let go of the box and got out of my duster, leaving it in the claws of the gunmetal-grey Golem. Falling hard, I slammed the base of my skull hard against a row of metal lockers.

A burst of stars blinded me for a second, and by the time my vision cleared, I saw both Golems dive towards the box of puppies. A searing blob was flung at the wooden box, splattering it with flame.

There was an old fire extinguisher on the wall, and I grabbed it. My steel golem attacker came swooping back at me. I rammed the end of the extinguisher into its nose, knocking it back, then reversed my grip on the extinguisher and sprayed a cloud of dusty white chemical at the carved box. I got the fire put out, but for good measure I unloaded the thing into the other two, creating a thick cloud of dust. Even if they were technically inanimate they needed eyes, and the cloud would at least hide me even if the foam did not quite match up to melted rock.

I grabbed the box and hauled it out the door, and then slammed the school doors shut behind me. There were a couple of thumps from the other side of the doors, and then silence.

Panting, I looked down at the box of whimpering puppies. A bunch of wet black noses and eyes looked back up at me from under a white dusting of extinguishing chemical.

"Holy fuck," I panted at them. "If Yamamoto didn't ask us for this, I'd be in the box and you'd be carrying me."

A bunch of little tails wagged hopefully.

"Stupid dogs," I growled as one of them flickered under my Sight. I hauled the box into my arms again and started hit-footing it toward the old school's parking lot. I was about halfway there when something ripped the steel doors of the school inward, against the swing of their hinges. A low, loud bellow erupted from inside the building, and then both Golems came stomping out of the doorway. Both automatons were freaking tall even in the open spaces, and the Lava Golem looked really pissed off while the Grinder Golem... had no expression. Both being at least eight feet tall, and they had to weigh four or five times what I did.

As I stared at it, a circle glimmered at their heads before they leapt at me with a completely unfair amount of grace. I'd seen slobbering beasties before; my friend had that kind of life where he dragged us in weird shit that happened and we could never explain where it came from. Over the course of many encounters and more than a few years, we had successfully developed a standard operating procedure for dealing with big, nasty monsters.

Run away. Monty Python is a classic.

The parking lot and the waiting Honda were only thirty or forty yards off, and I can really move when I'm feeling motivated. The Lava Golem bellowed; it motivated me.

There was the sound of a small explosion, then a blaze of red light brighter than the nearby street lamps. Another fireball hit the ground a few feet wide of me and detonated like a cannonball, gouging out a coffin-sized crater in the pavement. The enormous fire monster roared and raised a hand to slam me like a pancake, and possibly fry me extra crispy.

"Youkai!" I screamed. "Hurry up!"

The passenger door opened, and an unwholesomely good-looking young man with white hair, tight jeans, and a black leather jacket worn over a fishnet-shirt-thing poked his head out and peered at me. Then he looked up and behind me. His jaw dropped open.

"Hurry up!" I screamed.

True to form, Youkai drew a card as the Honda shuddered to life. The headlights flicked on, and the driver gunned the engine and headed for the street. For a second I thought they was going to leave me, but he slowed down enough that I caught up with him.

Youkai leaned across the car from his perch on shotgun and pushed the passenger door open. I grunted with effort and threw myself in. I almost lost the box, but managed to get it just before the notch-eared puppy pulled himself up to the rim, evidently determined to go back and do battle.

"What the hell, Chase?" he screamed. His white hair, shoulder-length curling and glossy, whipped around his face as the car gathered speed and drew the cool autumn wind through the open windows. His scarlet eyes were wide with apprehension. "What is that?"

"Drive!" I shouted at the driver, clinging onto the box of whimpering puppies into the back-seat.

Our driver, the flame-haired Satoshi, glanced into the rear-view mirror, and his eyes widened. "Holy shit, Princeton."

He floored it as Youkai clambered out of one window so that he sat on the door, chest to the roof. The card dangled in one hand. He was about to loose a strike when another fireball was flung it at the car.

"Look out!" Youkai hollered.

Satoshi-san must have seen it coming in the mirror. The Honda swerved wildly, and the fireball hit the asphalt, bursting into a roar of flame and concussion that broke windows on both sides of the street. Satoshi dodged a car parked on the curb by roaring up onto the side-walk, bounced gracelessly, and nearly went out of control. The bounce nearly threw Youkai out from his perch on the closed door, and I started wondering what the odds were against finding a soft place to land before I grabbed his ankle and hauled in.

I braced him with a hold on the leg, nails digging into the denim, and as the Golem snarled again, Youkai pointed the card at it.

"_Meteor Flare!_"

Whips of white-hot fire streaked from the card face into the late night air, illuminating the street like a flash of lightning. Bouncing along on the car like that, I expected it to miss. However, the burst of flame took the Grinder Golem right in the belly. It screamed and faltered, plummeting to earth. Give it up for Psychic Duelists; a little bit of direct damage made real was excellent offensive projectiles on par with actual magic. Burn damage cards were still the primary attack method of the Arcadia Movement for a very good reason.

Satoshi swerved back out onto the street. The Fiend started to get up. "Stop the car!" I screamed.

Satoshi mashed down the brakes, and I clung on as Youkai nearly got reduced to side-walk pizza again. I hung on, but by the time Youkai regained his balance, the Golem hauled itself to its feet.

My on-off boyfriend growled in frustration and aimed carefully. "What are we doing? We lamed him, let's run!"

"No," I snapped back. "If we leave it here, it's going to take things out on whoever it can find. And the summoner as well."

"But it won't be _us_!"

I glared at the Psychic Duelist, who huffed and held up another card until wisps of smoke began emerging from its surface and lightning crackled the length of his arm. Then he let both Golems have it right between its black beady eyes.

The fire hit it like a wrecking ball, right on the chin. They exploded into a cloud of luminous sparkles of scarlet light, which I have to admit looked really neat.

Duel Spirits or holographic monsters made real, things like that don't have bodies as such. They create them, like a suit of clothes, and as long as the Duelist's awareness inhabits the construct-body, it's as good as real. Being shocked by a Raigeki was too much for it to support. The body flopped around on the ground for a few seconds, and then shattered into a mass of sparkles that dissolved into the night

A surge of relief made me feel a little dizzy, and Youkai slid bonelessly back into the Honda. "Allow me to reiterate," Youkai panted, a minute later. "What. The hell. Was _that._"

I settled down onto the seat, breathing hard. I buckled up, and checked that the puppies and their box were both intact. They were, and I closed my eyes with a sigh.

"Kaido says they're Cromwell's work," Satoshi said. "The dogs are apparently blessed or something like that."

"Shinamori!" Youkai snapped. "You almost got us killed!"

"Don't be a baby. You're fine."

Youkai frowned at me now. "You at least could have told me!"

"I _did _tell you," I said. "I told you at the Ace of Spades that I'd give you a ride home, but that we had to run an errand first."

Youkai scowled, but his eyes were alight with the thrill of high-risk endeavours. "And Cromwell?"

"Bloody traitors," Satoshi growled. "Keep an eye out for the Soaring Eagle, I got it to do recon work-"

"Incoming," I cut in as the sound of wings fluttered.

From outside the car, the voice drifted in as the silhouette made itself seen in front of the car. "I see you managed to steal back the hunted dog-spirits," the voice murmured, outside the car. "Face me, thief."

"Man, that is some bad speech," I commented as my hand lingered on the door handle. "Did you read too much Tolkien, or were you just taking a book out of _Fate/Zero_? Because outright demands are so old-fashion-"

A card sliced past me, and a cut bloomed on one cheek as it fluttered onto the ground. _Rock Bombardment_, it read.

"Golems? Really?" I snorted, my mouth on autopilot. "So you're just playing around with dumb muscle."

In the box, the puppies whimpered, flickering in and out of existence. They were...

"Duel Spirits," Cromwell agreed. "The Queen will be pleased if I were to present her with such offerings. I would then claim my place within her Court."

Damn, _another_ one like these guys. "You're scared and stupid and hurt and you don't know what they'll turn you into." It must be so tempting for them, to have all the hurts healed – psychic and psychological and physical – but you can't be human if you don't hurt, and sooner or later they'd forget who and what they'd been... so easy it made me itch, so easy that I was afraid that I'd do it one day and not be myself anymore.

That maybe I already gave myself to the spirit in my head.

Scared, stupid, and young. Like Tenjouin Michiru, lost to the winter cold and never found, stolen off into the night following Shimotsuki Setsuka's tail. Ryuusei, spirited away somewhere before everything went to hell.

I still couldn't think about that without feeling like a failure. Like it was my fault, like I could've helped, that if I'd mastered any power conferred by Rei I could have saved him instead of letting my friend disappear into some random dimension of Duel Spirits. Rex still had nightmares about that time. For his eighteenth birthday, our friend disappeared; of course Rex would have nightmares. Hell, _I_ still did.

Still, Cromwell mentioned _the Queen_... "Queen?"

Cromwell smirked. "The Winter Queen shall favour me."

_Bingo_. Kaido said that their fates were linked; if Shimotsuki was somewhere, Ryuusei would be close by. If I could get to Shimotsuki... "Do we Duel, or will you come quietly?"

A scarlet hawk, the Soaring Eagle above the Searing Land, perched on the Honda with a soft caw. Satoshi readied a card, prepared to burst out and tackle Cromwell if needed. Youkai drew another card.

After considering, Cromwell put the card away, instead combing his brown bangs to one side and producing a DuelDisk. "So, you guys must be one of those investigators hired by Special Investigations in Central. I've really wanted to meet one of you guys. I'll be treated like a king once the others find out about my win."

I rolled my eyes as I stepped up. "You haven't won yet."

"Duel!"

Cromwell: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"Draw!" Cromwell called. "I'll special summon Grinder Golem [3000/300] on your side of the field, while I special summon two Grinder Tokens [0/0] to my field. Now, I play Creature Swap to exchange one Token for my Golem. I can't attack this turn, so I'll end my turn here."

I frowned at the large golem facing me, prepared to strike me down. With nothing left to live for, here we make our stand... so was the way of the Infernity.

"If I win, you'll come with us quietly, Cromwell." I stated. "You win, you get to leave with them. But... why would anyone want to join with them?"

"I'm saving my own hide," Cromwell snorted. "The Courts are obviously the better choice compared to staying in this putrid, broken world. If I can join in, I'll be on the winning side."

"You'll lose," I answered.

"Why? Because you have heroes?"

"No. Because you lack conviction." I drew the sixth card. Wave-Motion Inferno stared up at me. "I set a card, and play Card Destruction," I declared as I discarded five cards to draw five. "Activate the Spell, Double Summon, to summon Infernity Mirage and Shadowpriestess of Ohm [1700/1000]. Activate Spell card, Wave-Motion Inferno. I send it to the graveyard to discard my entire hand."

"An empty hand? You've just ruined your chances," Cromwell scowled.

"I tribute Infernity Mirage [0/0] to special summon Infernity Demon [1800/1200] and Infernity Necromancer [0/2000] from my graveyard." No response, no Extra Veiler, Lady Luck was on my side. "The effect of Infernity Demon activates; I search out the Continuous Spell, Infernity Launcher from my deck and activate it. I then use Infernity Necromancer and special summon the tuner monster, Infernity Beetle [1200/0] from my grave. I tribute your Grinder Token first to activate the effect of Shadowpriestess to deal out eight hundred points of burn damage to you."

The urumi held by the Shadowpriestess lashed out, painfully striking Cromwell.

Cromwell: LP 8000 → LP 7200

Chase: LP 8000

"I tribute Infernity Beetle to special summon two more Infernity Beetles from my deck." I continued. "I tribute Infernity Demon, Infernity Necromancer, and both Infernity Beetles to inflict eight hundred damage to you per the effect of Shadowpriestess. Now I activate Infernity Launcher, tributing it to special summon Infernity Demon and Necromancer in the graveyard. I use the effect of Demon to search out Infernity Mirage. By banishing Stygian Street Patrol in my hand, I can special summon Infernity Mirage [0/0] from my hand. Then, I use the handless effect of Necromancer to revive Infernity Beetle. I tribute Demon, Necromancer and Beetle to inflict twenty-four hundred damage to you."

Cromwell: LP 7200 → LP 4000 → LP 1600

"By tributing Infernity Mirage, I revive Demon and Necromancer once more," I announced as both monsters reappeared on the field. "Tribute both of them to use the effect of Shadowpriestess to finish you off."

Cromwell backed away slightly before the Shadowpriestess lunged at him, her urumi viciously striking him, the sound carrying into the night.

Cromwell: LP 1600 → LP 0

Chase: LP 8000

"Traitor," I hissed as Youkai got out of the car, cable ties in hand to handle the likes of Cromwell. Maybe my boyfriend kicked him for good measure; maybe not. Who knows what could have happened to elicit that snort of pain from a downed Cromwell.

Youkai glared at me once Cromwell was safely belted into the shotgun seat, now in the back row. "Where are we going?"

"Back to La Castle."

"Why?" Youkai glanced at the wooden box of yapping spirit puppies. "What about those? The local Rose Witch could protect them, right?"

"Misawa," Satoshi patiently said. "Yamamoto could get these guys integrated way better than you, no offence. And we've got a lead, we've got to secure it before Cromwell does something stupid like fling himself off the next high-rise."

Youkai rolled his eyes at the box. "Anything else you're neglecting to tell us? Ninja wombats or something?"

"I wanted Princeton to see how it feels," Satoshi commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

"Come on, Princeton." Satoshi rolled his eyes. "You're wealthy, you've got connections, and you've got your own pet spirit. You didn't need me to give you a ride home. You could have taken a cab, called for a limo, or got your D-Wheel. Hell, you didn't even need to ambush Cromwell tonight."

"Oh? Then why am I here?" I shrugged. "Doesn't look like you showed up to bushwhack me. I guess you're here to talk."

"_Razor _intellect." Satoshi commented in a droll tone. "You should be a private investigator or something. Oh, wait..."

"You going to sit there insulting me, or are you going to talk?" I interrupted. "I don't care about the funny politics of the Duel Spirits that think it's okay to kidnap kids and whisk them away. I need to find Ryuusei."

"Yeah," The flame-haired Pro Duelist sighed. "That. The Courts want to throw down."

I snorted. "You do remember that technically we're at war, right? The Courts always want to throw down with the Movement."

"If you like, you can pretend that I'm employing subversive tactics as part of a fiendishly elaborate ruse meant to assure our victory," Satoshi snapped. "Atlas and you both, you're wild-cards. So be that, and hear us out later. We need to do this, and we don't even have all the information we need because Psychic Duelists that fight for the rest of the world don't think it's worth it and keep jumping ship."

"It's a big universe," I said. "No one can know it all."

Inside, I almost wished it were not so.

* * *

_I talk to monsters._

_Oh, silly me. I forgot to introduce myself again, and I've left you in the dust as I charge along with the narrative. _

_My name is Kannazuki Seika, or Seika Kannazuki to the English-inclined. I don't think there's anything quite outstanding about myself... except that I attend Duel Academia Queens, the only all-girl Duel Academia in the world. Queens is set up in Neo Domino City, the heart and birthplace of the rise of the popular game, Duel Monsters. And, I am the adopted daughter of the Fudo family, of Fudo Yusei and Izayoi Aki. _

_My Nii-chan and my oldest friend disappeared two years ago, disappeared by spirits into the darkness..._

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
Occupation:  
Appearance:  
Personality:  
History:  
Deck:  
Trivia:**_

_**Please review!**_


	2. I: Beckon to Darkness

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**To LilithTheLurker: Please, get an account already.**_

_**To Wetland king: Thank you for your submission, it's very creative!**_

* * *

**I: Beckon to Darkness**

Somewhere in Neo Domino City, between the rich Tops districts and the middle-class Daimon Area, there was a building of medium height, barely a skyscraper. This building stood on the site of the former Arcadia Movement building, and contained the reinvented Arcadia Movement. The outside of the building was black stone, some panels polished smooth as mirrors, some panels craggy as cliffs, some etched with symbols and esoteric art. The main entrance itself was dominated by an arch of black marble, which, if you looked at it right you would see the mica gleaming from reflected light like so many stars in the night sky. A 'castle of sanctuary', the second head of the Arcadia Movement, Madam Seiran Shimotsuki, had intended it to be, stolid and stable and evoking a feeling of security in darkness for Psychic Duellists. The third head, Setsuka Shimotsuki, had made it her life's mission to carry that aim out, one way or another. La Castle, it was called...

I... I do not know my purpose here.

"Seika-_ojou_," Nakamura-san speaks up. Ever since... ever since that day, Nakamura-san has been following me like a shadow. Since the reading of the will that placed James-san and I... in control of the Arcadia Movement... "It is time."

"T- Thank you, Nakamura-san," I swallowed, trying to get up and not betray my nervousness. I needed... to be strong. The Movement, all of us, Chase-nii, Rex-nii, even... even Nii-chan, even Setsu-chan. If, maybe, just maybe... if there was something I could do, it would be to play at being assured and confident. Just like...

We enter the meeting room, which was wood-panelled, and furnished as any executive meeting room might be imagined to be. Baa-chan glanced up from where she was seated, at the head of the meeting table. The table was completely black, not black like polished marble but like metal, and not reflective. I take my seat by her right, and Nakamura-san stationed himself at my right, taking a seat. He had every right to a seat, having overseen the Movement before...

Baa-chan looked more tired now. Her red hair drooped from where she had twisted her hair into a simple bun, held together with a pencil. Her office clothes were slightly wrinkled, rather than immaculate. "Seika?"

"Baa-chan," I whisper. "Are you alright?"

"Thank you, Seika," Baa-chan shook her head. "I'm fine, just a bit tired."

"Seika?" I turn around, and Aunt Ruka was there. Aunt Ruka has aged since I last saw here; she was taller, more willowy, and her teal hair hung loose down her back. She looked tired, which had been a common expression recently.

"Aunt Ruka," I greeted. "Did you just come from London?"

"Just got off the plane," Ruka gave me a disarming smile. My answering smile faded once I saw the two people standing behind Aunt Ruka.

One was a no-nonsense lawyer, from the suit to the brown hair bun to the glasses. She was Mavis Hart, of the Prosecutor's Office, and she has been a constant presence to me the way AIDS might have been to other people. It was the other I was more afraid of.

He does not look dangerous, this Duelist with cold sapphire blue eyes that seem to gleam in the darkness. His icy blue hair falls past his shoulders and his snow white dyed bangs that completely cover the right side of his face, leaving only a few strands to curtain his right eye. He wore a dark blue sleeveless shirt with a small v-neck, and long, black bands that cover up to his upper arms, matched with a pair of black jeans and knee-high boots, attached to a silver chain that hangs from his left pants pocket. As a Psychic Duelist, his accessories were an earring with a sapphire crystal and a choker with a dark blue crystal, which marked his Attribute as Water, like Setsu-chan, and a tattoo that has a blue, sea-serpent dragon visible on his right shoulder.

Mavis Hart might seem the more dangerous, but I know for a fact that it is Yamada Yukio that haunt my nightmares.

Yukio-san nods stiffly. "Kannazuki-san."

"G- Good evening, Y- Yukio-san," I manage. I never seem to have problems talking to his younger problem, but his stare is unsettling. I never fail to feel small and terrified under his gaze.

"Kannazuki-san," Mavis-san curtly greeted me. "I was not aware that you were attending."

"I am," I try to stiffen my spine. "I am still the leader of the Arcadia Movement, even if Baa-chan is taking care of my inheritance from Setsu-chan."

Mavis-san cocked an eyebrow. "An inheritance? I believe inheritances are distributed only on demise. Shimotsuki Setsuka is missing, right?"

I swallow. "The paramedics on scene found blood that matches Setsu-chan's blood type. There was a lot of blood, and they do not think that a normal human being could have survived that much bleeding. As such, Setsu-chan's will is in effect."

Mavis-san nods sharply. "Do you think she would have survived?"

"I- I do not know."

Mavis-san looks satisfied, but Yukio-san is merely disgruntled. "A true leader would know what to say," was his first comment as he brushes past me.

I try and hide my tears from Nakamura-san, but I think he sees them anyway. I do not think Setsu-chan has ever cried, or at least not in his presence, for he does nothing but ready a packet of tissue paper.

I am Kannazuki Seika, the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement by accident, and I am so afraid.

* * *

I charged into the Arcadia Movement's lobby, still cradling the box to my chest. The ghostly-puppies, only they weren't puppies, whimpered. I didn't see, and paid by running head-first into one really tall chest.

"Chase?"

"Rex?" I paused.

My old friend had grown taller – if even possible – in the past two years. He wore a dark green vest, belted with a thick black belt to, and I kid you not, camouflage pants which ended in thick-soled worn boots. A khaki jacket was thrown over one shoulder, and emphasised the muscled pectorals and biceps along his arms. Believe me, I see him for the first in weeks and the first reaction is irrational jealousy at how wholesome he looked.

Still, Rex Atlas had clearly seen better days, though it was a step-up from the complete breakdown he had been approaching for our graduation, when we had to pick up our mutual friend's diploma. Jack Atlas's solution of apprenticing Rex to the world's most reckless two Duelists was clearly paying off, and Reina Atlas enjoyed all the presents her big brother returned with. Carly-san looked happy as well, if still trying to manage Reina, even with Youkai and I living in the Atlas apartment. Don't get me wrong, I'm filthy rich thanks to the remains of the Manjoume fortune divided between Uncle Jun and I, now that Uncle Chosaku was in jail and Father had died. Youkai always had the Movement, if not actually striking out on his own. We stayed because otherwise Carly-san might really get lonely, and leaving a recovering depression patient was not a good idea.

"Chase!" Rex came over and gave me a manly thump on the back. I punched his forearm in reply. We laughed. Okay, alpha-male posturing between friends completed, and the well-being of each of us ascertained. Back to the conversation.

"You look... pasty," was Rex's first assessment.

The punch I threw was meant to sting. Really. Not my fault it landed on his solar plexus. "Not all of us visit South America, you know!"

"Sorry!" Rex grumbled, rubbing where I had punched. "Still a flop. Rodriguez took a while to get through, but I think I managed. Shinamori is here, right?"

"You mean one of the two who take you to some exotic corner of the globe and drag you through insane training exercises in the guise of adventuring?" I sarcastically commented. "Then yes, Shinamori is here. I saw him just now. We just escaped from Lava and Grinder Golems. You?"

Rex shifted his weight from right to left leg. "We thought there was a sighting of Tenjouin Michiru, but since one year ago there hasn't been a second one. Rodriguez is using the amulet he has to get an in on the Duel Spirits, but he's being hunted in the spirit world at the moment."

To explain: the former head of the Arcadia Movement before Aki-sensei, a seriously terrifying girl named Shimotsuki Setsuka, who turned out to be some incredibly powerful spirit-queen who was counterpart and enemy to the spirit-king that was our best friend Ryuusei, gave Rex's teacher an amulet. _After_ forcing him to stab his own hand.

Yeah, hardcore. I know. And I don't think that's the most terrifying thing I've known Shimotsuki to do before she mysteriously disappeared and left Seika to pick up the flak along with her new husband – we were all stunned, but not really. On the husband part, not the leaving-Seika part.

Either way, Adrian Rodriguez had an in on the Duel Spirit world. Bad news, it _only_ took Rodriguez, and it also made him incredibly edible, it seemed. So overall bad, because the Professor was reduced to his experiments of trying to find his son again. Aki-sensei had also taken over the day-to-day operations of the Arcadia Movement, trying to protect her daughter. Rex had the leads overseas, and I was doing freelance work between Special Investigations and the Movement. Between those two, and my skill set, I had a few leads to Ryuusei right in Neo Domino itself.

What's my skill set, you ask? You'll see.

The puppies whimper, and I shift the box. "Sorry, Rex. Package coming through. Walk with me?"

Rex followed as I moved into the closest lift. The box was also minimally decorated, although it was certainly wider than the average lift. Youkai caught up to us the moment we were about to enter the lift, leaving my friend, my boyfriend and I alone with a litter of ghost puppies in a sealed metal box for a few moments.

"Cromwell?"

"Threw him to Kaido," Youkai answered. "Shinamori took him."

"New bad guy," I told Rex.

Rex nodded, but did not reply.

"So," I coughed. "Tenjouin sighted?"

No, not Chancellor Tenjouin Asuka, or our former teacher Tenjouin Fubuki, but rather their niece and daughter respectively, Tenjouin Michiru. She was the third of the trio to disappear that fateful Halloween night two years ago in the storm over the Memorial Circuit. People say it was a hallucinogen or gas leak, but we knew better. We all knew, the people who were there for the Stygian Dirge tournament.

In my mind's eye, I could see Ryuusei, red bangs and all being pushed into the portal by Michiru and still clutching onto Shimotsuki; quite an accident. It ceased to be one when that witch sealed the portal and disappeared with my friend. I was being literal.

"No," was the short reply.

"I don't get it," Youkai nodded. "Tenjouin appears, steals first-aid equipment and painkillers, and outright disappears into thin air. For what? Boss?"

"Shimotsuki's not your boss any longer," I automatically interrupted.

Youkai's look told me that I was missing the point. "No offence, but Kannazuki can't quite command the Movement. Izayoi-sensei's reputation as the Black Rose Witch and Nakamura-san backing her is the reason she's still the head."

"Seika is stronger than that," I argued. I knew he was right, though; Seika was too innocent, too pure to understand how diplomatic relations worked for the Movement, not to mention day-to-day operations. Not to mention her lack of powers, which almost automatically slotted her for an uphill battle within the Movement. Shimotsuki must have been screwing with people when she made Seika her heiress. Heir. Whatever.

The lift dinged, and we got out, the box still in my hands. I barged into the waiting room, flanked by Youkai and Rex.

"Chase?" Aki-sensei glanced up from her notes. Beside her, Seika looked politely terrified, and hiding behind the stoic butler, Nakamura-san. I could see why: Mavis Hart and Yamada Yukio had appeared together.

Mavis Hart might be a hardcore lawyer who believed that Shimotsuki was alive and living under a false identity somewhere, but at least she didn't make a point of actively terrifying Seika as much as delivering precise cutting queries that no student would be expected to remember. Unless they were Shimotsuki. Or Ryuusei.

Yamada, on the other hand, seemed to have hated the Arcadia Movement's latest head since day one. Having been apprenticed to and actually taught by the terrifying ice queen Shimotsuki Setsuka herself, maybe his perception had been skewed. Whatever it was, it made him into some resentful bastard who was still glaring at Seika. Or eyeing Seika. Whichever it was, I didn't like it. It reminded me too much of Mother; too weak to stand up to Father.

"I'm back," I lamely volunteered. "Sorry for being late, things got explosive."

"They tend to be, with you around," Aki shook her head. "Rex, Nowaki. Take a seat."

Mavis must have given herself whiplash, her head moved so fast. "But, Mrs Fudo..."

"Chase is one of the major shareholders, and Nowaki is representing the Misawa family." Aki-sensei cut in. "He has a right to this table. Chase?"

I plonked down the box on the matte black surface and sat down. Beside me and across me, Rex and Youkai took their seats. The puppies whined a bit, but apparently most of them were already asleep. "So, where were we? Hart-san, Yukio-san." I acknowledged.

Aki-sensei coughed. "How opportune. We were just covering the first item on the agenda, namely the coverage to be allocated to the Knights of Arcadia group."

"That's your splinter group, right?" I looked to Yukio, who had a sort of pinched look in his eyes.

"A _splinter group_ is defined as a group of members of a political party or of a similar organisation who have decided to create their own organisation." Yukio gritted his teeth. "The Knights of Arcadia are an _offshoot_ of the original Arcadia Movement that works closely with the Movement in a _shared_ specific aim. In our case, the Knights of Arcadia aids the Arcadia Movement in criminal cases, hunting down any rogue psychics who cause mayhem in the streets of Neo Domino and tarnish the name of the Arcadia Movement, as well as helping to curtail the propaganda used against psychics by the anti-psychic groups, not to mention promote equal education and job opportunities for Psychic Duelists. In this case, I feel that our coverage in Peru and Europe should be increased, which can be supported by a decrease of coverage in our cells at the New York and Louisiana Movements. Since Psychics in Europe and South America have been disappearing with alarming frequency, we suspect a human trafficking ring or a monomaniac group with a grudge against Psychic Duelists, supported with what little evidence we could get from the network."

Say whatever you liked about Yukio, he was clearly invested in his work. I'd actually asked him that question for exposition, and already he'd turned it into an opening to present his argument.

"Very good, Yamada-san," Aki-sensei nodded. "And the Oceanic Movement?"

Yukio actually looked nervous. "It has been functioning as well as can be expected, but Lea Worthington has temporarily taken over as Jimmy Cook declares that he is stepping down momentarily. It... is to be expected."

The discomfort was clear as everyone ignored the elephant in the room. Well, except for one.

"What does Jimmy Cook have to do with the Central Movement's operations?" Hart-san pointed out.

Yukio swallowed. "The Central Movement, which leads the other Movements across the world, is still, in all intents and purposes, privately funded by various discreet sources. However, leadership of the Movement is traditionally willed by the predecessor, as Shimotsuki-sama proved when she made Fudo Ryuusei the head of the Movement for a brief period. As her will states, for unknown reasons, Shimotsuki-sama had willed leadership of the Movement to be divided between James Cook II and Kannazuki-san, therefore Jimmy Cook is as much the leader of the Movement as Izayoi-sensei is."

"But from what I recall, Jimmy Cook is only twenty. Isn't that child labour?"

"Jimmy is emancipated." Yukio defended. "And Kannazuki-san is represented by Izayoi-sensei until her majority, yet we know clearly _who_ is supposed to lead the Movement."

I saw Seika quail under his discreet glance, as if his meaning was already clear: _I don't acknowledge you. You are a failure as a leader. Why are you the one?_

"Hey!" Hart stood up. "She's a minor! She's not supposed to be leading a world-wide organisation anyway!"

Yukio's cold eyes met hers. "Perhaps you do not understand, Miss Hart. The Arcadia Movement is a very different organisation than what you think. To control people with special powers that could level buildings and summon storms requires something far more than the law to manage. It requires power. Age has no place for consideration upon entry into the Movement."

"The police exist for a reason," Hart-san retorted.

"Then why is the NDPD recruiting from the Movement?" Yukio's calmness was disconcerting. "Why is the Movement the first party to be contacted in the case of a Psychic attack? Power has purpose, and the Arcadia Movement exists for that purpose."

"T- That's taking the law into your own hands!" Hart screeched.

"And so we are supposed to do nothing while in Peru, an average of three Psychics die by lapidation?" Yukio enquired. "We are supposed to ignore the panic in Europe that comes from ten or more Psychic disappearing per month? We are supposed to get on our own lives, while in Neo Domino itself there are still an average of three cases a month of abandonments, mainly due to the child having exhibited Psychic powers? We have power. We have a purpose. Age has nothing to do with the fulfilment of our purpose; ultimately, to _survive_."

Hart-san deflated in the face of Yukio's argument, or Yukio's clear stance that he was not going to budge, that he was not going to give in on this subject.

"I- I think..." Seika sat up, clearly nervous and scared but still trying to talk. "I... I think, Y- Yamada-san has a point. Hart-san, our a- age, our lack of e- experience... most of us, in the Arcadia Movement, we're still young. We're still inexperienced. But, all of us, we hold incredible power, t- that can make monsters real. T- That's why, only Y- Yamada-san, and the Knights... we must fight them. B- Because... to those who don't know anything else, s- shouldn't they face s- someone like them, and k- know that they are not alone? I... I don't know what it's like to hold Psychic powers. But, I live with two Psychic Duelists. I- I think... I think that for us, we n- need to unite."

I turned my head. Rex was clearly bemused, or confused, and Youkai... Youkai had the same expression Yukio had as the two, and even Aki-sensei, looked at Seika. One... of shared pain. And acceptance.

"Last on the agenda," Aki-sensei interrupted. "The progress on the missing Psychics. Yukio, please present the collated findings to Miss Hart?"

"Very well, Izayoi-sensei," Yukio nodded, shuffling papers in an officious manner. "As far as we know, the disappearance pattern is not isolated in any geographic region, nor are they placed in any known spatial pattern. We did note that a surprising majority have been disappeared from South America and the Deep South area of the United States, which has traditionally been a high-risk area for the Movement and Psychics alike. Despite so, we have every reason to believe that there is a common pattern, in relation to a website called Neverland."

"_Peter Pan?_" I spoke up, leaning forward. If there was a lead if any to Ryuusei, this might be it.

Yukio gave me the gimlet eye, and I subsided. "It seems, on the surface, to be a social networking site of a sort, specifically catered to mid-teen and younger Duelists, often with a few Duel Academia students involved." Which sort of explains how Yukio got his hands on information that should be open only to NDPD: the Duel Academias on a whole tended to get shirty when their precious students were involved. "Social events, clubbing, karaoke nights, LARPs being arranged, the usual things. No addresses needed, usually passed on by word of mouths. We would not have pegged it if not for the fact that nearly every missing person has had a log on the Neverland website."

"But, surely the administrators would have been called in the moment most of their users go missing," Aki reasoned. "Why not?"

"The website itself is run off pirated servers," Yukio shook his head. "The moment one is tracked, another mirror opens in its place. It's a pretty common cyber-tactic used to escape detection, from what I hear of our IT department."

"So it's impossible to track these people down," Aki-sensei sighed. "That leaves us very few options. Miss Hart, I would appreciate it if you were to open investigations with the Prosecution Office for this matter."

Hart-san snapped up. "I'll get right to it."

"Are there any patterns to these disappearances?" Aki-sensei questioned Yukio. "Is there a way to narrow down the criteria, for example?"

"We will try," Yukio neutrally replied. "Kaido was on to something, the last time I asked him. If not, at least it leaves us enough leeway to decide the next step."

"Very good," Aki-sensei stood up. "Meeting dismissed. Seika, Yusei and I will be eating out tonight. We're sorry."

"I- It's okay," Seika faintly replied as the Rose Duelist strode out, clearly careworn. How Shimotsuki had managed a workload that tired out an adult at sixteen years old, I would probably never know.

"Y- Yamada-san?" Seika broached as Rex, Youkai and I were leaving. Out of pure altruism, I hid behind the door. Don't ask. "W- Why... do you not like me?"

There was silence. Pure, silent treatment.

"It's not you," was the faint reply. "It's that you're our leader, and you're... _not_."

I don't blame Yamada for being angry, if what Youkai had confided before was true. Yamada Yukio and his younger brother had been born into a pretty stable childhood with lawyers for parents. Unfortunately, both parents were strongly anti-Psychic. Being thrown out of the house and living on the streets before being picked up by Shimotsuki was, apparently, eighty percent of most cases. The constant pressure of living up to the expectations of his family had done something, Youkai had commented before. They did something to everyone, he had added.

Loneliness, abandonment, desperation, hunger, fear of persecution. Those were the injuries behind most Psychic Duelists. Those were the very reason why the Movement had originally existed; to provide safe haven for Psychic Duelists. To prove that even with powers, Psychic Duelists were still people, misunderstood and feared. To teach them control and a marketable skill. Ultimately, to give them a purpose, a place to be acknowledged as a person, a human being.

I can see Duel Spirits. It's an admittedly rare gift, unless there's weird shit going on, in that case which everyone can see spirits. I understand better than most, so I'd like to think. Being able to do something literally out of this world, outside the comparatively tiny world-view society seemed to hold in their mob mentality sometimes, was incredibly isolating, and also dangerous, for the user and the victims. The Arcadia Movement was more than sanctuary to people like Yukio, who were betrayed and left to fend for themselves after being subjected to the metaphorical hell. This was the wall against which Psychic Duelists placed their backs against and bared metaphorical fangs and claws and DuelDisks at the world. This was the rock against which they knew, no one would stab them in the back. And if that rock was being threatened because the person meant to safeguard it was not only under-age, but also relatively unknown, and seemingly weak... well, you would not let a field mouse guard a castle for the same reason Yamada disapproved of Seika.

"That I'm not a Psychic," Seika quietly murmured.

"If that' the case, then Himemiya's younger sister would never have made the entrance test," Yukio said. "It's... why are you the head of the Movement? At least for Boss, I can understand, no one argues with Boss more than once per mission, not for invalid reasons. But... why you? You're not a member. You're no relation to Boss, and even then you have no particular talent, no offence. You don't know how the Movement works. Cook as the head I can understand, he's a pretty good Duelist, and he knows what we do. So why?"

"... I don't know," Seika quietly confessed. "I don't know why I was slated to become the head. I don't know why I'm leading this Movement. But, as Nii-chan said it, as Setsu-chan said it, I will... I will make do-"

The conversation was interrupted by a beeping, and a click. "Codename, Cold Wolf. Talk, Flame Beast."

The Multi-Voice System might be really useful as a cheap method of secure communication, but its drawback was the lack of privacy without specially tuned settings. "_It's the Puzzle Area!_"Cue explosions. "_We're facing a rogue!_"

"Okay. Cold Wolf signing off." A click. "If we're quite done, Kannazuki-san?"

"W- What was that?" Seika sounded panicked.

"It's apparently a random attack," was the calm answer. "Which has apparently been escalating because there are idjits who think that being a Psychic strong enough to challenge the new leader means that they can blow up Neo Domino willy-nilly. Have you actually _seen_ the news, Kannazuki-san?"

Part of me wanted to punch him, even though I'd been guilty of mouthing off more than once. Seika didn't deserve his cruel words.

"C- Can I help?" I nearly fell over at the entreaty.

A moment of silence. "Shall we find out, then?"

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
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_**Please review!**_


	3. II: Bending Destiny

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**II: Bending Destiny**

Nakamura-san is a very able butler. For the duration of the meeting, I had forgotten his very presence. Yet, after I had asked to go with Yamada-san to the Puzzle Area, a black car was waiting outside the building for us, and Nakamura-san was on hand to open the door.

"T- Thank you," I stutter, and hated myself.

Yamada-san raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he waited. I then realised that I was supposed to enter first, so I got in. Yamada-san got into the seat facing me, and then closed the door. I tried to look up and face Watanabe-san the driver, but it seemed like Nakamura-san had taken the position of driver as well, so I try to look positive. Nakamura-san glanced at me through the mirror and gives a single nod.

The car was about to move out, but then it stopped, and the doors opened.

"Thanks," Rex-nii nodded to Nakamura-san and entered, belting himself in. "I'm coming along.

"R- Rex-nii," I acknowledge. Yamada-san cocked his head, but said nothing even as he studied Rex-nii and I.

The car moves swiftly and slowly, already heading for the highways. I clutch at my DuelDisk, and wish that maybe I could use it to ward Yamada-san off.

"R- Rex-nii, you came back," I whispered.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I got a mask for Reina, but Mother said no, so it's in storage. How are you?"

"I- I'm fine," I shook my head. "We are... Yukina-san seems to like me. And Uzuki... Uzuki entered the Movement. I... I don't know what she's doing."

"The Himemiya sisters are at the Puzzle Area." Yamada-san answered.

This was enough for me to turn to him. "W- What? Why?"

"I presume, for the younger Himemiya's practical," Yamada-san answered as I imagined a block of ice or Setsu-chan would; without any reaction. "It is under siege, apparently."

"B- But, Uzuki has no powers!" I protested.

"She signed up as an active member, indicating that she would see action," Yamada-san remarked. "Even without experience, Himemiya Uzuki should know what constitutes our duties on patrol. Himemiya Hazuki is a very good psychic, she should be able to protect her sister."

My skirt is scrunched up, but I know that Yamada-san is right. Uzuki... Uzuki would want to face action... right? I do not know. I am horribly afraid for her. Is this what Setsu-chan faces all the time? Or worse, Baa-chan? Knowing that we were sending people into danger...

Nakamura-san stopped the car at the edges of the Puzzle Area. Yamada-san, Rex-nii and I tumbled out immediately to find the centre of chaos. It was not truly difficult, to find the one point at which everyone is running away from. Overhead, the skies are painted dark, and already I could feel the old warnings of Baa-chan telling me to return home safe...

I cannot. I am the head of the Arcadia Movement. I cannot return home safe without my members.

I duck through a few more people, and finally run into a likely-looking person. He had long white hair tied into a ponytail, tan skin, aqua green eyes, and a slender body draped with a white T-shirt bearing the slogan JUMPER with jeans and sneakers. He was also bleeding on one side, where the T-shirt was being stained with blood.

"Are you alright?" I whispered, but brought him to the sides where there were no crowds but also a cover.

He groaned in answer. "Keep... away... that guy..."

"Arcadia Movement," I assured him. "I- I'm with the Arcadia Movement. Can you walk? I think Nakamura-san can take you."

"P- Please," he muttered. I took one arm around my shoulders, and soon we were hobbling along one building, down a littered alley and heading straight for the road. He was monstrously light, even being about ten centimetres taller than me, and I wondered what had happened.

An explosion sounded overhead as we were about to reach the end, and from above a great ladder crashed down to block our way. I stopped, wondering what to do, and the man groaned.

"A- Are you alright?" I whisper as I set him onto the cleanest surface and lift his shirt. The worst of the wound was its size; it was mostly a scrape. Albeit a large scrape that drew quite some blood, which I guessed must be from the scalp wound I had not noticed. "H- Hold the shirt to your wound, please."

He shook his head blearily. "R- Run..."

I did not have time to form a response before another crash sounded, and the sound of boots on brick sounded. I back slightly, but that placed me between the injured man and the newcomer.

The other man was wearing a dark Riding suit, which clung tightly to his muscles. He was very tall. He was wearing a Riding helmet, with the visor pulled down to obscure his face. He seemed quite scary to me, a masked assailant.

"Well, missy," he courteously nodded to me. "Can you leave my friend to me?"

"N- No," he groaned. "N- Not... my friend... he did this!" He winced from the outburst, and I saw where the wounds scored his chest.

"A- Arcadia Movement," I squeaked. "U- Under the A- Arcadia Rights Bill of-"

"Ah, the heck with it," the man pulled a DuelDisk with many sharp edges, and pulled a card. I may not have psychic powers, but I lived with the Fudo family. I flung the device hard. It looped around the man's wrist and disk, and I prayed before I heard the quiet click of the fastening mechanism onto the delicate circuitry.

"W- What?" the man cursed.

"Under the Arcadia Rights Bill of 20XX, you are hereby under arrest for suspicious activity," I quietly read, and I realised that I was getting less nervous as I attached the. "Do you accept? If not, I shall trigger the incendiary mechanism on this Death-match Duel Rope which will immediately overload all circuits of your DuelDisk, and then take you in for questioning."

The man's helmet moved, and I realised that he was giggling. "Oh, _oh_! Now that's _interesting_. You don't even know the guy."

"I don't care," I replied. "As a member of the Movement, I will not allow you to hurt other people. Who are you?"

"I see, missy," he nodded, and then unlocked his DuelDisk. "You may call me Henry."

"Duel!"

Seika: LP 8000

Henry: LP 8000

"I'll start first," I nervously said. "Erm... would you prefer to go first?"

"Would I! Would I!" Henry cackled. "No, no, I'm fine, little lady. Go ahead."

"Draw!" I called. "First, I'll play the Field Spell, Future Visions!" As I played the card, we were surrounded by an incredible number of doors, each leading to many different types of scenery.

"Heh, you've managed to lock yourself down as well!" he cackled. "I know this card, it'll banish any monster normal summoned this turn!"

"I summon Fortune Lady Lighty!" I called as the yellow-skinned yellow-robed magician appeared, twirling about one black-stockinged foot as she waved a yellow-robed arm and winked. "The attack and defence power of Lighty is two hundred times her level, and right now her level is one! [?/? → 200/200] But, Future Visions activates, so Lighty is banished until my next standby phase."

"Hah!" Henry laughed. "What can you do now!"

"At this time, the effect of Lighty activates!" I defended. "When Lighty is removed from the field by a card effect, I can special summon from my deck one Fortune Lady monster! So arise, Fortune Lady Darky!"

Lighty's more serious sister appeared, dressed in purple and hoisting an identical staff to Lighty, just that as Lighty's colour was yellow, Darky's colour was purple. "Darky's attack and defence power is four hundred times her level, and right now her level is five [?/? → 2000/2000]! With that, I'll place two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Interesting... then again, any Duel Academia student could summon a high-level monster by special summon nowadays," Henry commented. "Draw! As you summon a monster and I don't, I can special summon from my hand Chronomaly Crystal Bones [1300/1400]!" A headless skeleton, glistening in the weak light, appeared on the field. "And then, since I control a Chronomaly monster, I discard Chronomaly Crystal Skull to search for a Chronomaly monster, such as Chronomaly Golden Jet, and add it to my hand. Now, I play the Spell, Monster Reborn, and revive Chronomaly Crystal Skull [900/600]!" The head of the skull appeared, grinning. "Overlay, level three! Come, Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut [2100/1000]!"

The resulting purple alien was strangely resemblant of the skeleton and skull, and also quite normal-looking for an alien, something similar to Alien Gray. It had a mirror embedded where the human chest would be, and it raised both arms as it floated.

"I special summon Chronomaly Moai [1800/1600]." Henry announced as a large black statue of a head with a large nose appeared. "Now, I play the Continuous Spell, Chronomaly Pyramid Eye Tablet!" Henry announced as a large stone tablet appeared, bearing a stylised eye that shone with light. "All Chronomaly monsters I control gain eight hundred attack power [2100/1000 → 2900/1000] [1800/1600 → 2600/1600], so my alien, destroy that Fortune Lady!"

"Quick-play Spell, Slip of Fortune!" I called. "The attack is negated and Darky is removed from play until my next standby phase!"

"Okay," Henry shrugged. "Moai, direct attack!"

I braced myself as the statue hit. It hurt, as much as being hit by rock would be like.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 5400

Henry: LP 8000

"I'll then end my turn, no need to set cards, nuh-uh." Henry concluded. "So, missy, it's your turn."

"Draw!" I called. "Due to Future Visions and Slip of Fortune, Lighty and Darky return to my field. Now, I activate the Trap, Compulsory Evacuation Device! Lighty, return to my hand! And Lighty activates, special summoning Fortune Lady Fiery [?/?]!"

"Ohh, that's a hot babe!" Henry cheered as the red-robed magician, her hair done up in a plait, appeared. Fiery did not look pleased.

"Fiery has an attack and defence power equal to her level times two hundred, and right now her level is two [?/? → 400/400]," I said. "Now, for the special effect. When Fiery is special summoned by the effect of a Fortune Lady, I can choose one face-up monster my opponent controls, and destroy it, plus inflict burn damage equal to the target's attack."

"... what!" Henry did not quite cry out as Fiery's flames manage to hit him and incinerate his alien.

Henry: LP 8000 → LP 5100

Seika: LP 5400

"Also, Darky gains one level during my standby phase, so her level is now six [2000/2000 → 2400/2400]." I reported to a dazed Henry. Henry nodded, and we moved along. "Main phase, I summon Lighty once more." Lighty appeared, blew Henry a kiss, and disappeared down one of Future Visions' many doors. From another entered a new Fortune Lady, this one wearing blue, and a serious expression.

"The attack and defence power of Fortune Lady Watery is equal to her level times three hundred [?/? → 1200/1200]," I reported. "When Watery is special summoned while I control a Fortune Lady monster except Watery herself, I can draw two cards from my deck. Activate the Spell, Fortune's Future. I return the banished Lighty to my graveyard to draw two cards. Now, I activate the quick-play Spell, Time Passage, to increase Darky's level by three [2400/2400 → 3600/3600]."

"Holy-" Henry paused. "I still have Moai."

I revealed another card. "I play the Quick-play Spell, Magical Dimension! Now I tribute Fiery to special summon Fortune Lady Earthy from my hand, and destroy your Moai! Earthy's power is four hundred times her level [?/? → 2400/2400]!"

"Holy-" Henry paused. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Darky, direct attack with Dark Fate!" I called as my Ladies charged and hit him with their blasts. "Earthy, attack him with Cursed Skewer! Watery, take him and finish this with Torrents of Fortune!"

Henry: LP 5100 → LP 0

Seika: LP 5400

"It... doesn't hurt," Henry paused. "You're new, aren't you?"

"I... don't have powers," I admitted, suddenly realising that I may have gotten ahead of myself in facing a man who must have been a half-metre taller and with approximately twenty kilos as well. I move to the stance Nii-chan had taught me, so long ago...

"Ha, so it's an amateur!" Henry yelled as he slapped a card onto his DuelDisk. "Golden Jet, attack!"

I dodge the monster, and run not for it, but instead to protect the injured man. The golden monster was easily distracted, and I skipped, dodging for the monster to whirl and hit its own master instead. There was a _crack_ of reinforced plastic, and Henry stumbled, his helmet bearing a large crack and crater. The monster whirled, without Henry to focus it.

I move, kicking the ladder out of the way and reaching for the injured man. "We're going to run."

He gaped, staring at me. "What-"

"Run!" I hefted, and the man stood, the pain possibly ignored due to adrenaline. He moved fast, highly motivated to avoid more pain, and I ran as fast as I could with an injured man attached.

Never before had the imminent sight of Yamada-san been more welcoming. And then, the explosion sounded behind me.

"Yamada-san!" I shout, and the man and I dive to hit the ground as Henry stormed out.

Slowly, Yamada-san drew a card.

There was a _crack_, _snap_ and _pop, _and a giant flaming cockatrice stood between Henry and us. From the back of the beast, a red-haired man, Kaenboshi-san, descended. Behind us, vines sprouted flowers as a Gigaplant stopped, and two red-headed girls dismounted it to run to us.

"Uzuki!" I greeted happily as my best friend reached us. "I made it!"

"What are you doing, Seika!" Uzuki raged, her red hair shaking about her shoulders. But she hugged me and helped me up, babbling about how she finally passed and made her first arrest. I just smiled; I had succeeded.

"Well..." Yamada-san paused. "Not bad, for a first-time."

That caused me to smile even wider.

* * *

I frowned at one of the puppies. Then, I reached in, very carefully not touching, and grabbed the cards that lay at the bottom. I withdrew my hand to read the cards, frowning.

_Assault Dog. Chain Dog. Outstanding Dog Marron._

O... kay. So Cromwell was running a trade in canine Duel Spirits, for some weird reason. Why the hell would anyone want-

I stop at the Infernity Beast, and then stare at the corresponding black and brown monster, who was currently small enough to fit into my hand. I pocket it; later when I found the other Infernity Duelist we could have a chat about losing their precious cards. I looked back at the doggie Duel spirits.

_Snyffus. Guard Dog. Shiba-Warrior Taro._

"Seven doggie Duel spirits," I frowned. "What the hell? Oi, Kaido!"

Across the room was a desk, completely laden with stacks of books and a computer. Behind it, there was the bleary sound of someone waking up. "W- Wha?"

"Kaido, what kind of ritual requires seven dogs?"

"Who knows," came the sleepy reply. "Bet you anything they were just sacrifices to summon a stronger Duel Spirit."

I pause. "One that requires six Beast-Types? And _dogs_?"

"Maybe it's an arbitrary choice." was the reply, now more awake. I could almost hear his great brain stir into action. "Someone with a grudge against dogs, things like that. But for Yamamoto to actually tell us..."

"Not like he can fly over for a flutter," I pointed out. "What do we do now?"

Ariyashi Kaido, librarian and ruler of the archives of the Arcadia Movement, groaned. "Cromwell didn't say anything that we didn't know."

"Did he actually _say_ anything?" I archly questioned.

Kaido smirked. "No."

It's almost scary, Kaido's ability. Someone with the ability to see your entire past from a single glance. Can you imagine it? And Shimotsuki had one on her payroll.

"Either way, Cromwell is also a user of the Neverland website." Kaido finished. "Luckily, he's a new user, so almost no one connected to the website has ever seen his face. We can send someone else disguised as Cromwell to the meeting they have on Saturday."

"What?" I nearly dropped the card. "In case you haven't noticed, we're a bit short on shape-shifters. That is, I haven't met a Psychic Duelist that can change shape."

"Cromwell has black hair, grey eyes, and pale skin," Kaido listed off. "Remind you of anyone?"

It took a while, but the penny dropped. "Oh, _hell no_."

"It's a perfectly valid IP listed in Japan," Kaido insisted. "Neo Domino itself, to be honest. And if Cromwell was a pseudonym of Chase Princeton, heir of the Manjoume Group... well, no one would say anything."

"Why me?" I scowled. "I look much like Uncle Jun to blend in anywhere!"

"That's the thing," Kaido replied, pushing his spectacles up one nose with his finger. "Celebrities do this all the time."

"I am _not_ a celebrity!"

This exclamation was met by Kaido's straightforward stare. "It's listed publicly as ghost-hunting. You're the third team-mate of one of DA Kings' best Riding teams who tragically lost its leader. I don't think it's that far of a stretch."

Stab. Twist. Kaido's assessment was cruelly accurate and, even worse, partially true. It also gave me a perfect excuse to bring Rex along. "The dogs?"

"Bring them," Kaido shrugged. "It'd help you blend in, in case we have any people who can see spirits around. Dammit, we need to coin a term for that."

"Seers," I sarcastically replied. "Because we can see spirits."

"_I _can see your past, and technically I'm a seer too," Kaido bit back. There was one thing I liked about Kaido, and it certainly was not for his Duel skills.

A companionable silence fell, as I looked at the Infernity Beast puppy that tentatively awoke and licked at my hand. The touch was cold and smooth, but did not wet my hand.

"I should bring Rex along, right?" I asked.

Kaido stopped. "...yeah."

"If it's a real séance? If we're discovered?" I voiced out. "Ryuusei was publicly connected with the Movement."

"After his disappearance with... with Polaris," Kaido was clearly struggling, but not from lack of effort. "Rex Atlas and you have had no public connection with the Movement. You can attend whatever you like."

"Yeah..." I deflated. "Do we get backup?"

"You get the chibi Boss."

"Seika?"

"An even better cover. The desperate sister trying to connect to her brother convinces anyone, and Kannazuki's status to the Movement was not publicised." Kaido's assessment was crisp and factual. "Besides, this is her brother. She gets a say in it."

"But... but..." I floundered. "I... I should tell the Professor."

Kaido barely had opened his mouth when the door of the archives room slammed open. "Ariyashi-san," Reggie saluted, one hand against blond hair. "Kannazuki and Yukio are back with the Himemiya sisters and Kasai. Also, from Yukio's team we've managed to arrest Dexter Towers, and we're currently getting the right of detainment from NDPD, as well as recover his victim."

"His victim?" I asked.

"His victim... was brought in by Kannazuki," Reggie answered. "Kannazuki defeated the Duel Mercenary and then escaped. Yukio, Kasai, and the Himemiya sisters were on hand to subdue him, and are throwing him into the nearest cell on hand as we speak."

"Good," Kaido nodded. "I'll set up what's needed for the debrief as soon as I get the assessment from the NDPD. Anything else?"

Reggie hesitated. "... Codename Aquila was reported missing by Jounochi Katsuya this morning."

"Kujaku Satsuki?" Kaido sat up, which was a pretty accurate reflection of what I felt. "But that leaves us only Hinamori and Himemiya! That's two of the Four Queens missing!" He heaved a sigh. "Reports from Hydra?"

"We've combed the Tops, and we're still trying to assess how many members are missing." Reggie stoutly replied. "So far, there has been no sightings of Aquila, but we've managed to crack her log. Kujaku was applying to the Neverland website."

"Another link to Neverland," Kaido nodded. "This is getting serious. Never mind, let's see our victim, and what he did to get a Duel mercenary on his tail. Princeton, you had something to ask Professor Fudo?"

"I'll tell him," I answered as Kaido handed me a sheaf of notes. "Don't worry."

The archives room was on the ground floor, presumably due to the weight of the shelves. I took the elevator down, underground, where a small laboratory had been set up. It took little to no difficulty to push through the door into the stark white room. "Professor?"

"Chase," the man glanced up from his notes.

Time had not been kind to the Professor these two years. Already, the Professor had patches of grey streaked with the yellow highlights, and a few wrinkles at the corners of his face. It still gave him a distinguished appearance, but more one of pain, the same kind that Aki-sensei held even when together with the Professor. The loss of Ryuusei had hit pretty hard.

"Professor, Kaido's notes." I stacked them to the side.

"Oh, thanks," he answered distractedly. "I knew I could do it before, so why can't I fix this...?"

"Is that the wormhole thing?" I asked.

"Project Baptism," the Professor nodded. "I'm trying to fine-tune the process and integrate a lock-on feature, but the wormhole can't seem to fixate on any point in space. There's virtually no way to locate Ryuusei without it."

"We couldn't without a comprehensive and accurate mathematical model of the whole incident, and you did it," I sighed, pushing towards him the tray left behind. "You've completed Dr Zweinstein's work by building equipment that can survey the fabric of multiple universes. Aki-sensei left this. Eat."

The Professor stared at the tray, and then to me. Slowly, he picked it up and slowly took a sandwich and chewed it.

"A respected name in high-energy physics, and we still need to canvass..." I glanced down at one of Kaido's notes. "A particle collider?"

"Somehow, the Duel Spirit managed to create a momentary wormhole between worlds in a split second, homing in on a specific energy probe and connecting the points of the roof of the Kaiba Dome to that place," the Professor clarified. "But for us humans, we need a million-dollar piece of technology to produce a less controlled effect. Without Ruka, I wouldn't know what Ryuusei was doing... I think I'd go mad with worry."

"Rua-san and Ruka-san hasn't called in for six weeks," I pointed out. "Do you think...?"

The Professor indicated to one terminal. "Email. They sent one from the Bahamas. It's where the closest connection to Ancient Fairy could be established. Jack is in Trinidad, but he promised to return with Crow for the next conference. And I just saw Aki just now. None of Team 5Ds I know have been disappearing yet. I still read the news, Chase."

"Er, right," I gulped. "Oh. So... we've managed to trace a guy linked to the disappearances, and a website."

"Yes," the Professor nodded.

"And it's publicly listed as ghost-hunting." I continued. "And Kaido suggested and Rex and I attend it with Seika. As a cover to investigate. And I think it's a case connected to Duel Spirits as well, because the guy I'm masquerading as brought a whole litter of Duel Spirits with him, and he mentioned something about the Winter Queen."

"Setsuka," the Professor immediately jumped on my logic. "If we can contact either one, we can get them back!"

"You know, there's one thing I don't get," I spoke up. "Previously... how did you manage it?"

"To make the particle accelerator work, a jewel of completely pure grade was needed to focus the light," the Professor sounded frustrated. "I've gone through all the samples on file, and there's none! The jewel required needed a purity beyond anything like on Earth! Where did Setsuka get them?"

I suspected it... "Professor... do you think, that maybe Shimotsuki was playing us?"

"What? Why?" he looked at me.

"Think about it," I pressed. "Shimotsuki provided the jewels for the first two times, and it was a success. Yet we've been trying to find it, and it's impossible to find. Do you think, that maybe that jewel _wasn't_ from Earth? Rodriguez showed us that amulet he got, that let him cross dimensions, made by Shimotsuki. It would be very easy for her to tell you what was needed, provide the jewel, and use this as a cover for her ability..."

The dawning realisation came to his eyes, that it was completely possible, not to mention probable. It would be very much like Shimotsuki to divert our attention elsewhere.

"So, instead of searching for a jewel, we need to focus on the properties of that jewel," the Professor concluded. "Any magic is sufficiently advanced technology. It just means that the time needed is extended. To about ten more years..."

I backed slightly, not wanting to get into the Professor's funk. "Er... I'll go find Seika!" I hurriedly ran off, cursing myself. The next minute saw me panting, and leaning against the elevator walls, wondering about the possibility.

_It is highly possible._

"Gah!" I jumped.

Between one heartbeat and the next, the dragon had appeared. Although Dreigoon was a Duel Spirit that lived in my head – long story – and could technically take on any form he chose, he most commonly appeared as a giant purple and green-eyed dragon. This was very interesting in an enclosed space such as the inside of a lift, where my brain perceived being squeezed into a tiny metal box with him.

"Are you trying to kill me, Rei!" I yelled.

_Don't be a baby. No one was harmed._

"No thanks to you," I grumbled.

_Considering that you are a satisfactory host, I shall not take offence and drive my nails through your brain._

"Try it, and your card goes down the toilet," I made a swirly motion to drive my point in. "Shrink down."

He, it, gave me a level look. _Mortal, I have no physical form. I exist nowhere except within your mind. I am a mental image. An illusion. A hologram only you can see. There is no reason for me to shrink myself_.

"It's the principle of the thing," I said. "My brain, my rules. Shrink to something I don't have to look up to or get lost."

He heaved a sigh. "Very well." It twisted, gave a little shake, and perched on the handy railings, now roughly the size of a parakeet. Of course, it was a Duel Spirit bound to my deck and I, so what I was seeing was only an illusion – but it was a convincing one. I would have had to make a serious effort to see that Rei was translucent.

Rei looked at me. "Acceptable?"

"Barely," I said, thinking furiously. Rei, as it appeared to me now, was a portion of a genuine monster. The real deal was trapped inside a card mixed with my extra deck. In touching the card, I'd linked myself as an outlet for its personality – embodied as an entirely discrete mental entity living right in my own head, presumably in the ninety percent of the brain that humans never use. In my case, maybe ninety-five. He could appear to me, could see what I saw and sense what I sensed, could look through my memories to some degree and, most disturbingly, could create illusions that I had to work hard to see through – just as he was now creating the illusion of his physical presence in the elevator car. Bastard.

"I thought we had an understanding," I growled. "I don't want you coming to see me unless I call you."

_And I have respected our agreement. I simply came to remind you that my services and resources are at your disposal, should you need them, and that the whole of my self, is likewise prepared to assist you._

"You act like I wanted you there in the first place. If I knew how to erase you from my head without getting killed, I'd do it in a heartbeat," I replied.

_The portion of me that shares your mind is nothing but the shadow of my true self. But have a care, mortal. I am. I exist. And I desire to continue to do so._

"Like I said. Without getting killed," I cocked my head."In the meanwhile, unless you want me to chain you into a little black closet in my head, get out of my sight."

He twitched, but nothing more than that showed. _As you wish. But if truly you seek your friend's return, you may well have need of every tool at hand. And as you must survive for me to survive, I have every reason to aid you._

"Uh huh... and yet two years ago you let one Duel Spirit run off, and actually stop us," I crossed my arms. "So, Shimotsuki?"

_The rulers can transverse dimensions at will. Perhaps, they grow weaker, but the entirety of themselves are such that the power differential is completely negligible. Unlike the Three Phantom Gods and the Three Phantom Beasts, or the Aesir or the Wicked Gods, the rulers have no need for a mortal vessel. And as Queen Winter has demonstrated, as someone's expense, she can grant this ability to what she chooses._

"But Ryuusei is a ruler as well," I reflected. "Then why hasn't he?"

_One possibility is that he chose not to._

My stomach sank. "Let's... discard that for now. The other?"

_Is that he cannot, or has not learned to do so. The ability is mostly one of willpower, to connect two points together across space and time. The true difficulty lies in creating the mechanism required to bridge the space with the maximum efficiency needed to safely cross the dimensions. Whether by your mortal ferromancy, or by focus and mental discipline, it can be done._

"Can you?"

_Of course. But it would require more than your mortal lifespan can feed to me. Perhaps the sacrifice of a Duelist?_

"Then we won't," I decided as the lift doors dinged open, and I got out to the infirmary just as a boy awoke.

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
Occupation:  
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_**Please review!**_


	4. III: Madolche Manner

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**III: Madolche Manner**

"You're awake!" I said in relief as the injured one awoke. "I was worried about you!"

The man stirred. "W- Where...?"

"This is the Arcadia Movement infirmary," I answered him as I reached for the water jug. "You were being pursued by the man, Henry, so we took you back here just in case Henry had friends watching the hospitals. I'm Kannazuki Seika. What's your name?"

"A- Ah?" he nodded as he drank the glass I handed him. "R- Ryuusuke Diamondblade. This is... Neo Domino City?"

"Yes, Diamondblade-san," I nodded. "Do you want to tell us why Henry was chasing you?"

"W- What happened? To the Duel mercenary?" He pressed.

"I defeated him," I answered, now handing him an apple.

"_You_?" Diamondblade-san gaped. "Erm, not that you must be a great Duelist, but... you don't look it... Kannazuki-san."

"Oh, right," I shifted as the door opened behind me. "Erm... it's a funny story-"

"Come on," Chase-nii's voice stated behind me. "The fourth head of the Arcadia Movement not be a great Duelist? And someone who grew up with Fudo Yusei at that?"

"Y- You're the head?" now he stared at me, and I could feel a blush starting. "H- How?"

"The will, but that's neither here nor there," Chase-nii interrupted.

"T- This is the Central Movement, right?" Diamondblade-san sat up. "M- My bag!"

"This?" I picked up the bag.

"Yes!" He reached for it, rifling through the contents. "I- My father sent me! He said... he said that I was supposed to give this to Shimotsuki Seiran or Shimotsuki Rafael. A- Are they here?"

"Rafael-san and Madame?" I spoke quietly. "T- They're dead."

"Erm..." an awkward silence fell, before Diamondblade-san handed me the envelope.

I tore it open slowly, opening the letter to see writing in a crumbly text, the writer's hand clearly shaking.

_To: The head of the Arcadia Movement  
From: Amelda Crowley_

_Whoever is reading this:_

_Rafael, if you're reading this, I'm Amelda. If not, and that crazy biddy of your wife finally killed the two of you, then to Setsuka, I'm your old Uncle Amelda. I'm literally writing this on my deathbed. Lung cancer; biking is hazardous these days, you know?_

_Do you remember Ryuusuke? I don't think you would, but who knows. This idiot son of mine is all I have left. My wife disappeared after leaving Ryuusuke at my doorstep, and later my son was given to Child Services when I ended up in hospital. Mental instability, can you believe it!_

_The Orichalcos left its mark on all of us, and our future generations. I don't know where the hell is Valon, or if he's still alive. Please, if that wife of yours is sincere, please take care of my son for me. I have very little time left. __Do not grieve for me, I will be in a happier place now. Just please, take care of Ryuusuke. As an old friend, as an old family friend, help me. I have nothing else to ask of you now._

_Goodbye.  
Amelda._

"So, you have nowhere to go," I murmured quietly.

"I got out," Diamondblade-san shrugged.

"As the head of the Arcadia Movement, I reserve the right to protect you," I said. "But... do you want to stay with us, Diamondblade-san?"

"Like you said, I got nowhere else to go," he answered. "But I'll work to repay you, I promise."

"The Movement has a work-study scheme, you will be fine," I decided. "We are an organisation of Psychic Duelists, but non-powered members also exist. I do not see a problem. So... welcome to the Arcadia Movement, Diamondblade-san."

"Call me Ryuusuke, please. T- That's it?" Ryuusuke looked confused. "Isn't there a test or something?"

"The Movement exists for people with nowhere to go," I answered. "So, will you tell me your ability?"

"It's... a bit difficult to explain," Ryuusuke moved his arm and his waist. "Wow, you have good painkillers."

"Erm..." I shifted. "You've just been subject to the Movement's experimental new treatment, using the cards..." I glanced at the charts. "Dian Keto the Cure Master. This would be followed by rounds of Goblin's Secret Remedy and Red and Blue Medicine alternating."

"Huh?" Ryuusuke jumped up. "Well... I don't think there's a problem. Okay..."

"You were quite severely injured," I continued. "So, I apologise if you didn't want to-"

"No, no, it's fine," Ryuusuke hurriedly waved. "It's a compliment to have a pretty girl worry about me... but, I can only use my ability in a Duel."

"Oh, okay," I nodded. "Chase-nii?"

"I'm coming along," Chase-nii was giving Ryuusuke an assessing look. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I- I'm Ryuusuke Diamondblade," Ryuusuke sputtered.

Chase-nii tilted his head, but nodded. "Okay... though I feel something odd."

"Chase-nii can see Duel Spirits," I told Ryuusuke as we headed for the elevator.

"Oh, that's nice." Ryuusuke answered, not with scepticism as most would be, but acceptance. Not belief, but acceptance. That Ryuusuke already knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Duel Spirits were real.

The elevator dinged, and the three of us got out at basement two, the Duel fields. Ryuusuke gaped at the sight of six tennis-court-like fields, each spaced enough to make a Duel. "Are you _serious_?"

"This is a place intended for Psychic Duelists, so a lot of space is needed," Seika reasoned. "Basement one are the laboratories, basement two the Duel fields, and basement three are the generators, so any accidents are isolated underground instead."

"That.. makes sense..." Ryuusuke nodded.

"Uzuki!" I shouted to an occupied field. My best friend looked up and ran to me, and we hugged.

"Seika! Who is this?" Uzuki turned green eyes onto Ryuusuke, who quailed under her glare.

"Uzuki, this is Ryuusuke Diamondblade, our newest member after I clear everything with Nakamura-san," I answered. "Ryuusuke-san, this is Himemiya Uzuki, who's a member as well."

"And a Psychic Duelist," Uzuki added.

"Uzuki," My eyes went wide. "Really?"

"Uzuki, we need to get on with today's Duel!" Uzuki's older sister, Hazuki-nee, called.

"Nee-chan, maybe the newbie can Duel as well!" Uzuki shouted.

Hazuki left the field to walk to us, more gracefully than Uzuki could be. Ryuusuke's face flushed as she bowed, her red hair spilling over her shoulders. "Good evening, Ryuusuke-san. This is my younger sister, Himemiya Uzuki. I am Himemiya Hazuki. Are you joining the Arcadia Movement?"

"Y- Yes!" Ryuusuke quickly nodded.

"I am glad for you." Hazuki smiled. "Seika, perhaps you should have told Nakamura-san to begin the paperwork, right?"

"O- Oh!" I flushed; Hazuki-nee would have known! "I- I'm sorry! Ryuusuke-san, I- I..."

"You go," Chase-nii kindly told me. "I'll stay here."

"B- But, Chase-nii-"

"Just go," he sighed, and I ran quickly to find Nakamura-san.

* * *

Whatever Ryuusuke Diamondblade was, he was clearly more attracted to redheads. Then again, Himemiya Hazuki wasn't called the Titania for no good reason.

"Alright!" Uzuki yelled. "So we'll be Dueling, Ryuusuke!"

"Don't worry, I'll tell Seika about your ability," I assured the nervous Duelist as he stood across Uzuki.

"R- Right," Ryuusuke gave a small smile to Uzuki as he tore his eyes away from Hazuki. "W- Who wouldn't want to have a Duel against a c- cute girl?"

...you womaniser. At least, you're clearly paying more attention to Hazuki...

"Duel!"

Ryuusuke: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 8000

"There was no need to yell, you know," Ryuusuke stated as he looked at the five cards in his hand.

"Are you kidding?" Uzuki questioned as she ran a finger atop of her deck. "This kind of thing is why some Duelists get into the game – for the yelling!"

"That explains… A lot," Ryuusuke finally decided.

"Best not to think about it too much," Uzuki giggled. "In any case, do you want to be the one to start this duel? Or are you going to be a gentleman about it?"

"I'll let you make that decision," Ryuusuke stated as he lifted his duel disk up defensively.

"My, and here I thought chivalry was dead," Uzuki replied as she drew. "Hmm... I've decided. I summon Madolche Magileine [1400/1200]!"

Several bright sparkles began to flutter around the field, until they crashed into the ground, creating an even larger explosion of sparkles. From the base of the sparkles, a tiny cute woman appeared in burst of sparkles, her fancy purple dress billowing slightly, along with the white ribbon hem and her long violet hair. The witch spun around as a large broad-brimmed hat popped atop of her head and a long fork-like staff appeared in her hands. The cute witch stopped spinning around and winked, creating a few holographic hearts around her.

"You know... with all the hype, I was expecting something more... intimidating," I remarked. But Ryuusuke did not seem to share my opinion; rather, he paled, and went stark white.

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" Uzuki scolded as Magileine turned her nose up. "Besides, the cuter the character, the stronger they are!"

"This is not an animé," I groaned.

"Whatever, keep telling yourself that," Uzuki stated as a card popped out of her deck and into her hand. "While you do, I activate her ability: when she's successfully normal summoned, I can add any Madolche monster from my deck to my hand. I add Madolche Mewfeuille to my hand. You'll find out what it does later, but for now I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Madolche Ticket. Then I set two cards and end my turn."

"Draw!" Ryuusuke called. "Let's have a change of scenery, so I'll activate the Field Spell, The Sanctuary in the Sky!"

The bleeding choir invisible, and I meant that literally, began to sing as a building resembling the Greek Parthenon appeared behind Ryuusuke, and the ground became a cloudy surface.

"This Field is the home of the Angel tribes, or Fairies," Ryuusuke explained. "I summon The Agent of Mystery – Earth [1000/800]!" A green-robed angel appeared, waving its short staff. The witch crossed her arms and pouted at the Agent monster. "Now, usually Earth's effect is a lot like your Madolche witch, but when the Sanctuary's on the field I can search for their master instead. Now, I banish The Agent of Mystery on the field to special summon Master Hyperion [2700/2100]!"

Master Hyperion appeared, wearing brocade and with arms raised.

"Master Hyperion, destroy her witch!" Ryuusuke commanded as Hyperion threw a blast.

"Continuous Trap, Madolche Waltz!" Uzuki commanded.

"But you'll still take battle damage!" Ryuusuke snapped as the witch screamed and shattered. At the same time, a ballet flat shoe flew out of the card and hit Ryuusuke on the face.

Uzuki: LP 8000 → LP 6700

Ryuusuke: LP 8000 → LP 7700

"Aren't you curious as to why you took damage?" Uzuki questioned as Hyperion hovered before Ryuusuke as she held up one of her cards up, slipped it in the graveyard, then pulled it right back out of the slot.

"No, I can hazard that it's your Trap," Ryuusuke stated. "It inflicts damage to me when one of your monsters battles by a set amount or some other method. By the way, what are you doing with that card? You're supposed to put your monster into the graveyard…"

"Nope," Uzuki shook her red-head as she slipped Magileine atop of her deck and allowed the duel disk to shuffle the cards. "You see, there's something you need to learn about the Madolche cards – when they're destroyed and sent to the graveyard by my opponent's cards, they return to the deck right afterwards!"

"So wait, I'm stuck with dealing with them _again_ and _again_?" Ryuusuke looked horror-struck. "That's crazy!"

"Also, Madolche Ticket allows me to search my deck for a Madolche monster and add it to my hand each time a Madolche monster is sent from field or Graveyard to hand or deck by a card effect, like the ability all the Madolche share," Uzuki announced as the Spell beeped, and a card flew out from the deck to Uzuki's hand. "So, I'll take Madolche Messengelato!"

"So much... trauma..." Ryuusuke moaned.

"He summoned one of the strongest Fairy-Type monsters early in the game," Hazuki mused. "On his first turn, no less."

"Eh, heh..." Ryuusuke chuckled. "I set a card, turn end!"

"Draw!" Uzuki called, looking as irritated as Hazuki was bemused. "Keep your eyes on the field! I summon Madolche Mewfeuille [500/300] to the field! Now when this cute kitty is normal summoned, I can special summon a Madolche monster from my hand, so come, Madolche Messengelato [1600/1000]!"

A loud meow echoed through the air, as a pop of pink smoke billowed. Almost immediately, the smoke dissipated to reveal a sleepy, small, fluffy pink kitten with a purple vest and a feathered yellow cap atop of its head. A four-leaf clover glimmered on its forehead. This was followed by a whoop, and a teal-haired postman in red-brown uniform appeared, taking his cap to make an elaborate bow towards Master Hyperion.

"When Messengelato is special summoned when I control a Beast-Type Madolche monster, I can search my deck for a Madolche Spell or Trap and add it to my hand." Uzuki called. "I choose the Field Spell, Madolche Château!"

I had not thought it possible, but Ryuusuke brightened, before his face clouded over with more dread. He even forgot to take his eyes off Hazuki. "Oh, shit."

"Language!" Uzuki scolded. "I activate the Field Spell, Madolche Château!"

The Sanctuary disappeared, to be replaced by a large, turreted castle, completely made of assorted desserts. Currently, we were standing in a courtyard paved with, and I kid you not, gumdrops the size of my head, surrounded by statuary of assorted Madolche creatures – and made of pink rock candy.

"What kind of Field Spell is this?" I muttered as the opening bars of an orchestra began, which was all kinds of bizarre. _Tum, tu-tu-tu-tum tum, tum-tum-tum... _Tchaikovsky? Sounds familiar...

"One that's pretty delicious," Ryuusuke nodded gravely. "And also like the witch's house in Hansel and Gretel."

"First, I can't use its first ability, so I'll keep that a secret for now." Uzuki held up a finger. "But, its second ability: all Madolche monsters gain five hundred attack and defence power! [1600/1000 → 2100/1500] [500/300 → 1000/800]"

"I see," I turned to Hazuki. "Magileine, Ticket and Messengelato searches, and Mewfeuille helps to summon them. So, Uzuki's Madolche monsters focus on swarming and using cards to power it up?"

Hazuki gave an elegant shrug.

"But, Hyperion is still the strongest monster on the field!" Ryuusuke defended.

Uzuki's face clouded over. "I know. Mewfeuille, attack Master Hyperion, please!"

The cat grumbled, glaring at Uzuki and thus ruining the stereotype of all cute cats, but stood up on two puffy legs and charged, to be destroyed.

"That's insane!" Ryuusuke called, even as the next ballet flat hit him in the stomach.

Uzuki: LP 6700 → LP 5000

Ryuusuke: LP 7700 → LP 7400

"No, because Madolche Ticket allows me to search for a Madolche monster to add to hand!" Uzuki defended. "And the last effect of Château: when a monster would be returned from graveyard to deck by the effect of a Madolche monster, I can add it to my hand instead! Madolche Messengelato, get ready!"

The postman waltzed, looking nervous but still about to charge at its own suicide.

"That's insane," Ryuusuke breathed. "You're killing yourself faster!"

"Battle!" Uzuki called, as the postman leapt. "Now, I activate the Continuous Trap, Desperate Tag!"

The messenger shattered, right as a ballet flat hit Ryuusuke again. "Ow!"

Ryuusuke: LP 7400 → LP 7100

Uzuki: LP 5000

"Messengelato is returned to my hand, and battle damage becomes zero, not to mention I can special summon from my hand Madolche Chouxvalier [1700/1300 → 2200/1800]!" Uzuki called.

A burst of sparkles, a horse's whinny. The new monster rode on a blue horse with a green mane. He was dressed like Napoleon, black waistcoat and boots complete with gold edging, white tights, blood red-feather hanging from his dark cap. He held a sword made of red-and-white striped candy-cane, complete with whipped-cream hilt.

"Chouxvalier, prepare to charge!" Uzuki ordered as the knight lowered his lance, perfectly level with Hyperion."Attack!"

"Desperate Tag will not only ensure that Uzuki takes no battle damage, but also summon one of the two Warrior monsters required," I assessed. "Madolche Château combines with the effects of the Madolche Warriors to ensure that Uzuki always has a Warrior in hand. And the Madolche Waltz inflicts a constant stream of battle damage. Without any cards to stop it, in the middle of the battle phase... victory is certain!"

"This strategy is one that is completely unique to the Madolche monsters..." Hazuki agreed, smiling.

"Messengelato!" Uzuki called. "Begin the Desperate Waltz!"

Messengelato whirled out, kicking a leg. Chouxvalier's lance was stuck, but the knight fought. In the middle of this cacophony was Uzuki's delighted laugh, and Ryuusuke actually whimpered at the resulting hail of ballet flats that continued for up to twenty-three times.

Ryuusuke: LP 7100 → LP 0

Uzuki: LP 5000

"I win... Eh?" Uzuki blinked as her monsters faded, but we remained in the field. "But... Madolche Château is still here..."

"Argh!" Ryuusuke backed slightly as he realised that the Field had yet to change. "We've gotta run!"

"What?" I froze, staring at him. Uzuki blinked in confusion, and Hazuki had moved to freeze in a combat stance, her DuelDisk out. "What's going on?"

Ryuusuke just looked panicked. "Don't worry, we can make the transition back home if I can use the Madolche Château Field Spell again..."

"What?" I yelled. "What are you talking about?"

"My power happened, and right now we should run from this place," Ryuusuke waved his hands. "Also the reason for the Duel merc. I tried to escape, but he chased me across three different fields from the Forest to the Sogen Grasslands to the Magical Citadel of Endymion. I thought I lost him at Venom Swamp, but... well, I got jumped."

So that explained it... "So... your power is to bring us into the spirit world?"

"This place is one of the scariest ever," Ryuusuke whispered, agreeing.

Overhead, a few white clouds floated past. The smell of cooking biscuit and cake floated through the air. Biscuit and sugar crunched underfoot as I took a tentative step on what I now knew to be real sugary dessert. His warning and the state of the place was completely paradoxical.

A horn sounded in the distance...

"Run!" Ryuusuke shot off.

"Why?" I asked as we followed his lead to run through the courtyard. The soundtrack started on trumpets while we were at it. Or it was me, because my brain's mental soundtrack was every bit as mental as I was.

"Because I... may have offended someone here." Ryuusuke confessed. "She's nuts as well."

"You-" I stopped.

"That's cool," Uzuki added.

"I think, it could be a very inconvenient ability as well," Hazuki observed.

"I didn't mean to, I just thought I'd show you guys. And the Madolche, they really aren't all that nice," he confessed. "Turn left! We can lose the troops that are coming!"

A high-pitched laugh echoed. "_Come out, come out, wherever you are~..._"

"Shit, Madolche Puddingcess," Ryuusuke swore, sweating profusely. His legs were shaking from the effort.

"So you got your tail handed back to you by a magic candy land princess before?" I chuckled.

"It's not funny!" Ryuusuke yelled. "She kicks _hard_!"

"_There~ you are~!_"

"I want to meet the Puddingcess!" Uzuki commented.

"Do it when she's not out to crush my nuts!" Ryuusuke screamed.

Uzuki tittered. Hazuki smacked her upside the head, and then hefted her DuelDisk as a troop of Chouxvalier gathered. "Ryuusuke, please hurry." She drew a card. "Come, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!"

The plant monster lashed out, and a conflagration of fire began as the knights shouted. The floor burned, along with a sickly sweet smell of burnt cookie.

Ryuusuke whistled. "Wow."

I slapped him. Uzuki helped me. "Move!"

"Okay, okay!" He borrowed the card. "I can't concentrate!"

"Run!" Hazuki directed, as Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis exploded with enough force to shatter the wall. "There!"

"So cool!" A clash, and the wall gave under Ryuusuke's well-timed blow.

Crumbs littered the ground, but Ryuusuke never moved, frozen by whatever sight past the hole.

"What?" I shoved him aside and stopped.

Outside the walls was a literal battlefield, and I found out that the trumpets were real, instead of some horrifically bad joke from my brain. Cute, fluffy toy-like Madolche monsters clashed with rat-like monsters, some normal-looking and the rest horrifically mutated. I saw the Madolche monsters I recognised, Messengelato and Chouxvalier, being clawed at by an Armoured Rat. I saw a Madolche Mewfeuille being stomped on by a Giant Rat. And yet the Madolche had a continuous effect, that they kept coming back, but the opposing army were just as capable of keeping field presence.

The castle was under siege, and we were in it.

"Destroy the attackers!" the troop of Chouxvalier were here, and now their faces were serious, lances lowered and prepared to skewer us.

"W- Wait!" Ryuusuke raised both arms. "I- I just came here by accident!" Overhead, there was a caw of triumph, and a Dark Tinker was cutting through the soft cookie brick around our fire-burnt hole.

Hazuki drew a card, but Uzuki was faster.

"Madolche Puddingcess!"

A ballet flat stomped on the monster, causing it to screech and fly back. Tossing her blonde curls back, Madolche Puddingcess was... very cute, close-up. Her dress was like a wedding cake, white and baby pink with a double hem, the lower one of white lace like cream, and the upper of brown ribbon like chocolate icing that matched her be-ribboned ballet flats and white stockings. A delicate tiara, like spun sugar, glimmered next to the giant cherry in her hair.

Her foot lashed out, and kicked Ryuusuke in the knee. "Why did you break the wall?" She scolded. She then turned to the cowed knights. "What are you waiting for? Fix the wall!"

"Y- Yes!" they snapped a salute, and left.

Ryuusuke whimpered, rubbing his knee. "Oww..."

"I'll kick you later," she grumbled. "I know you're not with the invaders, now is not the time to play."

"Madolche Puddingcess!" Uzuki hugged her monster. I admired her balls for that moment.

Absently, the princess of puddings patted her hand. "Duelist-san. Mother likes you. But, now..."

A trumpet sounded, and a horse's whinny followed. A scraping followed the hole, and a giant beak followed it. Puddingcess kicked out, and the Archfiend Marmot of Nefariousness screeched as it toppled out. "Even with the treaty, those things keep attacking," the Puddingcess grumbled.

"What? Why?" Uzuki faintly murmured. "This... this is outright slaughter!"

"We are at war," the Puddingcess has no inflection in her voice. To her, it was stark blinding truth. Even the soldiers that marched forward with the requisite candy bricks and worked did it solemnly, professionally, quickly, as if their lives depended on this. "The King of Mice would have this château destroyed and broken down to feed his children. Though we recover fast, the loss of each and everyone of us when destroyed remain. It hurts to fight, whether here, or in the human world."

"Hurts..." Uzuki echoed. "Then, my Desperate Waltz..."

Puddingcess shook her head. "It is needed. But it still hurts."

"The King of Mice?" I faintly echoed as the soundtrack changed once more to the climax of what I now recognised... as _The Nutcracker_. Seriously?

Overhead, the cry of a bird echoed, and an owl swooped down. It was completely white, and it stood out even as it perched on one wall, too tiny to do any harm but still present.

"_Winter's reinforcements approach. Acknowledge._"

Didn't I mention it? Duel Monsters can talk. They don't pronounce words too well, and the inhuman sound of it makes the hairs on the back of my _everything_ stand up. Sometimes. Plants, Beasts and Winged Beasts don't talk that often, and I haven't met a Fiend that would prefer talking over eating my face, but they _talk_.

The Puddingcess lifted her head. "Acknowledged by Puddingcess. Many thanks to Winter."

From overhead, I heard the sound of a mass of wings, like a flock of birds, chirping and fluttering at the same time. And then, over the horizon attacking the back of the Fiend army currently surrounding the Château, were a group of Harpies, led by a Harpie Queen. A Harpie's Pet Dragon roared, and blasted the army with its Saint Fire Giga. The Madolche forces regrouped, already in the midst of sandwiching the Fiend army between them and viciously moving for an offensive formation.

It was bizarre, seeing what amounted to a battalion of plush toys armed to the teeth viciously maul the monsters of legend with the help of increasingly beautiful and deadly bird-women with sharp claws and talons and dragons for pets. It still happened.

Puddingcess tilted her head. "I must rejoin the army. You should leave here. May fate guide us to meet in more auspicious circumstances."

"You're working with Winter?" I demanded. "Who's the Winter Queen?"

"She is great and mighty," was the reply. "Leave our world now, else the second wave comes. That these monsters will touch humans at all is the reason for the current truce between Winter and Summer."

"What?" Hazuki's back straightened. "They kill people?"

"Mortals," Puddingcess affirmed. "And spirits alike. Dark things stir. The Courts are amoral, not immoral."

"Okay," Ryuusuke nodded, holding the cards. "I'll... I'll come back in the future, okay? I'll find a way, definitely."

The Puddingcess shook her head. "I do not think you should. The threat is in both worlds, from the highest Sanctuary of the Higher Planes to the depths of the Dark World in Pandemonium. For a human who can transverse both worlds, they will kill you."

Uzuki started. "But- This fight-"

"Time passes. The seasons change. The Lord waits." Puddingcess seemed more strained, more urgent as Ryuusuke held up the cards.

"_Madolche Château!_"

"Goodbye, Duelists."

As the Field began to fade, and the castle replaced slowly by the stark white of the Duel Fields, I saw him. Riding a black horse with a marzipan mane, draped in red, gold and black, and those red bangs...

He extended a gloved hand, mouthing as the worlds faded once more...

Seika's wide eyes replaced the castle, the Duel fields empty save for presence. "C- Chase-nii? Ryuusuke-san? Uzuki? Hazuki-nee?"

I sat up. "We need to tell the Professor."

* * *

_**In my head, this was playing out to the 'Prelude' and 'March' of The Nutcracker orchestral music. Come on, sweets, a princess, a knight, and waltz... not to mention the later half of The Nutcracker, it really looks like the Madolche were based on that ballet, right?**_

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
Occupation:  
Appearance:  
Personality:  
History:  
Deck:  
Trivia:**_

_**Please review!**_


	5. IV: Heartfelt Appeal

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**IV: Heartfelt Appeal**

"Ryuusuke has the ability to pass between worlds," Jii-chan sat back into his seat, frowning thoughtfully. "I see. And Chase, you said that you saw Ryuusei?"

"Yeah," Chase-nii nodded. "He was... fine. And helping the Madolche monsters. I didn't get a chance to talk, we were stuck in a castle under siege."

"But we know that Ryuusei is alive," Baa-chan murmured quietly, her face alight with a palpable emotion. Hope.

"He might not _remain_ alive if he throws himself into battlefields with regularity," Chase-nii pointed out, and I felt bad as her face fell. "B- But, he looks pretty safe." he quickly corrected.

"Kaido has finalised the details of the funding from Industrial Illusions," Jii-chan concluded. "Diamondblade-san, I would like to request your assistance."

"H- Huh?" Ryuusuke shook his head, clearly stunned to be face-to-face with Jii-chan. "Erm, Dr Fudo, it's a great honour to meet you, you're a Dueling legend... I'm babbling now, aren't I? So... who is this Ryuusei?"

"My son," Jii-chan quietly answered. "Fudo Ryuusei. He was spirited away two years ago."

A sudden silence fell as Ryuusuke absorbed the implications of the fact. "O- Oh. I'm... I'm so sorry. I'll help where I can, but... no experiments, right?"

"Not the kind you think of," Jii-chan shook his head. "In the worst-case scenario, you will have to bring me into the spirit world so I can get my son back."

"Erm, is that wise?" Ryuusuke warily asked. "That seems... a bit suicidal."

"You tell me," Jii-chan simply replied. Behind him, Baa-chan stood, arms crossed.

This man had fought against the Earthbound Gods before we were even born, and stopped the Arc Cradle, not to mention united the two cities of Neo Domino and Satellite. Compared to rushing against a group of Duel Monsters to rescue Nii-chan, it must be nothing. And yet... I cannot help but feel saddened that Nii-chan is not with us.

"We should get some rest," Jii-chan finally concluded. "A while to think. Seika, have you allocated a room to Ryuusuke-kun?"

"A- Ah!" I started. I've forgotten! "E- Erm... the penthouse should be fine... Ryuusuke-san can sleep in my room-"

"N- No!" Ryuusuke protested. "I- I can sleep on the couch, really!"

"I don't think so," Jii-chan immediately answered as he stood. "Aki, we can sleep at the penthouse tonight, right?"

"Ah, yes," Baa-chan nodded. "Seiran used to stay here overnight, and so there's a master bedroom besides... Setsuka's room."

"T- That's Rafael-san's daughter, right?" Ryuusuke spoke up as the silence fell once more. "W- What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I whispered, trying to recall. "Is Nakamura-san here?"

"You called, Seika-ojou?"

I jumped, as did Chase-nii, as Nakamura-san seemingly materialised.

"Where the hell?" Chase-nii shouted.

"N- Nakamura-san!" I squeaked. "E- Erm..."

"There is a spare bed with the dormitories," Nakamura-san said. "I have placed the property of Diamondblade-san in that room, which he would be sharing with two other boys, and briefed them on the situation. I will lead Diamondblade-san to the room if Seika-ojou feels troubled."

"A b- butler?" Ryuusuke stared at Nakamura-san, whom I can see must be intimidating to him. "E- Erm, I- I'm Ryuusuke Diamondblade, pleased to meet you."

Nakamura-san stared at the hand offered. "Nakamura. I am the servant of Seika-ojou, and also the secretary of the Central Arcadia Movement. You must be tired. Please, if you would follow me, I will guide you to the room and through the usual paths."

Nakamura-san sounded as he did, a monotone barely above normal speaking volume, and yet I get the feeling that perhaps, Ryuusuke had offended him despite this being the first time they had met. Ryuusuke certainly seemed to feel so, as he kept shooting Hazuki-nee, Uzuki and I pleading looks as he was handily led away by Nakamura-san's very presence.

"Serves that pervert right," Chase-nii muttered.

"What?" I flushed slightly.

Chase-nii had a very put-upon expression. "N- Nothing. Just remember, that all men not approved by either Rex, me or the Professor are not good, alright?"

"I don't think Ryuusuke-san has any sexual interest in either Uzuki or me," I spoke loudly. A bit further ahead, just about to leave, Ryuusuke froze as Jii-chan, Chase-nii and Nakamura-san's (albeit silent) hostility fairly radiated with their embarrassment. "Setsu-chan did talk about this topic before, but... I don't think her advice is applicable."

"What was her advice?" Chase-nii asked in a hushed tone.

"Well," I demurred. "At the time she was holding a fork, and eating her _matcha_ cake, so there may have been a lot of stabbing involved." I mimed the exact motion. "But, she was talking about gonads and where to plant a fork if I ever felt uncomfortable around a man- Chase-nii, why are you backing away?"

"Er... I gotta go!" he ran.

I looked at Jii-chan, who was crossing his legs nervously. "Jii-chan too?"

Setsu-chan's words apparently still held some impact, I could tell from Jii-chan's face. "S- So, I guess Setsuka was fairly thorough... in her own way..." he muttered.

"I'm tired. Goodnight, Chase-nii, Jii-chan, Baa-chan." I smiled, and nodded before leaving the laboratory for Jii-chan to re-immerse himself with Kaido-san. There was a chance to save Nii-chan!

"Seika-chan!" was the cheery greeting. I stopped, blinked, before I realised that it was Yuko-kun instead.

Yuko-kun is the twin brother of Yamada-san, and nearly a spitting image of him. They have the same piercing sapphire blue eyes, deep as a pool instead of cold as an iceberg. Yuko-kun also has shoulder-length hair that is a lighter blue, with black stained bangs that cover the left side of his face, not to mention being more tanned than Yamada-san. Tonight, he wore a black, long-sleeved turtle-neck, with long sleeves that nearly covered his hands, along with black pants that were slightly baggy and had silver zipper pockets, matched with fingerless gloves and a necklace with a sapphire crystal pendant curved like a fang. Slashes had been artfully torn at the shoulders so that Yuko-kun showed a blue dragon on his left shoulder.

"Yuko-kun!" I greet, and he nodded, smiling.

Yuko-kun was a lot nicer than Yamada-san. Although I think I understand the pain of Yamada-san, that of being responsible for Yuko-kun as well, I cannot help but feel stiff and awkward around Yamada-san. Yamada-san was almost as untouchable as Setsu-chan, maybe even more so than Setsu-chan had been.

"Say, I need some time out of the dorms to see my cousin," Yuko-kun commented. "Youkai mentioned that he was going out with his boyfriend, so I won't be un-chaperoned, right? And I really need to see my cousin, Seika-chan."

Cousin? Y- Yuko-kun had a cousin... so Yamada-san also had a cousin...

"O- Oh, that's nice!" I brightened for his sake. "T- That's fine. I don't think Nakamura-san would have a p- problem."

"Thanks, chibi-Boss!" Yuko-kun smiled, and I found myself smiling in answer.

"Have fun!" I called as Yuko-kun left, covering a yawn with one hand. I wanted to go back to the penthouse quickly...

The Arcadia Movement building was also a dormitory for Psychic Duelists with nowhere to go. Although the building could house about two thousand, only about a thousand were occupied at any time. Of course, Setsu-chan stayed here when her home was destroyed on the summer night Madame and Rafael-san were killed, and after she... disappeared... I inherited the small apartment as well. Nakamura-san lived there as well, in an adjoining apartment. It was comfortable, being mostly woods and teak, and several bookshelves. Some of them looked to have been cruelly used.

I ignored the suspicious stain on the nearest bookshelf when I entered the place, instead going for the kitchen and making a cup of hot chocolate. I watched the steam rise, and I realised that Uzuki and Hazuki-nee were already somewhere else, that Uzuki was a Psychic Duelist, and now... that I was in Setsu-chan's apartment, drinking Setsu-chan's chocolate, and she was never coming back.

My hand found the star charm, the only reminder I had from Mama. Nii-chan was in the other world, with Setsu-chan... and no one was coming back. Papa died. Mother left. Setsu-chan and Nii-chan is gone. And Jii-chan... Baa-chan... Madame... Rafael-san... I only have Nakamura-san left, and I cannot help but think that he stays only because I am what is left of Setsu-chan. When Setsu-chan was of a happier time...

I drink some chocolate, and move to the coffee table. I take my deck and spread it out. Fortune Ladies, witches of fortune they are, yet they cannot reverse the fortunes of Nii-chan and Setsu-chan. Nii-chan, Setsu-chan... both of them are powerful Psychic Duelists, and they can see spirits as well. I cannot ever catch up to them, because they can do wonderful things.

Yet again, I am alone.

"I am alone," I whisper.

"Yeah, you are, hon," the voice speaks from the shadows and Henry erupted from a side alcove.

* * *

The thing about Youkai was that he was only one of a few Duelists that could fly. Although I knew that Reggie and Glen were the most active scouts, with more experience of flying by Duel Monster, Youkai still amazed me. He didn't actually summon a monster to ride, as much as jump swiftly across roofs and alcoves and various methods of jumping, the transition so smooth that he might as well be flying. Still, Youkai opted to ride pillion on Carpe Jugulum, my red and black D-Wheel, and so we were heading for the Tops to meet Youkai's new friend with Yamada Yuko, the ice-face Yukio's twin.

I know... DNA is amazing.

"You're a lazy sod and I don't know why are we still dating," I muttered.

"You love me," Youkai cheekily replied. "But it's a good question. It feels like we've been dating for... five years? Wow."

Over the Multi-Voice System, Yuko's choking laugh could be heard.

"Suck it up," I snarled, but conceded Yuko's surprise. Maybe because both of us were waiting for the other shoe to drop, and so we didn't really have any expectations beyond 'live together, survive and fuck everything else'. Either way, I just realised that my first relationship had actually lasted five _years_. Through _high school_.

"Besides, Kujaku isn't around," Youkai muttered sadly. "She might be rather stuck-up, but she's a very good Duelist, excellent even. And she could command the winds to give me a challenge."

I grunted.

"Chase," Youkai gently murmured. "I know that in your head, you just said something that makes sense to you. But, the moment it moved from your mind to your mouth, it grew fur, beat its chest and started howling at the moon."

"Enlighten me."

I could feel Youkai rolling his eyes. "Aquila... okay, Kujaku, she's the grand-daughter of Jounochi Katsuya, who's one of the Big Three alongside Kaiba _and_ Yuugi Mutou. She's literally Duelist royalty, and there are people who abuse that trust she has."

"Okay, I get that," I nodded. The entire Team Black Knights could be counted as Duelist royalty as well, but the difference was that we actually didn't descend from _really_ legendary Duelists, just generationally legendary Duelists.

"Now, as a Psychic who can literally control the winds, along with being the grand-daughter of Kujaku Mai, can you imagine what she went through?" Youkai asked. "Some thinks she's a literal harpy, while others say that she's Kujaku Mai reincarnate even though Kujaku Mai is still alive somewhere. She hasn't been seen as a person, even with her parents. Her grandparents and her Duel master are the only ones whom she can get along with, plus the Arcadia Movement. And she's missing now."

The upcoming red light allowed me to glare at Youkai. "What are you getting at? Kujaku's missing. Uncle Crow is worried as well. There's nothing we can do yet. There's no point in condolences when we can find her. When we find her, if we do that, then we can go to Jounochi Katsuya and Uncle Crow, and tell her that we found her."

"A man of action, right after me," Youkai sighed, still clinging on tight around my waist. "So... I helped with the investigation, and signed myself up with the Neverland website."

"Yeah..." I drawled.

"And I'm attending the séance coming this Thursday."

I nearly braked and threw us off. "You-!"

"I'm going with backup!" Youkai whimpered, which did all manner of good things to my stomach. Or lower. Shit. "And... is that your cellphone, or are you happy to see me?"

"Haha, bastard," I muttered. "We're sitting on a vibrating engine and don't think you're immune either."

"Kinky~" Youkai wheedled.

A gagging came over the system. "_Please, stop flirting. If the both of you actually engage in motorcycle sex I might just have to gag._"

"No one asked you to listen in, and I'm on to you about Seika," I shot back as the two D-Wheels, Carpe Jugulum and Yuko's Dark Pandemic, parked by the Ace of Spades. It was a very nice bar that had quiet jazz, served fish and chips – bit odd, but I liked them – and was owned by yours truly. Even if I didn't actually have more money than KaibaCorp, I had enough to live as I liked.

The bouncer, Watanuki-san, saw us and waved us aside from the queue, lifting the barrier. A few grumbles echoed.

"Owner's privilege," I waved, pacifying a few people as Youkai and Yuko followed me into a dark-wood interior, complete with black-top bar that looked solid enough to dance on – and had been – plus a jazz band. "Rally-san!"

Rally, the bartender and old friend of the Professor, waved. "Chase! Here for the usual?"

"No, friends," I pointed. Rally was an old friend of the unusual extended family the Fudo, Atlas and me ran in, and so merited more than a second of conversation. A few more tips of the upcoming cards (Numbers were looking to become the latest of archetypes), a few exchanges (scotch vs bourbon, and what the average club-crawler liked), an update on the Ryuusei situation (hope, but not yet) and then we went on our merry way of bartender and customer.

"You're friends with the bartender as well?" Yuko hissed to me.

"Yuko... I'm the _owner_." I replied. "And Rally was a friend of the Professor when they were in Satellite, you know."

"Really?"

"Yes." I replied, turning to the two that Youkai dragged me to meet. "Introductions?"

"My younger cousin, Yamada Yuuki," Yuko pointed to the left one, and then the other. "And his friend, Kiyoshi. Guys, you remember Misawa Nowaki, and this is his boyfriend, Chase Princeton."

The usual greetings were exchanged, and I swallowed.

Yamada Yuuki – what is with the alliteration? – was around two inches taller than Youkai, who was one-five-six tops, with a slightly petite build and slightly more tanned skin than his older cousins. Unlike the Yamada twins as well, his hair was ruby-red, shoulder length hair with black streaks. His eyes were a calmer blue than the Yamada twins. He wore a dark purple shirt with shoulders cut opened, a pair of black cargo pants with dark red pockets and a few stripes at the bottom of the legs, matched with a pair of white Vans, fingerless gloves (the latest fashion trend for Duelists), and a ruby red gemstone pendant that glimmered in a way that looked expensive and yet cautious. A tip; limiter jewellery are not decorative pieces, but rather necessary in case any manner of natural disaster would happen around the average Psychic, and therefore made to be conspicuous. Though not everyone were on the level of Youkai, Yuko or even Yukio, on a good day the average Psychic could trash an apartment by their own will. I pity the poor mugger idiot enough to go for a psychic's limiter.

I was more focused on the other. Kiyoshi was slightly shorter than Youkai – which was not a hard feat for the average Japanese man – and slightly pale, but not like my boyfriend's vampiric complexion. His hair was hazel brown with black highlights, cut into a form of emo hair though I think he would have been more comfortable with a less outstanding hairstyle. One eye was covered with a black-dyed bang, and the remaining eye glimmered brown Kiyoshi wore a style similar to Yuuki, except that his own black long sleeved shirt was a bit too big for him and seems to cover his hands almost while slightly falling off his shoulders. This was matched with black jeans, black vans, and a single earring with an average sized black diamond on it. A lot of black, in other words, and yet he failed to look punk-ish and more of a kid trying to dress up older than he actually was.

Yet the Duel Spirit behind him seemed otherwise.

I took a step back. Kiyoshi's eyes widened as I looked at the dragon, which was not only malevolently black and blue, but also have yet to master the art of controlling its size. And it had two heads, must not forget the doubled maw that could easily chomp me and rip me in half without its claws. In this enclosed space, Youkai and I could distract it and evacuate-

"Chase?" Youkai looked at me, his scarlet eyes wide. "What...?"

"You too?" Kiyoshi whispered, his eyes wide. The dragon brandished its wings threateningly, and one of them went through Yuuki with no effects.

"Him?" Yuuki turned from Kiyoshi to me. "Oh... so you can see them as well?"

I debated, and decided. "Let's all sit down, shall we?" If the dragon wanted to eat me, it would have already.

"You too?" Yuko looked sad as he motioned to Yuuki's pendant.

Yuuki's smile turned wry. "I set the gym on fire two months ago. Dad was... different. I still have a home and everything."

"Thank everything," Yuko quietly muttered.

"So, with Kiyoshi and I..." Yuuki looked nervous. "We're... like Youkai and Princeton-san, I guess. I can set things on fire, and Kiyoshi can see spirits."

Kiyoshi quickly nodded.

"Only see them?" I cut in.

"Y- Yes," Kiyoshi swallowed, trying not to make his introduction obvious. "M- My partner... is Ophion. Evilswarm Ophion."

"How long?"

"S- Since I was eight."

"Is that relevant?" Yuuki asked politely as I winced.

"Quite," I sighed, glancing from the mutinous dragon to Kiyoshi. "I only started when I was sixteen. My uncle was Manjoume Jun, and apparently yes, those rumours were true, he can see spirits. In terms of years you have me beat there, but damn, you have a very... _nice_ partner."

"N- Nice?" Kiyoshi stuttered.

"He hasn't tried to take over your mind or lead you into danger or drive you insane yet," I rattled off every single anecdote of Rei trying his mind-whammy in an effort to bend my will into his sock-puppet. So far, it had had the opposite effect of improving my mental resistance, it was still a headache. "One time he tried to freeze me."

Kiyoshi's expression was one of gentle correctness. "He killed my foster family."

… well, I can't really say anything to that.

_Again, the shadows, _Rei muttered. _The darkness of the heart is strong in that boy, which makes him a perfect vessel for one such as the Verz tribe. The Evilswarm arm, I suppose._

"Joining the Movement? That's great!" Youkai was clearly trying to endear them to the Arcadia Movement, and that there was a place for Kiyoshi as Sanctuary if he could not make it at Central. Me, I was still staring at Kiyoshi.

"Do you actually want to join?" I asked Kiyoshi.

The conversation between the Psychics dimmed as they tried to overhear our question. A fat droplet dribbled off Kiyoshi's Coke to land on the paper coaster.

"Y- Yuuki wants to join," Kiyoshi whispered. "I- I don't want to be alone. I- I can't go anywhere."

"Really? But you're in Duel Academia Central," I pointed out gently.

"I- I don't like Central," It was said in barely a whisper. "The place makes me feel sick, especially around the Abandoned Dorm area. And Satellite... having to go through Satellite every time is sickening."

"I- I didn't know..." Yuuki murmured.

I closed my eyes, trying to feel what Kiyoshi was describing. I had no ill feelings about Satellite, and I had survived during the last GeneX tournament on Academy Island, so unless Kiyoshi was allergic, I don't know.

Rei?

_He could be attuned. Some humans have... was it empathy? Human lexicon is so limiting... either way, this boy could be reacting to the Three Phantom Demons' presence that lingers. And Satellite... it was the island where the Dark Signers and Signers did battle. It would not be strange for the remaining auras of conflict to show their presence._

Well, I could see Rei's point. Twenty years or so of peace still did not erase much of the impact of near-destruction on a city or country. And if Kiyoshi was that sensitive, I could tell that he would have a hard time. He was jumpy, trying to hide in the shadows, and I could tell that he was not about to actually stand up for himself. As if... as if there was some trauma, of being suppressed for a long time and still trying to find a place even after having hit rock bottom.

The Movement have a few cases like that. Psychics, mostly younger, being cruelly used, tortured, or worse. They don't really recover; I don't think anyone can recover fully from that kind of thing. But I'd seen good people, Reggie and Glen at work, even Kaido. Kaido taught meditation, hypnosis. Reggie was more of the school of tough knocks kind. Glen... well, Glen favoured electro-shock as much as the Watt-head could. Those were only a few of the special lessons covered by the Movement. I actually knew this because Shimotsuki had made me know where the hell my money was going, and it was one of the things I'd actually thank her for, to know that my money was doing something really good and active, besides feed hungry orphans and fund scholarships.

In the end, though? It's up to them. To step out of their comfort zones, trust people, and work to live. Shimotsuki had been very good at it; somehow, she managed to infuriate enough people to live their lives to the fullest just to spite her. It hadn't quite worked against her, but it was what they did, and it got results.

"Neo Domino isn't quite that peaceful, either," I sighed. "So, Yuuki... your cousin, Yuko?"

"Y- Yeah!" Yuuki interjected himself, actually grinning. "I... my cousins are fantastic. They were one of the best... back in Central. And they taught me how to Duel. I'm going to match them, you know?"

I looked at Yuko. "You were in _Central_?"

"Parents," Yuko shortly answered. "Nii-san and I transferred to Sanctuary after we met Boss. Never looked back."

"Dad still misses you guys, you know," Yuuki continued.

"And my parents?" Yuko did not look hopeful, just... resigned. Yuuki's face falling pretty much proved it. "I see."

"And... so, Yuuki," Youkai hurriedly interrupted. "What are you guys going to do in Neo Domino this summer break?"

"Well..." Yuuki swallowed. "After Kiyoshi and I joined, and settled in, Kiyoshi is going for some sort of convention this weekend. I don't quite know the details, but he arranged it through this website called Neverland, you know..."

"Convention?" I repeated, my heart sinking. "Is it a séance? I'm going as well."

"Y- Yes!" Kiyoshi actually stood straighter. "I- I thought, I can't be the only one who can see spirits... so, Yuuki and I are going together to see if there's anyone else! Oh, besides Princeton-san," he hurriedly added.

I raised a single eyebrow, and looking at the dragon.

_He will do what he wants. I will not stop him._

It took me a moment, but then I did a double-take, remembering to stifle my reaction in time. Unlike Rei's bass clarity, or another spirit's clearly inhuman voice, Ophion sounded like Lord Voldemort would in the Harry Potter movies; sibilant and creepy. Except Voldemort would probably kill for a voice like Ophion's.

"People have disappeared," I slowly answered. Higher-level spirits that could string something together with the attention span enough to focus on the conversation hated people stating the obvious facts, as if we were supposed to be economical with our voices. Then again, considering the emphasis they held on things like names and commands and actions, it could be reasonable to doubt. "At these conventions. Kiyoshi could become one of them."

_I do not care how many mortal insects have disappeared or been claimed. I know that this little one will not._

And apparently, the focus of high-level spirits tended to border on the obsessive. "But the danger exists. And there are threats in the physical world that even you cannot stop."

A laugh, like leaves rustling. _The little one's abusers did not seem so strong when my brethren were feasting on their minds._

Which pretty much gives you a pretty good idea of most Duel Spirits, right there.

_Do you know how they pleaded, spirit-caller? _It continued. I call it an it, because even a sentient being like that had no need of gender and procreation. _Against an orphaned whelp, small and scared and alone, they cruelly used him. The children he grew up with in that home of the carers, they laughed at his gift to see the two worlds and the truths. They cried as we hurt them back, and their parents cried with them. No, a swift death was not their fate, but rather a slow one...and we freed him, did we not? We did what we must._

I've been an orphan. I make it a point not to review them often. The memories amount to a nightmare that started with my parents dying in that accident, followed by years and years of feeling acutely, perpetually alone. Sure, there's a system in place, and I got lucky eventually, but it's far from perfect and it is, after all, a system. It is not a person looking out for you. It is forms and carbon copies and people with names you forget. The lucky kids more or less randomly get tapped by foster parents who genuinely care. But for all the rest, life turns into one big lesson on how to look out for yourself – because no one else in this world who cares enough to do it for you.

It's a horrible feeling. I don't care to experience even the faded memory – but if I just hear anything related aloud, that empty fear and quiet pain come rushing back from the darker corners of my mind. For a long time I'd been stupid enough to assume that I could handle everything on my own. That's vanity. Nobody can handle everything by themselves. Sometimes, you need help – even if that help is only giving a little of their time and attention. Or helping them with their resident homicidal Duel Spirit.

"I'm imagining it must be pretty hard to find another foster family," I spoke. I didn't realise that I spoke aloud until the conversation died once more.

Kiyoshi slowly blinked. "...yes. I- I don't need another one, though, so it... works out."

"I wasn't talking to you," I replied. "To the giant snake behind you. If this guy," I nodded at Yuuki, "hurts him? Just as a hypothetical scenario."

_Then his punishment shall be swift, but precise, as remembrance of the aid rendered._

Kiyoshi paled, having definitely heard that. "N- No! They're my friends!"

"News, kid," I shook my head. "They aren't human. Duel Monsters don't recognise things like social security or family or responsibilities. They don't recognise human government, laws or even moral conscience. Ophion sure as hell doesn't understand humanity all that well if he thinks killing your friends is going to protect you."

_There are worse qualities to have in a partner, _Rei helpfully pointed out in my head. I ignored him.

"B- But Ophion, he's my oldest f- friend," Kiyoshi stubbornly answered.

"_Of course_ it is," I replied. "But have you ever told it how you _felt_ about the fact? That it killed them?"

I was a young, headstrong brat, angry at the loss of his parents and Uncle Jun being away. I was running away from Uncle Jun's apartment and hiking it out. It took me three days, during which my food and water ran out, and then I was in Satisfaction Town. I was damned lucky, to be standing here when any number of horrible things could have happened to me back then. Of course, working in Satisfaction Town wasn't much of an improvement, but it was a start, and I found Rex and Ryuusei then. Uncle Jun... well, the neglect case was quickly dropped, but other than that, I'd fought to live. I could have died in the veritable desert between Satisfaction Town and Neo Domino, Officer Kazama, now Detective Kazama had told me. Adults certainly have, travelling with more than what I had carried then.

Youth, stupidity, and stubbornness. Yeah, and luck but Kiryu-sensei said the same thing about my qualities. Directly before saying that at least I had stood and fought, instead of wasting away into shadows. Apparently, the common things that united Dark Signers was a powerful will to live. That... was kind of eerie. I don't want to know what that says about me.

I don't know the facts yet, but it looks to me that Kiyoshi hadn't fought, hadn't found a way to survive beyond take the pain and hope. Had not chosen to report to someone. Had not chosen to run away and live on the streets, had not chosen to seek sanctuary with the Movement before all this. I have no right to say what I thought, because for all I know he could have been facing it all his life and fostering was certainly better than the orphanage. Even Martha's orphanage, for all of how nice it was, could hardly be good for children as a reminder that they were utterly alone and at the mercy of strange adults. I had no right to do that when I only survived due to sheer dumb luck, that he and I were completely different people.

I felt irritation. In my book, that was always better than pity. And in the long term, it would help better.

"Have you?" I pressed when Kiyoshi still hadn't answered. "Try that."

"I- I don't know what to feel," Kiyoshi whispered. "I- I don't know."

I leaned forward. "Then here's a tip, that most people don't share because frankly there aren't that many of us that I know. Whatever they can do to you, you can do it right back at them. But you have to _choose _to do it. Do you get me?"

Kiyoshi's eyes were wide, trying to twist his head around the concept. I could almost see the hamster running full-tilt. "C- Choose?"

"It's like your giant Nagini there and your friend," I stared at Yuuki, and then back at the Ophion, trying to get it to see me as a fellow predator rather than a victim. "Duel spirits have power, yeah, Nagini there already proved it. But they don't have the option of saying no. They _are_ what they're made – and some things are simply made cruel, bloodthirsty, or just evil, which is kind of a strong descriptor, but it is. We have options, choice. That's our strength and responsibility. Only animals and monsters can truthfully say that they can't be other than what they are. Yeah, Snaky is being nice, but in the only way he knows how, which is to be a trigger-happy murderer. But your friend, Yuuki, he could very easily make his own way, and he _chose_ to follow in the footsteps of his cousins."

Yuko choked as I said that. I think Youkai was calling me a sap in his head.

"It's like Dueling," I continued. "You can Duel, I can tell, and apparently you're making a name for yourself. I don't think you throw in and surrender when it gets bad. So use that. Make yourself face your monster, make yourself hurt that monster. And after that, you tell yourself what you choose."

It hissed. _I won't forget this insolence, mortal._

"_I_ probably would. It's nothing special." I turned to the other stunned men. "Anyone want a drink?"

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

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_**Please review!**_


	6. V: Destiny Board

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**V: Destiny Board**

I jump, keeping my deck ready, but then I realise that I have no DuelDisk. And that Henry did not have his helmet.

Henry had brown eyes and hair, and was definitely Caucasian. I do not know, for what I see is obscured by the mass of scar tissue that covers his face. It is at once horrifying and unusual. As I continued to stare at him, trying to gather my wits, I see that he is bleeding from a shallow cut on his face.

"H- How...?"

"Psychic or not, they aren't quite a match for my special abilities," Henry snickered. "Name's Dexter Towers, but I guess you already knew that. Keep calling me Henry."

"Y- You escaped," I lamely added.

"Way to state the obvious," he snarled, and suddenly the joking face was replaced by one of implacable anger. He took my DuelDisk from the other end of the coffee table, and flung it to me. I caught it, frowning. "We Duel again. But this time, the stakes are raised. Otherwise she might kill me..."

"S- She?" I cocked my head.

"Don't you get it?" he cackled. "The Arcadia Movement is at war, against the Summer and Winter spirits. I don't know why the hell, I don't ask. I'm just paid to deliver the brat to her."

"W- Why?" I asked quietly.

"Who knows," he shrugged. "But that nifty ability, damn, even the shadows can't do that... so, this will be a Duel of Darkness, missy. If you lose, you take a... shall we say penalty game? And if you forfeit, you take the penalty anyway. It's just business, you understand? Besides, if I cripple the Movement, I could net myself a bonus as well..."

"T- That's cruel!" I cried. "Why? Ryuusuke-san never did anything to anyone!"

"It's business, bitch," he snarled back. "Now are you going to Duel, or forfeit? Don't worry, missy. On the very small chance you win, I'll take the same thing as well."

"Isn't that even worse?" I asked. "I- I don't really have any will against you..."

"That doesn't matter!" he growled. "Do you know what that loss did? I might even have to start from scratch! Now draw and let's Duel already!"

"Duel!" we shouted.

Henry: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"Draw!" Henry cackled. "I'll kick things off, then! I play the Field Spell, Chronomaly City Babylon!"

The scene changed, from an apartment to the middle of a golden city, gleaming with plants and flora hanging from waterfalls and golden basins.

"So named for one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon," Henry snarled. "A relic beyond even today's modern technology, it is legendary! Now, because I control a Field Spell, I can special summon from my hand Chronomaly Tula Guardian [1800/900]!" A blocky green golem appeared on the field. "Now, I summon Chronomaly Golden Jet [1300/1400] to the field!" A golden arm gleamed as it descended. "I use the effect of Golden Jet to increase the level of all face-up Chronomaly monsters by one, so they're both level five! I create an overlay network with both monsters, Exceed Summon! Arise, Number 33: Chronomaly Machu Mech [2400/1500]!"

"N- Numbers?" my tongue tripped over the words. "The most famous Exceed monster archetype to date... and they haven't been released yet!"

"Yeah well, too bad!" Henry cackled as a bleak giant floating castle appeared. "My employers has some benefits, after all, and this rendition of Machu Picchu proves it! So, now I'll set a card and end my turn. It's to you now, missy."

"D- Draw!" I frown at the hand, before deciding that the strategy was as much as could be expected. "I play the Spell, Gold Sarcophagus, to banish Fortune Lady Lighty from my deck. Then, I play the Spell, Fortune's Future, to send her to my graveyard and draw two cards. Next, I shall summon the monster, Kinka-byo [400/200], which allows me to special summon a level one monster from my graveyard. Since I have a level one monster, appear, Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200]!"

"Again?" Henry commented as Lighty appeared in a blaze of gold light. "Well, it's a nice move, having two level one monsters."

"I set two cards and end my turn," I announced. "As Kinka-byo is a Spirit monster, it returns to my hand during the end phase, and with it Lighty is removed from play."

"Wait a sec- oh shit," Henry summed it up.

"Come, Fortune Lady Earthy [?/?], defend me!" I cried as the bespectacled oldest of the Fortune Ladies appeared, waving her staff before kneeling. "Earthy has attack and defence power equal to four hundred times her level, and her level right now is six [?/? → 2400/2400]."

"Draw!" Henry called. "Well, because I control a Chronomaly monster, I can activate the Spell, Palenque Sarcophagus and draw two cards. Then, because a normal Spell was activated this turn, I special summon Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem [1500/1000] by its own effect from my hand. I normal summon Chronomaly Cabrera Catapult [0/1800]. Since it's in attack mode, I can activate its effect, tributing Aztec Mask Golem to choose one monster you control, and I move Cabrera to defence mode. With it, the target monster's attack will become zero!"

"What?" Seika gasped.

"Now, the effect of Chronomaly Machu Mech activates!" Henry cackled as the castle began to whir. "Once per turn, I detach one Exceed material from it, and select one face-up monster you control, and inflict damage equal to the difference between that monster's original attack and its current attack! So Machu Mech, bombard her with Weathering Bomb!"

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 5600

Henry: LP 8000

I screamed as the castle shot down a beam of light that hit straight on, sending me back into the couch and slamming against the wall. "T- That... was real damage..."

"This is a Shadow Duel, missy!" Henry mocked. "You're betting your life now!"

"S- Shadow... Duel..." I whispered as I hit the floor. "S- Shadow Duel..."

"Are you afraid?" Henry laughed. "And I won't leave your monster alone either! Machu Mech gains attack power equal to the amount of damage inflicted, and it doesn't have a restriction or time limit either [2400/1500 → 4800/1500]! So, attack that Fortune Lady!"

"Trap card, Impenetrable Attack!" I called, releasing the trap. Earthy grimaced as she glowed, but gamely held back the blast.

"At the end phase, your Fortune Lady regains her strength [0/2400 → 2400/2400]," Henry finished. "Turn end."

"Draw!" I called. "At standby phase, Earthy gains one level [2400/2400 → 2800/2800], and with that, at this time her effect activates! Each time her level increases, you take four hundred damage! Go, Cursed Skewer!" As I called, Earthy waved her staff, and several spikes jutted out to cut at Henry.

Henry: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Seika: LP 5600

"Heh- heh, this damage is nothing," he waved. "But, doesn't this mean that my Machu Mech has more power next turn?"

"I see," I neutrally replied. "I summon Fortune Lady Windy [?/?] to the field!"

Another robed witch, this one green and with short hair, stood and defended as well as she could. "Fortune Lady Windy gains three hundred attack and defence power for every level she has, and right now she is level three [?/? → 900/900]. Also, when she is normal summoned, Windy will destroy Spells and Traps my opponent controls equal to the number of Fortune Ladies on the field. You have only two, and I control two Fortune Ladies, so go! Winds of Fate!"

Her breeze blew, and the illusion around us shattered as well as Henry's face-down card, the castle that was Machu Mech hanging in the air.

"Then, quick-play Spell, Magical Dimension!" I called, praying on Setsu-chan's suggestion. "I tribute Windy, and special summon from my hand Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]! Now, the other effect of Magical Dimension activates, and Machu Mech is destroyed!"

"What? No!" Henry growled as the castle shattered and was dragged piece by piece into the waiting graveyard.

"Now, I move Earthy into attack mode!" I called and my Lady looked pleased as she hefted her staff, her sister beside her also looking quite upset. "Fortune Lady Darky, Cabrera Catapult with Dark Fate!"

Darky lifted her staff and cut through the golem quickly.

"Right now, the effect of Darky activates; when a Fortune Lady destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can revive one Fortune Lady, so return to us, Windy!"

Windy reappeared, smiling as she now saw that Henry was unprotected. Earthy joined her.

"Direct attack with Cursed Skewer and Winds of Fate!" Spikes and squalls coincided, and Henry was thrown back.

Henry: LP 7600 → LP 3900

Seika: LP 5600

"T- Turn end," I shivered. It was so cold...

"Draw!" Henry called. "Because I control no monsters and my opponent does, I special summon Chronomaly Crystal Bones [1300/400] from my graveyard, and use its effect to special summon one Chronomaly monster from the graveyard, such as Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem [1500/1000]! Now I tribute Crystal Bones to summon Chronomaly Sol Monolith [600/600] and therefore, Mask Golem is also treated as a level six monster. I create an overlay network with these two monsters, Exceed summon! Arise, Number 6: Chronomaly Atlandis [2600/3000]!"

"W- What?" I cried out as the monster appeared, resembling a large island that had sprouted arms and legs. "T- Two Number cards...? But, in defence mode...?"

"When this card is Exceed summoned, I can take a Number monster and attach it as an equip Spell to Atlandis," Henry explained as Machu Mech reappeared, attaching to the island. "Atlandis then gains half the attack power of the equip [2600/3000 → 3800/3000]. Of course, the legendary city of Atlantis cannot have such a basic effect. Its real effect is this; by detaching one Exceed material and sending the equipped monster to the graveyard and halve my opponent's life points!"

"E- Eh?" I backed slightly as the blast cascaded down. "It hurts!"

Seika: LP 5600 → LP 2800

Henry: LP 3900

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Henry gloated. "This isn't even my full power! I got cocky, and then _you_ happened! Why did I have to fight you of all people there... no one wants you! You're trash right next to the boss that used to rule this place! Unwanted, unloved, only kept because of pity!"

"N- No!" I protested.

"Then why are you here? Why aren't you downstairs with the rest of the weak little delicate monsters this place houses?" Henry shouted. "They're just waiting for you to fail, and you know it! You've just been set up for the eventual failure of the Arcadia Movement! Without Shimotsuki Setsuka, the Movement is nothing! Face it, you've been abandoned! I'll set a card and end my turn! If next turn, you can't finish me off, I'll get to you first! But... my Atlandis has three thousand attack power, your monsters can't quite touch it yet."

Unwanted...? Unloved...? N- No! I... Papa had died... Mama is gone... Jii-chan and Baa-chan... Nii-chan... Setsu-chan... Yamada-san glaring at me... Hart-san and her pity... Nakamura-san being silent... and I am left alone to hold this Movement together. What kind of will would place a child as head of the Movement...? It's obvious that I was intended to fail at the start. In the end, I am alone... but I don't want to be.

"No," a voice disagreed behind me. "You're not alone."

Just then there was a sound: a shriek, a blast of cruel trumpets that sounded as if whoever blew them was being beaten. The shadows seemed to gather, before they _ripped_; the oppressive atmosphere of the room lifted, and with it gone I could breathe much easier. It grew much colder, and then with the sound of wings grew the presence that ended up with that girl.

The girl had long curling blonde hair, and was very mature and pretty. She wore a short-sleeved dark green coat over her white tube top, laced like a corset, along with forest green high-heeled boots that reached to her calf. This was matched with dark shorts and a deck holder strapped to her thigh, along with elbow-long fingerless gloves. Her brown eyes gleamed amber, like some hawk about to leap upon its prey, and the way she gazed at Henry was some indication of that fact.

"You're not supposed to attack the Movement, you know," the girl remarked. "The Queen will not be pleased."

"Piss off, harpy," Henry rebutted. "Shouldn't you be with her right now?"

"You are not supposed to be attacking Kannazuki Seika," the girl echoed, her voice harsher, as if steel was being bent. "Kannazuki."

"Y- Yes!" I jumped.

"Kick his ass," she winked. "I'm here for you!"

"I... yes!" I nodded, getting back to my hand. "Draw!"

"What?" Henry grumbled. "My monster has twenty-six hundred..."

"During my standby phase, Earthy [2800/2800 → 3200/3200], Darky [2000/2000] and Windy [900/900 → 1200/1200] gain one level," I declared as Earthy rose and threw her conjured spikes at him.

Henry: LP 3900 → LP 3500

Seika: LP 2800

"I play Fortune's Future again to draw two cards at the cost of returning my Lighty!"  
I called. "The pieces of victory are here! Now, I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that set card!"

"Ah! My Scrubbed Raid..." he sighed.

"Now, I activate the Spell, Mini-Guts!" I called. "By tributing Fortune Lady Windy, I choose one monster you control and its attack becomes zero until the end phase!"

"Z- Zero?" Henry's mouth flew open as Atlandis [2600/3000 → 0/3000] glowed. "B- But..."

"Fortune Lady Earthy, destroy that Atlandis!" I called. "Cursed Skewer!"

Earthy triumphantly raised her staff. Spikes rose from the earth and impaled it, and the giant monster screamed before it shattered.

Henry: LP 3900 → LP 1300

Seika: LP 2800

"Right now, Darky's effect activates! Bond of Fate!" I called as Lighty reappeared, winking as Darky and her high-fived. "Darky, direct attack on Henry with your Dark Fate!"

Expertly twirling her staff, Darky gave a cry as she cast her dark power and threw Henry back.

Henry: LP 1300 → LP 0

Seika: LP 2800

"I... I lost again..." Henry whimpered as he fell to his knees. Wisps of shadows gathered around him, and I gasped as his scars became more emphasised. "W- Why... W- What's happening to me?"

I drew a breath as I realised that Darky was still here, and so was Lighty. Lighty bore a sad, resolved expression as Darky raised her staff, the sharp end pointed down. "L- Lighty? D- Darky?"

"Wait," the girl interceded. "Let him live to see his punishment."

Both my Ladies considered, before wordlessly stepping back. Henry scrabbled away. "N- No, I'm not going to that bitch, definitely not, never..."

"You tried to kill Kannazuki Seika," the girl tonelessly replied. "It is time to face the consequences."

He screamed, and it was horrible. Black ice gathered around his arms and legs, bound together in a chain of black ice that looked difficult to break. It was clouded over, and Henry screamed as he thrashed, trying to fight and failing. From him leaked a dozen or more wisps of shadow, and I gasped as they flowed free, tangled in my hand, soft and cold like good silk, like the ribbon Setsu-chan would use.

"W- Wait!" I called. "I... we need to keep him."

The girl glanced at me for a long moment, and then nodded once, sharply. She clicked her tongue, and the shackles fell apart.

"So, I'll just be leaving then," she winked once more. "Tell Sylph that Aquila will fall from the skies once more."

"A- Aquila...?" I stared as the girl, Aquila, whirled and... and disappeared, leaving me with Henry's rasping breaths.

I screamed.

* * *

Luckily, I was well away from the Ace of Spades and on the way back with about three Psychic Duelists when the explosion sounded.

A bit further away, they aren't quite powerful, but when you're close enough... yeah. There's virtually no way to convey the sheer violence of it. It doesn't really register as a sound, the way a gunshot will. There's just this single, terrible ___power _in the air, like a sudden hammer blow of disorienting pressure. Even if something sharp and fast doesn't go flying through some of your favourite organs, a nearby explosion leaves you half-blind, deaf, and drunkenly impaired. Vulnerable.

A screech, and the hooves sounded on the pavement. It was a horse, in fact a freaking unicorn, and atop it rode a rider dressed in red and gold armour. The rider was also holding a sword, some affair with a green-tinted blade, and it looked wickedly sharp even at night. The horse tossed its head back and whinnied and the rider held up his sword, charging to my right. To Kiyoshi.

"Move!" I hissed, grabbing the shaking seer and pulling him out of a sudden beheading on horseback. Given the momentum of the horse, the rider could hardly recover in time to backtrack, but by then I had already pulled Kiyoshi to his feet.

"Oh God," Kiyoshi breathed as he glanced at the rider and horse. "Evilswarm Thanatos."

Okay, I had a name, but no effect. "Ability?" I prompted.

"I..." Kiyoshi seized. "I..."

The horse pawed again, and the rider lowered his sword, still aiming at Kiyoshi but now not moving. The air of unease grew as Youkai landed neatly on his feet, and Yuko and Yuuki joined him.

Psychics nowadays, especially those with a job with the Movement, had one very strong advantage: they were used to competing, working and facing monsters. They might not have a whole ton of training in unarmed combat besides planting elbows and knees into uncomfortable places, but they did have considerable experience with being in dicey situations against things that were bigger, stronger, faster, and motivated to end their lives, not to mention a whole arsenal of cool powers in their deck.

As for me, Duel Monsters pretty much inured me to the sight of howling monsters, and having a Psychic for a boyfriend usually meant that I got training available in how to dodge holographic monsters that still _hurt, _on top of having the psychological advantage of being used to competing outside my weight class.. And now, there was the advantage of numbers, which meant that frequently, we could do what children did; scatter and run. Of course, it was usually a prelude to bad things...

Pain is an excellent motivator to continue training against things that could slice through your outside to get to the delicate insides.

The Evilswarm Thanatos knew how to kill, but by not directly attacking, or not dismounting, it had tipped its hand: it was being cautious. Sure, he was a predator, but in nature predators generally go after the weak, the sick, the aged, and the isolated. Solitary predators almost exclusively hunt by attacking from surprise, where they have every advantage in their favour. Predators don't like to pick fair fights, or lose advantage. It runs counter to their nature and robs them of many of their advantages.

In the past two years, when shit was growing ever more in the world, never mind Neo Domino, I've seen a lot of things that hunted people in my time, and they are a professional hazard. I can roughly guess how they operate. It had attacked by surprise, and that told me that the monster probably wasn't used to this kind of open confrontation.

"You," I pointed to Kiyoshi, who had frozen. "Ability."

"Erm..." Kiyoshi swallowed. "Either player's turn, detach one material, no longer affected by monster effects for one turn."

"Good," I smirked. "Youkai, got a knife?"

My boyfriend sighed, handing over the definitely not legal butterfly knife. Although I used a ballpoint pen knife myself, it was going to be impractical for what I intended it for. I flipped it, noting how smooth it was. "Hey, this is your eighteenth birthday present."

"Imagine my surprise," was Youkai's droll reply. "There's no Psychic around controlling it."

"The thing is, why would anyone want to kill him?" I muttered, peeking at Ophion. The dark dragon was currently curled around Kiyoshi, and judging from Yuuki's expression, the Wonder Cousins hadn't seen it.

"Hey!" Taking Youkai's hand on one while gripping the knife between us, I reached over, and slapped Yuuki and Yuko upside the head with the other.

"W- What was-" Yuuki's surprise faded as he came face-to-face with the situation and the monster. Yuko's eyes widened, but said nothing.

"Evilswarm Thanatos," Youkai assessed, calmly and without rushing. I have no idea what Shimotsuki had placed the Misawa cousins through, but the only other Misawa I was in regular contact with could slice skin with a chopstick and strangle with a vine. They were all pretty scary, but those who had gone through the hell specially prepared by Shimotsuki were scarier.

And my boyfriend was one of them.

I handed the kept knife back to Youkai, who absently took it back. "Do we have a plan?"

"Will 'run away' help?" he asked. "It's a _Duel Monster_. None of us are quite geared for combat with a fully armed Duel Monster, you know. Well, you could use a DuelDisk..."

"We need to defeat it," Yuko considered.

"Yeah... maybe..." Youkai tilted his head. "It's not Halloween. It's not Duel Monsters Spirit Day, which I'm pretty sure was May the first. So our bad costume party could only have come with someone to provide power to make it solid. Chase?"

"You and me, we can distract it," I shifted, taking my jacket off and fanning myself to keep up the pantomime. "Yuuki, you take your friend. Ever set things on fire before?"

"N- No?" Yuuki hazarded.

I glanced at his pale face. "Try. Yuko, you find the summoner. Youkai, I need you to follow Yuko and get into position."

"What are you doing?" My boyfriend sighed, but was already following the blue-haired Psychic.

Yuuki was dragging Kiyoshi up, glaring at Ophion but remaining silent. Smart; the Thanatos was still glancing at me, and then at Kiyoshi, clearly debating between going for me and going for the other guy. It proved that not only was it aiming for Kiyoshi, but also one other fact. That it wasn't all that smart.

My cotton sweater was blood-red, and very warm. If something happened to it, I would be really cheesed off, but right now all I could think of was how suicidal this was. Yet, if I bolted, the whole plan would fail. Now, it was time to see how my stubbornness translated to staying in one place while something motivated to end my life rushed at me.

The horse pawed the ground, and the rider looked stunned as I not only cut loose and ran, but also took my coat in both hands and waved it by my side.

"Yeah, that's right," I muttered. "Come get me, colour-blind bastard!"

It might not be that smart, but any monster could guess when I was dissing them. The horse, which resembled a certain Demonic Roar Beast Unicore which I totally hated, charged, and its rider held the sword aloft.

For one thing, bullfighting might look simple and cool, but it was also dangerous. It's basically facing a charging bull that was not only really strong, but also had really large horns that were used to defend from the natural predators of the world, and armed with a knife. Or a sword. Which might still do nothing against a skin which _leather_ was made from.

The Evilswarm Thanatos might as well be a charging tank, and if I ran, it would certainly come after me faster than anything else. Yeah, as I stood there, my knees were shaking, and I could almost see the horse's teeth and the glint of the sword. If I wanted to survive the next few minutes, I had to find a way to steal that momentum for myself.

"Now!" I shouted.

There are roughly three key advantages to horsemen. For one thing, high speed movement, to be able to move fast across the battlefield. For another thing, mobility, to be able to hit at the enemy's weak spot fast. The final is its penetrative power; the horseman's power alone isn't very strong because they usually don't use a two-handed weapon, but combined with the powerhouse of a horse plus being able to attack from a higher position meant that the horseman could make up for his own lack and become an extremely powerful penetrator. That's the main exercise the cavalry is based on; get a lot of power and momentum moving at once, and it's difficult to withstand. But momentum can go both ways.

So, I threw my leather duster up, and the thing, being mostly leather, more or less went in the direction I wanted it to; to block the rider's sight line. At the same time, a black and white blur dived down, bouncing against the nearest street-light to clip against the horse before flipping up and landing on his feet.

The horse screamed as it went tumbling down, and the rider with it, and I dived out of the way. From its fore-quarters, the butterfly knife was sticking out, the blade driven in with Youkai's own momentum and aerokinesis. It took guts to actually stand there while that thing was charging at you, but I had been relatively safe; I could have dodged. On the other hand, it took a different kind of sheer ballsy nerve to do what Youkai had done, and throw himself at the mercy of the horse's hooves to clip it something fierce. But he was laughing; the bastard was laughing, his cerise eyes alight something fierce with the joy of having come into danger and lived, like the spirits of the wind that Youkai was nicknamed Sylph for, the Sylph of the Arcadia Movement.

But the rider was ahead of us; while the horse could not react in time to stop his mount or to avoid Youkai, he threw himself clear as his horse went down, dropped into a roll as nimble and precise as any martial arts movie aficionado could desire, and came up on his feet, sword still in hand. I was torn between horror and admiration, it was _that_ good. He spun, sword whipping for my neck.

Wings fluttered, and the giant humanoid insect-monster thing rammed him, sending him back. The monster crouched, wider than the Evilswarm, and its tail whipped slowly. It growled, almost identically to the bellow of the Thanatos. Abovehead, Evilswarm Ophion crouched, its draconic form inspiring terror beyond anything the two Fiends could. Sure, they were Fiends, demons, but dragons had been dominating in Duel Monsters since the start of the game, and it was already clear which of them were the stronger.

I guess Kiyoshi handed the card over to a Psychic, or Yuuki. The two of them looked real cosy.

Barely deterred, the rider, the Evilswarm Thanatos, lifted the sabre and made a motion, a slicing one around his throat area. I had a pretty good idea what he meant.

_There is more than extermination to us, _the dragon answered, and if it weren't for the cadences being wholly alien, like a voice synthesiser, I would have sworn that it sounded sorrowful. _You know that, Thanatos._

Another wave, a chorus of angry sounds that did not sound like any language familiar to the human tongue. Sort of like those cartoons where phone conversations is gibberish in a high-pitched voice. It still made a suitably threatening sound.

I sighed as a warm breeze blew past. The horse gave a piteous scream.

Taking the sword into a two-handed stance, the fiendish warrior would have moved if not for a single strike. Ice crystallised over, a swirled spear that jutted out of the concrete... and through the Evilswarm.

I looked up. Perched on a street-light like the Black Cat was a girl. The girl had long curling blonde hair, and was very mature and pretty. She wore a short-sleeved dark green coat over her white tube top, laced like a corset, along with forest green high-heeled boots that reached to her calf. This was matched with dark shorts and a deck holder strapped to her thigh, complete with elbow-long fingerless gloves. Her brown eyes gleamed amber, like some hawk about to leap upon its prey, and the way she gazed down was some indication of that fact.

She was also impossibly, improbably familiar.

"K- Kujaku?" Youkai glanced up. "Is that you?"

The Evilswarm Thanatos glared once more. "_.neeuQ retniW eht fo rotivreS .uoY_" And then it threw down, a dark blast of shadow arcing for her.

Kujaku Satsuki flipped up, and in one hand she brandished a whip. She threw, and the barbed leather not only managed to cut through the blast and dissipate it, but also cut at the monster's head. It screamed, before it shattered, and I saw that Kujaku's armour glinted in the faint street-light that hadn't been destroyed by the arc of the blast a bit further away.

I don't know a lot about armour, but the Cyber Bondage is a pretty distinct card.

"W- What...?" Youkai glanced from Satsuki, to the lance of ice, and back. "S- Satsuki...?"

"Neverland," she clearly stated, before straightening her stance so that only one foot supported her on that street-light. Her head shifted to Ophion, and two figures, one holding a DuelDisk ready. "The one named Kiyoshi."

Trembling, Kiyoshi nodded sharply once.

A small smile. "Winter sends her greetings."

"Wait!" I called. "Where did you go? What happened to Ryuusei? Why are you working for Shimotsuki? That's her ice, her power!"

"Neverland. Hotel convention." She nodded sharply, once, and then whirled on one foot- to disappear. Leaving no trace as the ice crumbled and the monster shattered.

Youkai gave a small chuckle. "It's always exciting with you, Chase."

"_Shut up_."

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
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_**Please review!**_


	7. VI: Gather Your Mind

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**VI: Gather Your Mind**

There was almost no time after Henry's body was dragged out of the apartment. I was ushered by Nakamura-san out, to the main office which Chase-nii insisted on calling the Oblong Office – I don't get the joke – and given hot chocolate. Hazuki-nee and Uzuki were very comforting, asking a few questions about how Henry managed to break in, what had happened. Kaido-san asked a few more questions, looking more grave when I mentioned the shadows, and then told me that Henry, or Dexter Towers, had died.

I felt sick, even as I fell asleep.

I was running in my dream. My legs are aching and I couldn't catch my breath, and I kept going. I was being chased, though I didn't know by what. I only knew it was close behind me, and it would strike the moment I slowed down or showed any weariness.

The scenery around me kept changing. Sometimes the ground beneath my feet was an uneven forest floor, with wild undergrowth that threatened to catch my feet and ankles and send me tumbling to the ground. Other times, it was hard pavement, unforgiving under my bare feet. I looked around at the rainy Neo Domino night I was running through. Except it wasn't just Neo Domino. It was a jungle. Vines and untamed plant life mingled with the buildings, urban fortress and damp rainforest coexisting. Overhead, mountains rose high, impossibly high in the air, the Infinity Monument a bare sight where there should be sea.

I urged myself to go faster. I felt heavy, my body and clothes saturated from the downpour. It was slowing me down. I risked taking a moment to tear off my school jacket, slightly lighter.

A blast of cold air made me shiver, though I was sweating. Some of the rain turned to snow, even though that was impossible. The dream world around me couldn't decide if it wanted to be balmy and humid or freezing.

I raced into a clearing, and I saw her. "Madame!"

Shimotsuki Seiran just smiled, and it was sad. "My child."

I ran to the Madame. The snow was getting thicker, making it harder to navigate the jungle floor. I stumbled a few times, managing not to topple over onto my face. The Madame caught me, and smiled.

I heard a growl, low and menacing. Eventually I looked behind me, still heaving. I couldn't not. The curiosity and fear hurt more than my aching feet.

It blended in with the snow, its fur dusty grey, with black stripes. The tiger's body was sleek and powerful and covered in warped armour decorated with stylised snowflakes, but it was so very graceful as it stalked forward. I gasped, but it didn't charge or pounce, just kept at its own pace, assured.

"M- Madame, we have to run," I whimpered, tugging on the hem of her white dress. "M- Madame..."

"Why, child, this is nothing," the Madame whispered. She drew a knife, the metal gleaming in the faint moonlight. A small laugh echoed around, and she faced the tiger. "This is my child, tiger prince-ling. I assume my daughter has been making her preparations?"

"As much as the Cold Queen may, with the Warm King," the tiger rumbled. "A pretty child, but not yours, is she?"

"Mine in spirit," the Madame answered. "I will not lose this daughter to your war either."

The tiger's head tilted. "Her blood speaks otherwise. She is a changeling, born of two worlds and yet belonging in neither. You can no longer protect her as you may live."

"I am here. And the dead do not care about such things," the Madame defended. "Seika, listen to me."

"Y- Yes," I stuttered.

"You were born for a reason," the Madame looked sad. "I- I knew this would come. I knew that your birth would mean the start of something. Kannazuki Seika... the star flower of the godless moon. The issue is, do you?"

"No!" I answered. "What would come? What does it mean, that I was born for something? I- I don't understand!"

"Silly child," the Madame shook her head. "It means that you are of neither world. Your blood came partly of the shadows, and that is why you can command the shadows to fight and win the game. Your bones are human, and so you know human weakness, and the human spirit. It means that your mother was not human, but a Duel Spirit made flesh."

"I- Is that even possible?" I asked. "D- Duel Spirits... I'm human! Papa was human! H- How?"

"Why not?" the Madame asked. "It has been done. Why can this not be possible? There is no shame in such things, in descending from either world. But, like any force of creation, there is also a force of destruction, each following the other."

I gasp, because I had felt the knife slide between my ribs. "M- Madame...?"

The Madame's face was serene, even as she held onto the knife she had driven into my heart. "Sleep, child. Sleep the dreamless sleep and wake in the sunless lands." Her eyes glimmered. "You will be the star of worlds."

"N- No! I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" I cry.

"Then fight." her weight bore me down, and the Madame's lips pulled wide in a manic smile. "Fight for the right to live. Fight to live. Fight those who would kill you to continue. Fight, and live..."

"Madame!" I shot up, cold sweat damp on my neck and shivering.

Yuko dropped a cup. I realised that I was in the infirmary, and wrapped in white sheets. Beside Yuko were two boys, who looked slightly younger than him. "S- Seika-chan?"

I look at Yuko, his blue eyes wide, and I started to cry.

* * *

So, our latest missing psychic turns up with a set of really cool ice powers, kills a monster with a Rose Whip, and disappears into thin air. And we were at a complete failure to explain it. Except the disappearing trick; Youkai pulled it, just to show off.

Mainly, I was like, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Anyway... after our completely accidental blowing up of part of the Tops district, we came to the Movement, and we found Dexter Towers's body in the penthouse. With Seika.

Seika had fallen asleep, had a nightmare, and Yuko was currently halfway to cardiac arrest over her. It's almost endearing, seeing him carry a torch. _Almost_. "Er, erm..." Yuko gave up and just let her cry.

Kaido's face was expressionless, and bags under his eyes indicated that he hadn't taken the nap that Satoshi usually made him. I'm pretty sure that sort-of life partners do that thing they do. Yuuki and Kiyoshi both look tired and shell-shocked, though I was pretty sure that they weren't about to PTSD from that little explosion. Youkai was slumped, also half-asleep – which was pretty understandable. The Professor and Aki-sensei and Rex were staying in the Movement, and right now the Professor was checking the systems while Aki-sensei threw the body out with Nakamura-san.

When the adrenaline rush died off, and the crisis was over, there was that one step where you kind of stew and wonder; what happens next? It's very weird. It's like a kairotic moment where you realise that you're alive, and just glorying of the fact. That you're alive. That tomorrow is still there. At night, it could be more intense.

Or that's how I figure it. Nothing to do but sit and think. I'm alive, so what to do next? It hurts, waiting. Staying in one spot and being trapped in my own thoughts and the wheel is going around and around and around...

Focus. Consider. Shimotsuki's games had screwed with us enough, and while we might not have saved Ryuusei, we jolly well managed to anticipate her. What's wrong?

Seika was attacked. Kiyoshi was attacked. And probably would have been killed.

Seika was the head of the Movement. If she died... if she died, it would go all to Jimmy. Jimmy Cook, who had no grudge against Seika. Who loved Seika like Shimotsuki, as much as the ice queen could have loved. There had never been a doubt that Shimotsuki cared for Seika, in her own way. So why? An accident? Dexter Towers holding a grudge? The second one might be more likely; weirdness and psychosis spotted that guy's records like ink. Kaido was still trying to get the records from the New York Movement. Seika was saved by Kujaku Satsuki. Why? And Kujaku had ice powers. A gift from Shimotsuki?

On the subject of Shimotsuki... Satsuki had extended greetings from Shimotsuki to Kiyoshi. One: Satsuki disappeared mysteriously. Then she reappeared, with ice powers and a disappearing act that could only be courtesy of Shimotsuki, unless there was something out there that thought like her. Number two: Satsuki didn't do anything to us, even though spirits had been attacking Neo Domino, presumably ordered by the Winter Queen...

...which meant that there was probably a third party, and we being humans just jumped to a conclusion. That could make sense, too.

Either way, that stunt indirectly proved that Shimotsuki Setsuka was alive, at least. Which was all kinds of scary. To get an idea of how scary Shimotsuki Setsuka was, I once accidentally saw her murder someone. There was nothing left. Not even an _atom_. The victim disappeared her without blinking an eye. _That_ is how scary Shimotsuki could be. I faced down monsters, I mouth off to dragons, and Shimotsuki terrifies the shit out of me. If she was gunning for Kiyoshi... I could only pity him. Shimotsuki was resourceful, patient and surprisingly vengeful. She keeps score, and she always settles the score.

So, the question of the hour was: why? Kiyoshi was no member of the Movement (yet); he wasn't the type to seek out help first. Second, Kiyoshi was targeted by an Evilswarm monster, when he himself held a Duel Spirit partner that was part of the Evilswarm. Which is a bit of an oxymoron, but so there.

And why target Kiyoshi anyway? Murdering Kiyoshi would do nothing, except maybe cheese off Ophion, and from my experience with them, Duel Spirits don't tend to think much about death and things like mortality. It's not bad, per se, it's... _them_. They wouldn't think much of a few decades. So the thing is, Kiyoshi might as well be a moment of entertainment. Or maybe I've been hanging out with the wrong spirits, and Ophion was a _nice_ spirit. Except _nice_ spirits don't resort to murder. Nice spirits usually do mind control when they can, but that's neither here nor there.

The more I thought about it, it didn't make sense. For one thing, if Shimotsuki was behind it, we'd never have a chance to come into contact. Kiyoshi would have _disappeared_. For another, Kujaku Satsuki claimed that 'Winter sends her greetings' after saving Kiyoshi. Which meant that either Shimotsuki or Kujaku was protecting Kiyoshi for some unknown reason, or they wanted their own vengeance.

..._Nah_. Kujaku and Kiyoshi could not have met before, Kiyoshi being the loner type and Kujaku mainly invested in her own stuff. Kiyoshi could not have suffered abuse if Shimotsuki had known of him; call her many things, but Shimotsuki was scarily protective. I hear that abusers consider her the bogeyman. Neither of them would have intervened if an enemy of theirs was about to be chopped to death, and I don't think Kiyoshi could offend a mouse, never mind our female Lord Vetinari or Kujaku. Besides, there was barely anything about Kiyoshi that would attract their attention, except that he could see spirits...

… and his spirit partner was one of three Exceed monsters I've heard of that were the boss monsters of one of Duel Monsters' most controversially evil archetypes.

Seika's crying had stopped. I didn't hear Youkai calling me until I was in front of a stunned Kiyoshi. "We need to talk."

"Er... yes?" Kiyoshi hazarded.

"Not to you," I snapped. "No offence, but I get the feeling that Ophion is at the heart of this."

The dragon's shadow appeared as Kiyoshi settled. "Well... are you sure? Because-"

I looked at Kiyoshi. "Believe me if you want to live once you step out of this building."

Yuuki bristled. Kiyoshi shrank. Ophion had no visible reaction.

"You see, usually Duel Spirits of the same archetype don't attack each other," I reasoned. "And certainly not stronger monsters, at least not in front of witnesses. Not to mention, with a Duelist holding a particular archetype, they really won't take that much risk to kill them when there are other options. Duelists are their power, and if there's one thing high spirits really care about, it's power. Look at Jinzo, look at the cases of the Duel Academia with Yuuki Judai. That Evilswarm Thanatos was pushing the envelope when it targeted Kiyoshi specifically, and didn't take a pot-shot at us when the others were closer. It's like family relations; better or worse, the little brother that you feel cheesed off by is the one who's got your back when it's your tribe against the world."

"So evil spirits also have morals," Kaido thoughtfully observed. "Makes sense. When you're spending potentially eternity around a group, they tend to stick up for each other out of prudence rather than anything else."

"I have known only one case where there are Duel spirits who strike against their own archetype's Duelists." I leaned forward, into Kiyoshi's wide-eyed expression. "There is only one explanation; intra-tribal conflict. The Evilswarm are at war with each other."

I was willing to bet that even if Ophion could whistle up a lot of the Evilswarm to rend my brain for mouthing off to him, he wouldn't do it when Kiyoshi was still listening, and at the very least if its vessel, or partner, was in between I could run. But, Ophion didn't react as a human would. Stark shock, stunned surprise, megalomaniac outrage, nothing. Just... resignation. _Yes... we are at war within. And very nearly, the little one became a casualty._

"A- A casualty?" Kiyoshi numbly echoed. "W- Why? Why are they at war?"

_Because I am branded a traitor, and my fate was decreed. A few of the Evilswarm, such as Mandragora, left with me. Ouroboros, our progenitor, did not exactly take the news well. My brother and I have been feuding for a very long time._

"How long, is a very long time?" I asked curiously.

_I do not know how the mortal calendar works, but the feud has continued since before your kind were scratching on tablets of clay._

The next-best thing to several millennia worth of estrangement. Dysfunction on an epic scale. This was exactly the kind of family tension into which sane people do not inject themselves.

"I'm going to inject myself into your family business," I said. "Because I'm scared to death of what could happen if I don't, and because it needs to be done. Do I want to know what happened?"

_I did not want to fight._

Of all the answers, I really did not expect that one. "...huh?"

For a reptilian face, it really managed to convey that I was an idiot through facial expression alone.

"You know, not all of us can hear what you're talking about," Yuuki drawled, interrupting me.

Seika had already fallen silent, but spoke. "The war started because Ophion was branded a traitor, and a few of the Evilswarm left with him. Their Optimus Prime, Ouroboros, has been feuding with him for several millennia ever since."

I turned to Seika. "You can hear him?"

Her eyes widened. "I... guess..."

On a very infrequent drop-in, Yuuki Judai had confessed that every human once had the ability to see spirits. As time passed, the ability was lost, but a few kept it, and some could awaken it when given the incentive. I guess seeing someone die could be sufficient trauma, not that I ever had that.

So, I did what I could, and took Youkai's hand in one of mine, and poked Yuuki with the other, and then Yuko. Both of them jumped back when they looked towards the dragon now.

_Anam Ghairm,_ Ophion intoned. _And Slaugh Ghairm. I knew that you were no ordinary spirit-caller._

Yes, I can see spirits. Yeah, it's not _that_ special when taken into context. But I haven't found a single seer that could transmit that ability for a short while.

The Wonder Cousins pretty much had the same reaction. "Bloody hell."

"Language!" Kaido grunted, but allowed me to slap one of his hands. "So that's Ophion of the Evilswarm."

"It's not that bad," Youkai muttered, but allowed himself to hold onto my hand. We studiously did not say anything.

I turned back to Ophion, whom I've automatically dubbed Snaky. "So, clarify for me? Because I really want to know what you mean by that."

Its maw clicked. It roared. The feeling was greasy and sick, like being drowned in blood. It made my ears ring and my heart bump and I couldn't do anything else but wait for certain death.

Try to imagine the stench of rotten meat. Imagine the languid, arrhythmic pulsing of a corpse filled with maggots. Imagine the scent of stale body odour mixed with mildew, the sound of nails screeching across a chalkboard, the taste of rotten milk, and the flavour of spoiled fruit. Yeah, _eww_.

Now imagine that your eyes can experience those things, _all at once_, in excruciating detail.

_You presume, spirit-caller, that I am subject to your whims, _it growled. _I can kill you with a thought. Never forget that._

Yeah, I haven't forgotten that. "Then why haven't you?" I challenged.

It surged forward, but Kiyoshi struggled. "O- Ophion! Don't!"

_It is necessary. _The light fixtures swung. Yuko went for his DuelDisk, planting himself firmly between Seika and the monster, which raised my estimate of him. It bared its teeth, and there were a lot of them.

"You know, mindlessly killing things is what I expect of you," I said as the dragon loomed, and the Psychics and Seika drew back. "You're a monster. You can truly say that you can't help yourself, which is something else animals share with monsters. But you'll be hated as a sentient being, because others sure won't understand it. Especially Kiyoshi. How long did it take for you to kill his family, huh? And does he treat you the same? Does he tell you every single damn thing of his life? And now you're interfering in his life again. How long more until you squirrel him away, or actually _kill_ him?"

It growled, a sound that went straight to the hindbrain and gibbered. _You dare-?_

"I dare," I glared back. "That's what I do, but I can choose. And you're a monster. Monsters kill and fight. Why don't you? There's a reason for that, an aberration. You might not be telling us that reason, that's fine. But you didn't even tell Kiyoshi that reason, why he's being hunted, why he'll be killed by the very monsters he's using. You might be a dragon, you might be terrifying, but you're not the first terrifying thing I've seen. I've seen scarier things from the former Boss of this place, and she's more inventive than you'll ever be. Hell, _I_ can defy you. I can _choose_ to defy you, even knowing that I'll be hit with everything bad you can conjure."

For a long time there was quiet, except for the breathing I fought to slow and silence. And then a horrible, slithering sound went through, and most people winced. It caught in its inhuman throat, clicking like the shells of swarming carrion beetles. It wormed its way through the air like a plague of maggots burrowing through rotten meat. It brushed against me, light and hideous, like the touch of a vulture's lice-infested feather, and I struggled to run for the shower at the very sound of it.

Snaky was laughing. At me.

"Get back to words, Snaky," I snarked. Youkai choked, Kiyoshi's eyes widened, Yuuki smothered a laugh, and Yuko just coughed. Seika stared... in surprise, admiration and horror.

Huh. I inspired more the last time I spoke to a ravening Green Baboon.

_He's really precious, _Rei joined them.

_He is, _Ophion rumbled, still laughing before its eyes swung back to me. _I shall not forget this insult today, but I see your point._

"And you're going to do it again," I nodded, stifling a yawn that threatened now that the danger was not imminent. "Right... Snaky, you tell him everything, and then the two of you decide. I'm going to hit the showers."

Youkai, Seika and the Wonder Cousins followed me out, at which Youkai gave me a kiss, Seika cheered, and the Wonder Cousins whooped on my behalf.

"That was _awesome_," Yuuki spoke in a hushed voice. "I don't think I have the guts to mouth off to a dragon like that."

I gagged, leaning against the wall. "I suggest... working up. Start from Kuribohs. Usually it's difficult to offend Kuribohs." Usually. When they aren't being psycho puffballs from hell or whatever dimension that was pretty worse than down below.

Rei appeared when I had just finished the shower and dressed, and was sorting through Seika's documents. _You have offended a powerful being, you know._

"Not the first time," I pointed out. "I offended you, didn't I?"

_I shall take that as the compliment I interpret it as, and save myself from freezing your brain to crush in my claws. Ophion could take his revenge. Not all spirits appreciate backtalk from a mere mortal._

Yeah, not all are so appreciative like you are," I replied, my voice dripping in sarcasm. "You know something I'm surprised by? That Kiyoshi actually had the ability. I mean, usually the people who can see spirits have a lot of willpower not to change. Like Yuuki Judai, or Uncle Jun, or Seika or Ryuusei or Shimotsuki. Maybe even Satoshi-san."

_Perhaps the boy had yet to exercise it. Not all are willing to court death as you are. Not all have the temerity to change as the girl has. Not all have the power and will of the Summer King or the Winter Queen. Courage comes in different forms, like the Herald's willingness to face darkness or your Uncle's bravery in crawling back up from the pit of his mistakes. But he has will. All spirit-callers have willpower, in a different form or not. The will to fight monsters and the will not to become a monster are very different things, so I gather._

"You don't get it?" I asked.

_I am a monster. I am. There is no way to change that which I am._

"But you are a Duel Monster," I reasoned. "And so you have pride."

_Is that not a sinful thing, as your mortal scripture would have it?_

"Arrogance, that," I answered. "But there's pride in being yourself, right? There's a pride that no matter what, no matter the circumstances, you are Dreigoon, the Duel Spirit I call Rei who lives in my head and mouth off to on a regular basis to which you deliver regular threats. I already knew, you are what you are."

We were walking past a full-length window, and night showed over Neo Domino.

_I like the stars, _it suddenly said.

"H- huh?" I stared out at the stars. Up here, Neo Domino twinkled, its defects hidden in light and too far to glimpse.

_We don't have them in the void I ruled, _Rei continued. _It's the illusion of permanence. There, nothing remains for long, it always fades, or is lost. The stars, they're always being born, and then dying and going out. But, here, I can pretend… I can pretend that things last in a way that did not in the void, that will continue to change as they did not back whence I came. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods may come, and gods may go. Mortals will flicker and flash and fade. Worlds do not last, and stars and galaxies are ephemeral, momentary things that sparkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. I can pretend otherwise._

"Pretend what?" I asked. "Stars... hope. Light in the dark. We can't really see stars here."

_You have done something tonight. Something that unfolds many futures. Too many bright ones, too many that I gag at seeing, dreams that cannot be true and yet are, and yet... even I will think it better than empty night._

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

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_**Please review!**_


	8. VII: Hysteric Party

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Edited 14 May 2013: Tareia, Princess of Sakura change to Thalia, Princess of Cherry Blossoms**_

* * *

**VII: Hysteric Party**

"You know, sometimes I wonder why we have the lightning-struck tower as the symbol," Ryuusuke reflected.

I glanced at the insignia painted on the side of the van we had pulled out to transport eight people to the convention. "I think... Madame wanted people to understand the idea of the Arcadia Movement. Chaos, sudden change, and explosive transformation. She told me."

"You were in contact with the head of the Arcadia Movement?" Ryuusuke echoed dumbly. "Well..."

"The Madame would have adopted me as Setsu-chan's younger sister," I reflected. "She died before it would happen, but I was taken in by Jii-chan. In every way, the Shimotsuki and Fudo families have always treated me as their daughter. Just like, by entering the Arcadia Movement you've started making a transformation, right?"

"I guess. Still... explosive transformation?" Ryuusuke frowned. "Is that supposed to be true for the Arcadia Movement? Because I feel... like a lot of things make sense now."

"The name was kept to promote the idea, but the actual ideals are shown in the insignia," I explained. "Setsu-chan explained it before. Paradise doesn't exist, it is just an ideal. But, through transformation, people can make that ideal come true, but they themselves would change. The Arcadia Movement will take people in, but they have to work for their keep and better themselves."

"Nice van," Yuuki whistled as Kiyoshi-san and he strode up with Chase-nii and Youkai. Behind him, Yuko-kun walked up and nodded in greeting, to which I gave a small smile.

Then Yuko-kun came face-to-face with Ryuusuke and froze. "Oh... you're the newbie, aren't you?"

"What if I am?" Ryuusuke defended.

"Break it up," Hazuki-nee was in black, the uniform of Duel Academia Queens' prefects.

"It's going to be cool! Ryuusuke!" Uzuki walked beside her, in the Ra Yellow uniform. Ryuusuke blanched as she jumped on him. "Say, say, can I see Madolche Puddingcess now? Please, please, _please_...?"

Rex-nii walked up, in grey once more, and smiled. I smiled back and hugged him. Nakamura-san brought up to a smooth ride, that was peppered with conversation I could not remember until we arrived.

Neverland had populated the hotel with all kinds of costumed fans, unless maybe the costumes were actually clothing trends. Once in a while, it gets hard to tell make-believe and fashion apart. The hotel had an entry atrium, which in turn branched off into a pair of long, wide hallways leading to a few combination ball-and-dining rooms, the kind with the long, folding partitions that can be used to break the larger rooms up into smaller halls for seminars and talk panels and so on. There were a couple of hundred people in sight, and I could see more entering and leaving various panel rooms.

"I kind of expected a few more people to be here," Rex-nii said to Chase-nii. It had been a few days after the attack and Ryuusuke's situation, and I could not help but feel the pressure.

"It's Thursday night," he said, as if that should be significant.

"A- And it's getting late, at least for a week-night." Kiyoshi-san helpfully added. "They have more than three thousand people already registered."

"Is that a lot?" Yuuki-san asked him. Yuuki-san was very different from the Yamada brothers, I realised.

"For a first-year convention? It's a Mongol horde." There was pride in his voice as she spoke. "And they have a really young staff, to boot." He went on like that for a few moments, naming names and citing their experience.

Two girls slid by, in black-and-purple clothing and make-up that left a lot of skin bare, their faces painted pale and trickles of fake blood at the corners of their mouths. One of them smiled at me, and she had fangs.

"You take me to the nicest things." Chase-nii's boyfriend commented. I've never met Misawa Tsugare-san, since he had left with the detective Yamamoto Koichi after the mess at the Kaiba Dome two years ago. I imagine that if Tsugare-san was anything like Misawa Nowaki, the world would have a lot more sarcasm in it.

"Can we begin?" I asked, and we went to the counters.

The receptionist had me filling out a registration form, which I scribbled through fairly quickly. At the end, she passed me a plastic badge folded around a card that said: 'NEVERLAND' and a 'HI, I'M…' under the slogan. She gave me a black ink marker to go with it. "Sorry, the printer's been off-line all day. Just write your name in."

I promptly wrote the words _An Innocent Bystander_ onto the name tag before folding it up in the plastic badge and pinning it to my shirt. Setsu-chan had told me never to give my name out where it would be recorded. Beside me, I could see Chase-nii filling in _None of Your Business. _Rex-nii opted for _An Inconspicuous Person._

Ryuusuke looks at our name-tags. "Do you people have something against giving out your names?"

"I'm the heir of the Manjoume Group," Chase-nii answered.

"I'm the daughter of the Fudo family," I reasoned. "And someone might realise that we have members of the Movement here."

Ryuusuke met my earnest gaze, and then looked at Uzuki and Hazuki writing _A Little Girl _and _An Authority Figure _respectively. He wrote _An Interested Party._

"You're all together?" the receptionist smiled. "I hope you enjoy it!"

Chase-nii picked up a schedule, the main item of the day being the séance and 'Duel Spirits: Real or Delusion?'. "I can't imagine how I might not be."

Ryuusuke gave him a level look. "You don't have to make fun of it."

"I do. I make fun of a lot of things."

"So, what do we do now?" Uzuki asked as we milled around the small stands. Booths had been set up, selling a variety of costumes, snacks and little bric-a-brac, or leaflets or subscriptions.

I blinked at a group of middle-school students as they jostled past in their rush for the elevator; they swerved, too intent on their conversation to even apologize, and he caught a scrap or two as they passed:

"_-deck? I dunno, I got ripped to pieces when I tried that before. Maybe if I bring in a Cyber Shield and-"_

"_-yeah he's good; he won at that big __tournament last year in Tokyo, swatted the best player they had like he was a-__"_

"_-think that French girl might want to trade? I've got two Garuda the Wind Spirits and an extra Giant Soldier of Stone, but I want-__"_

"Hey, Satoshi-san!" Chase-nii suddenly called.

The Duelist in question glanced up. He was tall, very tall, with fair skin. His short red and gold hair waved up in the front, shadowing his amber eyes, and a long scar over his left eye made him slightly conspicuous. He wore a fitted red sleeveless T-shirt bearing a logo: _Flame On!_, under a red vest with orange trim on which the Neverland button with the name reading _Smokin' Hot Duelist _was pinned, complete with red fingerless gloves, light blue jeans, a black belt, and red sneakers.

He was talking to an equally tall man, with relatively short black hair with the front waved up, and those front hairs were dyed orange. His skin was tanned and his body toned leanly, more graceful that Satoshi-san. His eyes were amber, with a long scar over his right eye and an X-shaped scar on his left cheek. On his back he had a tattoo of a black king cobra, its head right where his neck met his shoulders. He wore an outfit similar to Indiana Jones without the jacket, with a red bandanna around his neck. His button read _A Traveller._

"Princeton! Rex!" Satoshi-san greeted warmly. "And the little miss! You're here as well? Oh, and missy, this is Adrian Rodriguez. You probably know him as the Viper. Rodriguez, this is Kannazuki Seika, the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement."

Barely stifling a wince, Rodriguez nodded.

"Hello!" I bowed.

He blinked, and accepted my offered hand. "Er... you're a lot nicer than the one before."

"Setsu-chan is very cold, yes," I smiled as Rodriguez-san looked slightly lost, possibly at the fact that I had called the legendary Cold Queen of the Arcadia Movement 'Setsu-chan'. Yamada-san tended to have a pinched look on his face when I said if, as if trying to reconcile the two ideas.

"Yes," Rex-nii answered. "The two of you together?"

"Three, in spirit," Satoshi indicated a small earpiece in his right ear. "Kaido is hearing everything, but I can't answer. Viper had a few disappearances as well from Peru and so he's come east to get some answers."

"Everything fine on the other side?" Chase-nii asked. Rodriguez-san was the only one I knew, before Ryuusuke, who could actually jump between worlds.

"More or less," Adrian nodded. "I saw Fudo. He told me to pass you guys a message, say that he's alright, he's found Misawa, and the two of them are working on a dimensional gateway as well. Well, so far when he's not stuck on kingly duties or something."

"T- That's good," I nodded.

"No, it's not," Rodriguez-san answered bluntly. "He's... acting weirder. More squirrelly, like Shimotsuki. And the other day he nearly set me on fire. I guess it's the power, it's doing odd things to his head."

"Can that happen?" Kiyoshi murmured in a hushed voice.

Adrian gave a thin smile. "You too, huh?"

Oh, yes, and Rodriguez-san can see spirits as well.

"Do you know something?" Rodriguez-san leaned closer to Kiyoshi, still smiling. "Sometimes, the number one thing I am afraid of is my own spirit partner. And that's when she's being _nice_."

A shadow appeared, of the gorgon-like goddess. _I am what I am. I make no excuses about it. You would be a delectable morsel, chico._

Kiyoshi gulped, and stepped back.

On Chase-nii's shoulder was the small dragon, and behind Kiyoshi-san was the giant dragon. _Vennominaga, _was their automatic greeting.

"Yo," Rodriguez-san gave a brief greeting for the Duel Spirits only. It must be nice, for their existences to be recognised. "Naga, we've been through this. Food-related puns in concert with your appetite is not a good conversation topic."

_I certainly never said anything about food._

"Choice _morsel_?"

_It could be taken several different ways, chico._

Adrian flushed. "_Dios_."

"Ryuusei acting weird? How?" Rex-nii pressed.

"Well... he's been mobilising the Summer army," Rodriguez-san explained. "They're positioned at points close to several major human settlements, and that means regular trips by Duel Spirits into this plane. So more disappearances, I think. But the oddest is that Winter is doing the same things as well. So we have two insanely powerful spirit armies, broken up into battalions, each of them probably good enough to take a city all on their own, at almost every single point between the human and spirit planes that the two rulers can actually touch."

"T- Then, Nii-chan can't get back?" I asked.

"He can try," Rodriguez-san wryly muttered.

Rex glanced up as a clap of thunder sounded. "Hey, is that..."

"Yeah," Chase-nii breathed. "Oh crap."

Adrian glanced over to Ryuusuke now. "So, who are you?"

"Huh?" Ryuusuke blinked. "I'm Ryuusuke Diamondblade."

"Okay, let's try this another way," Rodriguez-san nodded as we followed Rex-nii and Chase-nii. "What are you?"

"W- What do you mean?" Ryuusuke stuttered.

"I'm figuring changeling," Rodriguez-san continued, and I could feel my stomach sinking as he continued. "A half-spirit child, born of a Duel spirit and a human. You've only known one parent all your life, isn't it?"

"Y- Yes," Ryuusuke quietly confessed.

I felt ill; I've only ever known Papa all my life, and he never mentioned Mama. But Madame... Madame said that she _knew_. Or it could just be my dream... right?

"I'm sorry," Rodriguez-san was surprisingly direct.

"C- Can you guess who my mum is?" Ryuusuke quietly asked.

"No frigging clue." Rodriguez-san admitted. "Spirits can change their form, and generally any kids they have should be better unnoticed. There are changelings I knew who had become... worse off." His face twisted. "I once knew a kid who was born to a Neo Space Pathfinder, completely different colouring. I think your mother could be a Fairy Type, but I could be wrong. So, you're a part of the Movement as well?"

"Just started a few days ago," Ryuusuke answered. "My dad apparently knew Shimotsuki Setsuka's father."

Rodriguez-san looked stunned. "Really? I met him before. Whooped my ass off, but I was young and stupid. Shimotsuki's dad once won against the King of Games, some say even the Nameless Pharaoh. A right scary bunch, that family."

"I remember," Ryuusuke quietly murmured. "My dad worked with him. Very tall, very intimidating. Of the photo my dad have, I remember Shimotsuki Setsuka. Very... intimidatingly beautiful."

"So was the Madame," I quietly answered as we arrived. Part of the ballroom had been cleared away, and there were three people Duelling, two against one. As we arrived, the pair, a boy and a girl, defeated the last boy quickly.

"I win, Ichimonji," the boy of the victorious pair slowly pronounced. He was of average height with light skin, and long black hair wrapped in a ponytail. He wore jeans, with a shirt that suited him, and bearing a button as well underneath a blue vest. A pair of goggles, one of the lenses cracked, were perched above his brown eyes.

"Well, isn't it expected?" the girl asked. She had extremely long blue-black hair, and was extremely pale and skinny, with large round indigo eyes and deep red lips, making her pretty in a sort of mature way, but hardly as dignified as Setsu-chan even though they both had similar bearings. She wore a red beret with a black strapless shirt, a knee-length black skirt with white polka-dots, under a red blazer, matched with black Converse shoes and a very modest diamond ring on her engagement finger with the requisite fingerless gloves in carmine red. "With Ishihara Takeshi and Alexianna LeRouge at the same time, it was certain!"

The last boy, Ichimonji, scowled. He had yellow-dye bowl-cut hair, and brown eyes, with the features of the average Japanese boy. He wore a Duel Academia white uniform, complete with shades. "I had you guys on the ropes before! Admit it, it was coincidence, not because of those Aesir cards!"

"Well, I could _certainly_ hurt-" Alexianna began but was physically held back by Takeshi.

"We won, Ichimonji," he slowly stated. "Therefore, you keep your end of the bargain. I want this trip to be free of people pestering me. Even from my so-called rival."

"What, Ishihara!" Chase-nii very loudly interrupted Ichimonji, breaking through the crowds to wave at the boy and girl. "You brought your fiancée along as well?"

"You're a misogynist, Princeton," Takeshi retorted, but nodded to Chase-nii. "That your group?"

"Couple of ducklings," Youkai replied. "Yo, LeRouge."

"Sylph?" Alexianna tilted her head, coquettishly blinking. "The one I could never charm."

"Gay, lady," Youkai shook his head. "And between the two of us, I know someone who's even better at enthralling than you are."

"Believe me, the reputation of the White Rose precedes himself," Alexianna answered, turning to me. "And this girl is a new member?"

I tried to speak, but Youkai beat me. "She's the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement."

Alexianna opened her mouth, closed it, and blinked. Beside her, Takeshi's mouth opened. Takeshi shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't get it. She looks a lot nicer than Shimotsuki."

"A lot of people are nicer than Setsu-chan," I answered. "Setsu-chan does the right thing, but no one said that she was nice."

Again, Alexianna closed and opened her mouth, her eyes darting from side-to-side as if expecting Setsu-chan to burst out. "I- I'm sorry. Setsu-_chan_? And she lets you get away with that?"

"She's the only one," Chase-nii confessed as the rest of the group came over. "Oh, right. You guys remember Rex."

They answered in the affirmative, and Chase-nii nodded. "There's Shinamori and Rodriguez, and with the Himemiya sisters and the blue-haired Yamada are the newest ducklings: Kiyoshi, Yamada Yuuki, and Ryuusuke Diamondblade. I think we're lucky that Kiyoshi never comes into contact with Shimotsuki, she'll eat him alive."

"That's my cousin you're talking about," Alexianna crossed her arms, which reminded me strongly of Setsu-chan once more. The two of them had differences; where Setsu-chan was ever dignified, Alexianna had none of the maturity Setsu-chan wore like a mantle. Alexianna still carried herself differently, playfully and boasting of her youth, with none of the dignity or elegance that Setsu-chan had. It made the contrast all the more important, that Setsu-chan's remains were warped in her cousin's form.

"You aren't close. She nearly murdered your fiancé to make you get your act together," Rex argued.

Alexianna's face flashed, and Takeshi actually flinched.

"S- So, we have the Louisiana Movement here?" Youkai quickly changed the subject. "You guys investigating the missing Psychics as well?"

"Justin Aquila went missing," Alexianna shortly replied, actually facing me. "And we just got word that Dexter Towers expired."

I blinked. "And?"

Alexianna blinked, before her expression turned apologetic. "I'm sorry... I thought..."

I knew that look. It was the one that immediately followed most psychic Duelists that talked to me following my investiture, as if I was Setsu-chan, here to fix their problems and assure them that even if the leader changed, everything would be the same and that the little girl could solve everything. That I was a failure as a leader once more.

Alexianna smiled. There was something, about this girl that I couldn't resist, and all of my anger seemed to melt away as she smiled at me. I was so captivated by-

Her eyes flickered scarlet. The spell was broken as I took a step back. Her face fell. "I- I'm sorry, I- I can't quite control it."

"Glamour." I spoke, almost by rote. "A noun, the first meaning indicative of the attractive or exciting quality that makes certain people or things seem appealing or special. The second, applicable meaning is beauty or charm that is sexually attractive."

My face must have reflected my horror, but Alexianna's horror-struck expression still remained with me as I continued. "A glamour originally was a term applied to an occult spell cast on somebody to make them believe that something that the spell-caster wished them to believe, including inducing an interpersonal attraction."

I stopped. W- What was that?

I had never been hypnotised. When I had been, the psychologist refused to reveal anything. If the game with Henry was something that had done something to me... no, it cannot be... right?

Takeshi was giving Alexianna a look that I did not like, as I bowed. "Please excuse me, I did not know what I was saying."

"I- It's alright," Alexianna was giving pleading looks to Takeshi. "I don't think you were yourself. I think someone might have hypnotised you to react like this when hit by a psychic blast. B- But for that time... I thought you were Setsuka. You sounded like she did when she identified an enemy's power and was about to go to town on them."

I looked around. Chase-nii and Rex-nii were chatting with Takeshi, and Youkai... Youkai looked scared and hopeful and terrified, all at the same time. Was Setsu-chan really that intimidating... of course she was. She was Shimotsuki Setsuka.

"So, the investigation?" Yuko-kun prompted Yuuki-san and Kiyoshi-san for me. "Are there any representatives of the Arcadia Movement we should look out for as well?"

"Yamamoto is here for the talk," Takeshi whipped out a schedule, pointing to the 'Duel Spirits: Real or Delusion?' segment. "The Louisiana Movement is cooperating with Drake Lancaster at the moment, so he might be around if he actually flew in from somewhere in Tibet. I saw the South Arcadia Movement's Jimmy Cook around, but he looks... well, dangerous."

"Jimmy Cook?" Yuuki-san squeaked. "I love that guy! He won the Aussie Championships, didn't he?"

"Yeah, and he's also..." Takeshi considered. "I saw him around the front, looking at the contents of the talk. Maybe if we wander around, we'll find him."

* * *

When people say the word 'convention', they're usually referring to large gatherings of the employees of companies and corporations who attend a mass assembly, usually in a big hotel somewhere, for the purpose of pretending to learn stuff when they are in fact enjoying a free trip somewhere, time off work, and the opportunity to flirt with strangers, drink, and otherwise indulge themselves.

The first major difference between a business convention and a fandom convention is that fandom doesn't bother with the pretences. They're just there to have a good time. The second difference is the dress code— the ensembles at a fan convention tend to be considerably more novel. I walked past a few Vampire Ladies and one Vampire Lord, and as we sat at the seats around the podium I could see a few more risqué costumes as well.

"-the cards exist inside our minds as on the board. It's clear that better players have mastered visualisation techniques that allow them to call upon this, to work with the archetypes as if they were manifest." The lecturer directed a thin smile towards his audience. "Occasionally one even hears rumours of, ah, _actual _manifestations outside the Solid Vision, but these are just fantasies. As much as it would be interesting to see a Curse of Dragon or a Kuriboh materialise into the real world, it's important to remember that cards are just cards, and the game is _only _a game."

"Then how would you explain the existence of the Arcadia Movement?"

Yamamoto Koichi might look like a surfer-runner, with his one-seven-plus height, runner's build, ice-blue surfer cut and dressed in a grey zipped-up hoodie, a T-shirt as blue as his hair bearing the slogan: _Don't Tase Me, Bro_, complete with jeans and grey running sneakers. He was actually much sharper than he let on, evidenced that he was arguing with the lecturer as well. It was a sort of dialogue, and so far Koichi was winning.

The lecturer looked pretty troubled. "W- Well... there are some people who have proven to exhibit special powers in conjunction with aspects of the game, and yet they can very well do without using the cards. Psychic Duelists are an aberration, but a human aberration. They do not prove that there are spirits in the cards we use everyday."

"Yet they use the cards," Koichi leaned forward, leaving an air of being disaffected which was actually strengthening his argument. "Do we need to cover the entire history of Duel Monsters to make my point, Mr Graham? I could do this all day, really. Yes, so far you've provided evidence proving that Duel Spirits might not conclusively exist, but you've yet to _disprove_ their existence. Let's face it, shall we, that no matter how much we actually debate, weird things happen. Not everything is explainable, or needs to be explainable. I work the streets as a private eye in such cases, and I don't solve that many cases conclusively. I can say I've seen them, but evidence can be manufactured, and it's tough to prove the reliability of evidence. However, as we are currently standing in Neo Domino City, home of the Duel... well, this very city has experienced the inexplicable in the form of the Arc Cradle incident, hasn't it?"

Ouch. Twenty years since the near-end and that incident was still in the memory of its citizens. Sometimes I saw the Professor glancing at the skies, as if thinking that something was about to fall. I saw Aki-sensei touch anyone she could, for that bit of human contact with the desperation that comes from nearly losing someone you loved. That Carly-san still had an emergency travel bag, and sometimes cooked enough to put any housewife to shame. That kind of event evoked painful memories, memories of nearly meeting your inevitable, sudden _end_.

Koichi had won, and Graham knew it, judging by his scowl as Koichi addressed the audience. "I can only say one thing: you know, deep down, that they exist. You've seen them before."

And he left with that sort of cryptic statement. You know, with that sort of thought-evoking statement, anyone else would have thought that Koichi was just screwing with us.

The Movement knew better; Koichi was not only a former member, but also one who could see Duel Spirits.

A tall figure, way taller than Satoshi or even Adrian, strode towards him, giving him a quick peck on both cheeks and generally getting wolf-whistles from girls and a few guys. The other guy had fair-toned skin, and his hair was dark purple with black streaks, shoulder length with a fairly long bang covering the left side of his face. His attire was a Goth style: a black shirt similar to Youkai's own, with black cargo pants and a silver chain hanging from the left pocket, matched with black fingerless gloves and shoes, and decked with a black choker with an amber crystal and an earring piercing, also amber. As they came towards us, I could see that his fingernails were painted white, with only a black streak. Very conservative, for Youkai's oldest cousin.

Misawa Tsugare smiled, pretty enough to knock out any girl in a beauty competition –and had, if the honey-trap jokes were any indication. Koichi looked a bit green around the gills, and had a look on his face as one who had sort-of come to terms with his sexuality and was now trying to believe his luck in landing a tarted-up pretty-boy type. It appeared on my face sometimes, when my boyfriend threw me out of a building and then jumped out to catch me and we flew, the adrenaline rush just prompting the Sylph to truly become a spirit of the air for once. No, it wasn't burning. The building, that is.

"Nowaki!" Tsugare greeted his cousin.

"Yo, Tsu-nii." Youkai tilted his head. "So the honey-trap times are over?"

Tsugare wilted. "Yes, Nowaki. I'm not actually useless as anything other than a honey-trap, you know."

The curse of the Misawa family after Misawa Daichi disappearing, just newly broken, was that every generation were born with pretty faces, unusual eye colours, and some had special powers. How unfair is that?

"I don't get it," I heard Hayato Ichimonji argue somewhere around Takeshi's area. "Why all this talk about Duel Spirits? It's not like they exist, do they? What's the point?"

"Ichimonji," I could hear the weariness in Takeshi's voice, even this far away. "If you want to start a philosophical argument, here and now is not the place or time for it. Now please get a clue, or Alexianna will deal with you."

"Hiding behind girls now, Ishihara?" Ichimonji challenged.

Toothily, Shimotsuki's cousin raised her DuelDisk. "Try me."

Believe me, in a space for a Duel convention, people can smell a Duel a mile off. The three-metre radius immediately cleared, the crowd with their gleaming avaricious eyes locked onto them. "_Duel! Duel! Duel!_"

I saw a Black Rose Witch cosplayer almost walk into Ichimonji. She was slightly taller than Aki-sensei, but actually managed to pull off the long red bangs and purple-cloak look with just the right amount of menace. She bumped into Ichimonji's back, and coincidentally the drink she was holding spilt down the boy's back.

Needless to say, Ichimonji forgot all about Alexianna. "Hey you, this was my favourite shirt! Pay for my dry-cleaning, dammit!"

This went as well as expected. "Then beat me." the witch challenged.

"Duel!"

Hayato held a DA DuelDisk, the standard issue kind from Duel Academia. The Black Rose Witch's one was more elaborate, and red and black in colour.

"Duel!"

Hayato: LP 8000

Witch: LP 8000

"Draw!" Ichimonji called. "I summon Queen's Knight [1500/1600] to the field in attack mode! I'll then set a card and end my turn."

"Draw." the Witch announced, and I wondered who would actually cross-dress as the bogeyman of Neo Domino as he drew. "I shall summon Violet Witch [1100/1200] to the field. Then, I set three cards and play the Field Spell, Black Garden. Turn end."

"Hah! That's a funny strategy," Ichimonji cackled as the purple-cloaked witch appeared, her wood staff brandished and vines shot out of the ground to cover and surround the field, isolating both Duelists in a grove of briar rose vines.

I sniffed the air. Perfume...?

"Solid Vision shouldn't produce smells," Hazuki realised, her eyes wide. I met her stare and nodded; Hazuki was one of the Arcadia Movement's best and brightest, and on a good day I don't want to get on her bad side. If she said it was, it was.

"Draw!" Ichimonji seemed oblivious to the tension that was radiating. "I summon King's Knight [1600/1400]!"

The orange-armoured knight cried out as vines shot out to grab him [1600/1400 → 800/1400].

"Black Garden's effect activates. When one monster is normal or special summoned to the field, its attack power is halved, and a Rose Token [800/800] appears on the opposing player's field." The opponent elaborated as a blue-armoured knight that popped onto the field met the same fate.

"But, I'll then special summon from my deck Jack's Knight!" Ichimonji pointed out.

"Jack's Knight [1900/1000 → 950/1000] will meet the same fate when special summoned in this manner as well," the witch rebutted. "And another Rose Token is on the field."

"But, all your weak monsters are in attack mode!" Ichimonji cackled. "Queen's Knight, attack Violet Witch!"

The purple-cloaked Spellcaster was quickly destroyed.

Witch: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Hayato: LP 8000

"The effect of Violet Witch; when destroyed by battle, I can search my deck for a Plant-Type monster with fifteen hundred defence power or lower." The witch continued. "I shall search for the level eight Thalia, Princess of Cherry Blossoms, and add her to my hand."

"Thalia?" Ichimonji looked taken aback. "Shouldn't it be Tytannial-"

"Tytannial can't be searched for by Violet Witch, idiot," Rex snarled from the sidelines. "It's one of the new Plants. Don't you actually read the news?"

Ichimonji shook his head. "E- Either way, Jack's Knight, attack one Rose Token!"

Again, nothing was done as the token was hammered.

Witch: LP 7600 → LP 7450

Hayato: LP 8000

"And because I'm not merciful, King's Knight, attack the last token!" Hayato called.

"Trap card, Wall of Thorns," the other called as the Poker Knights were destroyed.

"Continuous Trap, Birthright!" he called as Jack's Knight [1900/1000 → 950/1000] returned, wrapped in vines, and with another Rose Token on the witch's field. "I'll equip Jack's Knight with Excalibur to double his attack [9500/1000 → 1900/1000] and then I set another card, turn end!"

"Do as you wish. Draw," the witch drew again. So far, she was really milking the whole performance. "I play the Spell, Trade-In, to discard the level eight Thalia, Princess of Cherry Blossoms, and draw two cards from the deck. Activate Continuous Spell, Super Solar Nutrient, and tribute one Rose Token to special summon Lonefire Blossom [500/1400 → 250/1400] from my deck to the field. I then tribute Lonefire Blossom to special summon Gigaplant [2400/1200 → 1200/1200]. Black Garden grants you two Rose Tokens. Now, I play the Spell, Fragrance Storm, and destroy the one token on my field to draw a card. I drew the Plant-Type monster Queen Angel of Roses, so I draw another card. In this garden of the demon realm, even I shall be affected. But..."

As we watched, the field shattered, vines rotting and falling, and then the rose tokens and Gigaplant were destroyed. "W- What?" Ichimonji stepped back.

"Two tokens and one Gigaplant with attack halved..." Rex calculated as a giant pink bud appeared.

"The last effect of Black Garden. I can target a monster in my graveyard with attack power equal to all Plant-Type monsters on the field, and then destroy all Plant-Type monsters and Black Garden itself to revive that monster. That's why, from the ground rise..."

The witch guy announced as from the rubble sprouted a giant pink flower, and then... from within the flower, a woman smiled, her black hair laced with vines and small leaves and tiny cherry blossom flowers, holding a small pink bladed fan. All around her, from her elaborate head-dress to her black and pink robe to the gold five-petal _sakura_ on her robes, bore the motif of the cherry blossom. She gave a deep curtsy to the witch as she appeared, and there were calls of awe all around as the Duel Monster performed a dance move, _sakura _floating in a passing breeze...

"... Thalia, Princess of Cherry Blossoms [2800/1200]." the witch finished. "Now, I play the Field Spell, White Rose Cloister."

The scene changed again, this time to a bright garden, surrounded by orderly beds and bushes of white roses, the scent airy and light compared to the heavy musk of the dark garden. The atmosphere changed; previously, the loveliness of the dark garden was an emptiness, creating nothing but desire, a need that cried out to be filled. In contrast, this field's beauty was a fire, a source of light and warmth, something that created a profound sense of satisfaction, like one could bask in the summer sunlight and fall asleep in paradise.

"This garden is the opposite of Black Garden," the witch explained, raising an arm to indicate the place. "Where Black Garden is a demon realm, this White Rose Cloister is the soul of holiness in heaven."

"Sorry, but I don't believe in gods or demons," Ichimonji shook his head. "I mean, life itself is meaningless, so why believe in heaven or hell?"

"So by your own reasoning, your own life is worthless?" the witch enquired.

"Hell, yes," Ichimonji laughed. "All our lives are meaningless, aren't they?"

"If your life is so worthless, then you have no objections in betting your life here, do you?"

"If you can, win this and I'll even give you my deck, never mind my life," Ichimonji joked.

"Trap card, Dust Tornado," the witch indicated, as Excalibur was shattered [1900/1000 → 950/1000] by gale-force winds. "And now, using the effect of White Rose Cloister: once per turn, I can special summon from my hand one Rose monster. Arise, Queen Angel of Roses!"

The heavy bouquet of red roses mingled with the white, and the red-armoured queen appeared, dressed in her elaborate robes [2400/1300].

"Thalia gains one hundred attack power for all Plant-Type monsters I control," the witch indicated as the geisha-like princess glowed [2800/1200 → 3000/1200]. "And I summon Botanical Lion [1600/2000 → 2500/2000], who gains three hundred attack power for every Plant I control, including itself. That's another Plant [3000/1200 → 3100/1200]. In that case... Botanical Lion, attack Jack's Knight!"

"Trap card, Sakuretsu Armour!" Ichimonji called. "I destroy- eh?"

The lion was shrouded in a sea of pink petals, that flowed to redirect the Reactive Armour and allow the leonine monster to destroy the knight.

"The second effect of Thalia: all other Plant-Type monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects," the witch elaborated. "And, I activate the Trap, Blossom Bombardment. This causes you to take Jack's Knight's original attack power as damage."

"What?" Ichimonji yelped as he was hit by an exploding bouquet.

Hayato: LP 8000 → LP 6450 → LP 4550

Witch: LP 7450

"Now..." the witch threatening raised an arm. "Thalia, direct attack with Dance of the Spring!"

The dancer laughed, leaping to throw her fan which struck Ichimonji through the middle.

Hayato: LP 4550 → LP 1450

Witch: LP 7450

"Queen Angel of Roses... deal the finishing blow," the witch commanded as Hayato Ichimonji was struck down.

Hayato: LP 1450 → LP 0

Witch: LP 7450

"It is my win," the robed cosplayer tilted her head.

"Well, congrats. What d'you want?" Ichimonji growled as the crowd dispersed after a few celebratory whoops.

"Your bet. Your life." she raised a hand and made a motion.

Uzuki started as he collapsed, gasping. I stared, turning to the robed figure. That kind of literal speaking...

"Shimotsuki?" Adrian was already backing away like the witch would go for him.

The robed figure did not respond, instead slowly looming closer to Ichimonji. "You are mine, having staked your life in this Duel."

"It's just... a game," Ichimonji gasped, clearly having recovered some. "Why... why so serious?"

"Why play games if not to prepare for challenges that lie ahead?" the figure asked. "Games were invented as a replacement of war. In a way, they _are_ a war, dictated by a set of rules. The fun begins when the games end."

A hand, fingers roughened by heavy work of a sort but nimble enough to work machinery and cards touched his cheek as Hayato gasped up, the red bangs falling over his face. "You offered me your life to do as I will should I win, Duelist. You are mine now."

A gust blew, robes billowed, and a fragrance of sakura was the only thing left as the robed figure disappeared, leaving Ichimonji slumped over on the floor, his cards scattered around him.

Electricity crackled about. It felt a lot like a power station, that kind of silent potential buzzing in the air.

The lights went out, all of them at once, plunging the hotel into pure blackness.

And the screaming started.

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
Occupation:  
Appearance:  
Personality:  
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Trivia:**_

_**Please review!**_


	9. VIII: Creeping Darkness

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Note: There are references to the previous few fics, obscure ones but still present You don't need to have read Infernity Mirage or Boss Rush to understand them. Yes, this is based on the YGO GX Episode 14 of a sorts, but I'm fairly sure that this Jinzo is more dangerous.  
**_

_**To Wetland king: Bit dangerous, isn't it? One Royal Decree could finish it all off.**_

* * *

**VIII: Creeping Darkness**

"Are you alright?" Uzuki was very loudly demanding of the fallen Ichimonji, and I was frozen. No more than two or three seconds passed before Hazuki-nee produced a small flashlight and her DuelDisk. She played a single card, and a loud explosion of sound echoed.

"Be quiet!" The people froze at the same time as the Seed of Flame appeared, lighting an arm's length around Hazuki with its flame as she climbed to the next highest point other than the stage.

"I am the Titania of the Arcadia Movement, Himemiya Hazuki," Hazuki-nee loudly spoke. "Where are the organisers of the event? Someone go check the power breaker."

More stunned silence echoed.

Hazuki-nee sighed. "Someone show me to the power breakers..."

"No need." the lights went on as the figure stood on the stage. It had a green coat, which was long and equipped with shoulder pads and spiked collar, bracelets and belt. His face features thick veins and signs of deformity with the greatest part covered by a mask. "I am here."

"P- Psycho Shocker..." I heard the whisper go around. "_Jinzo_..."

"Does it matter?" Hazuki-nee replied.

"Of course it does." The monster answered. "I am the Psycho Shocker, of the Duel Spirit world, and I have been reborn for this glorious purpose."

"Prove it!" Someone shouted.

Jinzo disappeared, and reappeared, holding a man by the neck. The man's body dangled down, his feet paddling to keep Jinzo from asphyxiating him.

"It is proven," Jinzo simply answered as he dangled the man. "And the price."

Carelessly, he broke the neck with a snap and let the body fall. It hit the stage with a slap, and more screams and controlled panic followed until Jinzo snapped his fingers, and a shadow ball grew and exploded in his palm.

"Jinzo, Psycho Shocker..." Hazuki-nee pronounced, as if she were addressing a mere criminal rather than a murderous Duel Spirit. "You have just killed a man. And yet we have no quarrel with your people."

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Jinzo loftily whispered. "I have resurrected, and my power is strong, girl. Are you fighting me for your great purpose? Forfeit, girl, for you have no need to be here. I come with glad tidings of a world made free."

"It sure doesn't seem like it," Hazuki-nee loftily whispered. "You claim to come and free us... from what?"

"Freedom." was the simple reply. "Freedom is a lie. Once you accept that, you will know peace."

Another shadow ball was aimed, this time at Hazuki, but she threw a card down and a Battle Fader protected her. "I have never accepted that. And you're a bit late, the Arcadia Movement has already been freed. It might be convenient, but no one asked you to come. Therefore, it would be appreciated if you would just... return, and this incident would be forgotten."

"No, no, no!" a boy jumped up to the next highest point, yelling at Hazuki. "You're not supposed to act all reasonable and shit! You're supposed to kick him six ways to Sunday!"

I glanced at the boy. His white spiked hair jutted up, showing off pointed ears, and he wore a black leather duster with a blue mushroom design complete with collar. He wore no shirt underneath. It was matched with black leather pants, with chains on each side and a blue deck box at his belt. This unusual ensemble was completed with leather boots, and a black DuelDisk with blue card zones.

Hazuki's eyes narrowed. "You're..."

"Dante Swartzvauld," he nodded. "Former European Arcadia Movement. Codename Mad Hatter."

"Very well," Hazuki accepted without pausing. "And pray tell, why should my immediate resort be violence when I can talk it-"

Both of them leapt to the side, away from the shadow balls. A few more people screamed.

"I want him," Dante pointed to Jinzo. "He killed my parents."

The Duel Monster glared at Dante. "I do not know of you."

"My father was the Witty Phantom you killed with his wife," Dante growled.

"Ah, the half-blood," Jinzo drawled. "You are nothing to me, half-breed. I shall make examples of you and the girl." Raising both arms, Jinzo glanced across the audience, the barely concealed panic and anger and fear. "Look to your champions. Let them be the first."

Hazuki-nee cried out as she was hit, and the boy with her, taking them across the hall to impact into the walls. More screams, a few headed for the exits but were blocked by the barriers that suddenly dropped, and the room was sealed. Many people were crying and weeping.

"Is not this simpler?" it laughed. "Panicking, crying snivelling things. Is this not your natural state? To forget life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity, for a _purpose_. In the end, you will _always_ kneel."

"_Never_." Chase-nii had strode up, glaring with undisguised hate at Jinzo.

I don't know why, but I joined him. I stared at Jinzo, this entity that was not only more powerful, more terrible and stronger than me, but who had just killed a man without remorse or hesitation. I could stand up, but I would be struck down, almost certainly, and killed.

But... but...

Kiyoshi-san was trying to stand. Yuuki-san was ready to fight. Yuko-kun was glaring with undisguised hatred at Jinzo, his cards already out. Around the hall, Duelists psychic and not were ready to fight... even Hazuki-nee was getting back to her feet already, Dante scrambling up for a piece of him as well.

If I was their leader, I had to stand on my own. Setsu-chan left me to the Movement for a reason...

"The Movement does not, will not, cannot, negotiate with terrorists," I said.

Jinzo started as I spoke. "You... are their leader?"

"Yes. I am Kannazuki Seika, the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement," I replied. "Under the Arcadia Rights Bill of 20XX, you are hereby declared guilty of wilful murder, terrorism, disrupting the peace, and attempted dimensional invasion." Do as Setsu-chan always said... never let fear show. Fight when needed. Even if you're scared, if you cannot run, then fight. Never show your fear. Never care that you slip up, and no one else will. "If you will not yield, we will be forced to Duel. And your defeat will be certain."

Yuko-kun went slack. "B- But Seika-chan-!"

"You have courage, girl," the monster snarled as a sphere of the shadows gathered. "What will stop me from killing you right here?"

"True, I cannot stop you." I considered. "But, will your pride allow you to reject a Duel? If you will not even face a girl in a Duel, then you have no right to even claim to subjugate us. Even if the ten of us within this hall fail, there are fifty thousand more Psychic Duelists within this city itself, never mind ordinary Duelists. I know many of them are very powerful. Continuously Dueling each and every one of them would be so taxing, will it not?"

The monster growled.

"Precisely," I answered. "What better way to destroy morale than strike the leader down?"

Jinzo paused, and then, inexplicably, a DuelDisk appeared on his arm. "Very well, girl. I shall face you in a fair Duel. When I am finished, you will long for something as sweet as pain."

"Duel!"

* * *

Was she _insane_? Seika would be killed by the spirit! Even if she won... there was nothing forcing her. Why did she have to...?

"What Duelist pride," Rex nodded, almost to himself, and we watched as the younger sister of Fudo Ryuusei stood to face one of the most disgusting Duel spirits I had ever seen.

"Duel!"

Jinzo: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"It is my turn, I draw!" the spirit chuckled. "I shall summon Malice Doll of Demise [1600/1700] to the field. I shall then play the Continuous Spell, Ectoplasmer and end my turn with a set card. At the end phase, Ectoplasmer forces the turn player to tribute a monster and then inflict half that monster's attack power to the opponent's life points, so I tribute Malice Doll of Demise!"

The ghostly doll swinging an axe evaporated, and the vapours rushed thickly towards Seika, who screamed as they swarmed her, driven to one knee suddenly.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 7200

Jinzo: LP 8000

"Seika!" Yuko called, definitely concerned.

"I shall then set a card and end my turn." Jinzo cackled. "Go ahead, girl..."

"Draw!" Seika got back up to draw. "Now, I summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200]!" she called as the yellow Fortune Lady winked and walked to another door.

"Trap card, Hidden Soldiers!" Jinzo rebutted. "Now, I special summon from my hand a level four or lower monster... such as Spirit Reaper [300/200] in defence mode!"

"It doesn't..." Seika breathed out. "I then play the Spell, Dark Hole! All monsters on the field are destroyed!"

"Great!" Rex and I yelled as the black hole swallowed all monsters, even Spirit Reaper and Lighty. "Now Spirit Reaper is gone!"

"What?" Jinzo looked taken aback.

"By the effect of Fortune Lady Lighty, when Lighty is removed from the field by a card effect, I can special summon from my deck a Fortune Lady monster, such as Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]!" Seika called as it appeared, its every pore radiating malice and a promise of pain for Jinzo. "I equip her with Bound Wand, allowing her to gain attack power equal to one hundred times her level [2000/2000 → 2500/2000]. Battle! Darky, attack him directly!"

The dark blast was magnified, and Jinzo screamed as it hit.

Jinzo: LP 8000 → LP 5500

Seika: LP 7200

"But, Ectoplasmer..." I reflected.

"Next, I play Monster Reborn to special summon Lighty," Seika called. "I set two cards face-down, and end my turn. At the end phase, Lighty is tributed and half her attack is inflicted as damage onto my opponent, but none of my Fortune Ladies have any original attack, so there is no damage inflicted. Turn end."

"Alright!" we cheered.

"Draw!" Jinzo looked pissed. "Malice Doll of Demise is special summoned back to the field!"

"Quick-play Spell, Demise of the Land!" Seika countered. "When my opponent special summons a monster, I can activate a Field Spell from the deck! Come, Future Visions!"

The field was immediately surrounded by doors, each leading to a different field, each to a different direction, and none of them were the same.

"I see... a future-sight Spell," the Jinzo observed as the doll cackled. "And yet I detect no power from you, if just a determined spirit. Tell me, child, why do you fight the inevitable? Is it not better to be given direction from your betters, simpler? You would never need to debate for yourself again. You would never need to decide what would be good, what would be evil. It is a world where you would be free."

"It would be simpler... but it would mean giving up our choices," Seika fiercely answered. "The Arcadia Movement is not about good or evil. It is the betterment of the lives of fifty thousand Psychics who have long been ignored, whose lives are never cared about by anyone but us. It is about _more_ than good or evil, it is the right to choose for ourselves which side we wish to stand on. I believe that people should be free. People get caught up in right or wrong, yes. We're conflicted, that's the first thing the Movement teaches. It doesn't matter if we're not _free_. I have no right to judge, for I've never saved anyone in the Movement yet, but I know you don't have that right either!"

"I will kill you," the spirit venomously promised. "I tribute Malice Doll of Demise to summon myself, Jinzo [2400/1500]!"

Jinzo appeared, and crackled with power... directly before disappearing down a door that closed around it.

"W- What?" Jinzo started.

"Future Visions' effect!" Seika informed him. "When a monster is normal summoned, Future Visions sends that monster one turn into your future. So, you'll get him back at your standby phase next turn."

"Very well... I set a card, turn end," Jinzo grumbled.

"Draw!" Seika called. "Standby phase, Darky's level increases to six [2500/2000 → 3000/2400]! Activate Continuous Trap, Graceful Revival! Now Lighty returns to the field!"

The searching Fortune Lady winked as she reappeared next to her sister.

"Now, I play the Spell, Magic Planter," Seika declared. "I get rid of Graceful Revival and draw two cards. Yet, because I got rid of it, Lighty is destroyed!"

"Fool! Why would you..." Jinzo trailed off as another door gleamed on the Future Visions.

"My Fortune Lady Lighty can summon her sisters!" she answered. "Come, Fortune Lady Watery [?/? → 1200/1200]! When Watery is special summoned when I control a Fortune Lady monster, I can draw two cards!"

"Take all the draws you wish, you cannot win!" Jinzo laughed.

"I play Heavy Storm!" Seika called as the whirlwind shattered every Spell and Trap, including Ectoplasmer and Future Visions. "With this, now Jinzo is locked out for good!"

"No! How dare you do this to me!" Jinzo screamed.

"And I haven't summoned yet, so I summon Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate [1800/0]!" Seika took a deep breath as as the old crone of a witch riding the legendary goat that could turn monsters into stone appeared. "Right now..."

Darky, Watery, and the Witch gathered, discussed, and grinned as they loomed in Jinzo into their collective female glory.

"Darky, Watery, Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate, direct attack!" Seika screamed. Darky whacked him good, Watery followed with a stab to the approximate area of the kidneys, and the witch... she cackled, and her goat stomped on Jinzo as it fell off the stage and onto the floor.

Jinzo: LP 5500 → LP 0

Seika: LP 7200

"She won!" Yuko celebrated, and every Duelist present nodded, almost in approval.

"H- How dare you..." a sphere of black light was gathering in his palm as aura leaked off him like a broken faucet. "T- The Duel energy... for our great master... you will be the first sacrifice, girl!"

Seika faced him, and said, in a very small yet defiant voice: "I am here. Come!"

A pause, and then...

"Well, _there_ we have it."

The temperature dropped ten degrees. My breath came out in a plume of vapour, and I saw Rex shivering, as well as Adrian. My senses were working in overdrive, screaming at me to run _now_. I knew this presence. I knew this temperature drop.

I knew what was coming, and part of me never wanted to find out.

In the blink of an eye, there was nothing, and _there_ they were.

Kujaku Satsuki was wearing that Goth biker outfit I'd seen her in last time, and now she was in full Harpie regalia, Cyber Bondage and claws and talons and wings. Her smile as she held the claws to his throat, at the delicate membrane before skin was covered with armour, was poisonously sweet.

The second member was a bit different. She was short, shorter than Seika, and her main facial feature was a pair of midnight blue eyes arranged in an ominously cold glare, that gave them chills with her smirk. Though her graceful beauty could easily trick people, she was wearing her true face; that of a sensual creature who didn't quite care about the lives of others.

It was her attire that attracted my attention the most. She stood facing me in a long, gauzy black skirt, shredded artistically in several places. She wore fishnet tights beneath, showing more leg and hip than it should. The tights, too, were artfully torn in patches to display pale, smooth skin of her thighs and calves. She had army-surplus combat boots on her feet, laced up with neon blue laces. She wore a tight tank top, its fabric this white cotton strained by the curves of her breasts, and a short black bolero jacket bearing the Neverland logo in dripping red letters. Black leather gloves covered her hands.

That's not all. Her brown-black hair had been dyed, one half of her head purple, the other sky blue, and it had been cut at a uniform length that ended just below her chin and left most of her face covered by a close veil of hair. She wore a lot of make-up; way too much eye-liner and mascara, and black lipstick coloured her mouth. Bright rings of gold gleamed in both nostrils, her lower lip, and her right eyebrow, and there was a bead of gold in that little dent just under her lower lip. There were miniature bulges at the tips of her breasts, where the thin fabric emphasized rather than concealed them. I didn't want to know what else had been pierced, I told myself that very sternly. I didn't want to know, even if it was... a little intriguing. They looked painful. Also cool.

But wait, that's _still_ not all. She had a tattoo on the left side of her neck, in the shape of a horse, and I could see the barbs and curves of some kind of tribal design flickering out from the neckline of her tank top. Another design, whirling loops and spirals, covered the back of her right hand and vanished up under the sleeve of the jacket.

She watched the crowd with one eyebrow arched, waiting for anyone to react. Her posture and expression both said that Tenjouin Michiru was way too cool to care what I thought. Just as well, that none of it was flattering.

It was the last member of the triumvirate that garnered the most reaction. Standing between Michiru and Satsuki, she was graceful, a timeless work of art between the mockeries of contemporary feminine strength that stood beside her.

She was maybe one-six-flat, and built with that perfect balance of lean and lush proportions that some girls are lucky enough to have for maybe a year, the kind of look that gets girls that age in trouble with men who should be old enough to know better, though I pity the guy stupid enough to go after her. She wore the black halter top and black mini-skirt with elegance, the tough fabric draped over beauty and strength. The halter-neck was cut, a v-neck, and left her shoulders bare while attached sleeves covered her arms all the way down. Her skin had been slightly darker in my memory, but now made snow seem a bit sallow by comparison. Glittering colours flickered around her upper arm and upon her fingers and on her heeled boots and the hems of her fingerless gloves, deep blue and green and violet contrasting with the black of her emsemble. Her nails glittered with the same impossibly shifting hues, I noticed. Her black hair was twisted into a chignon at the base of her neck, and surprisingly the feature only emphasised her elegance, blending with the seemingly-designer clothes she wore. Her lips were the colour of frozen raspberries, deep like blood.

She was beautiful: elegant, with the cultured beauty that came of self-assurance and power. It's like meeting a female Prime Minister or the Queen of England; there was some undefined sense that this woman was in charge, and with the impression of owning the space around her. Even if I was gay, I should have been impressed. I should have appreciated, at least on an aesthetic or distant plane, her features, her effortless glamour, her very aura of power. We should have gotten along. It should have stopped my breath.

It terrified me.

I could see her eyes. They were wide, and blue-green now, and cold. They had always been cold, but I wondered when they changed to blue-green. And though they, too, were beautiful, they were cold eyes, inhuman eyes, filled with intelligence and desire, but empty of compassion or pity.

I knew those eyes. In fact, I knew _her_. Fear can literally feel like ice water. It can be a cold feeling that is swallowed, that rolls down the throat and spreads into the chest. It steals the breath and makes the heart labour when it should not, before expanding into the belly and hips, leaving quivers behind. Then it heads for the thighs, and the knees (occasionally with an embarrassing stop on the way), stealing the strength from the long muscles that think you should be using them to run the hell away.

If fear hadn't taken the strength from my limbs, I would have already run.

The howling wind went silent, and the sudden stillness around me was a shock to my senses. I could hear a few people whimpering. Good idea. I wanted to whimper too.

The last time I saw Shimotsuki Setsuka, she had turned the Kaiba Dome into a fucking OK Corral, and I've seen the Kaiba Dome and how it looks in the spirit realm. It had been a land made of dust and mud and loose shale, covered in hillocks and steep gullies, and the only plants there grew barbs, thorns or stingers. Though the land was lit, the sky was as black as her conscience, without a single star or speck of light to be seen – and it was an overwhelming sky, the likes of which were never seen in Neo Domino itself. And those layers and mounds of shale? They were bones. Millions and millions and millions of fucking tons of bones, some stained with blood, some polished white as stone, some definitely broken, and all of them, human and non-human alike, were certainly once alive. The careers and lives of Duelists made and broken in the Dome itself.

Later, there would be conflicting reports of gas leaks, hallucinogens, the excitement of the crowds, and a new stadium built and this one knocked down and the earth seeded with salt just as a precaution, but it _had been there_. And the one responsible for that sight that still haunted my nightmares was the boss of those two dominatrix women.

"B- Boss!" Youkai shouted. I don't blame him. "Y- You look great."

She could have ignored him. She could have just killed Jinzo, twirled, and disappeared into whatever fairyland she came out of. The evil bitch was more chilling than anything else I have ever seen in my life, because I've seen Shimotsuki Setsuka, the lengths she could go, and it wasn't pretty. She cold have continued surveying the crowd and ignored the shocked outburst.

She didn't.

"I _am_ great." Her voice was cold, cold and with some unusual musical quality to it. The kind of frozen clarity that was never meant to be made into music, because it was a philharmonic prelude to bad things. Ice cracking. Cave-ins. Torrents of floods.

I could hear Rex's teeth chattering.

Slowly, she turned to see the Jinzo, and if proof of the terror she inspired with her very presence was unfounded, here's an example: Jinzo was shivering, the kind of cold that comes with imminent death and the fact that he was in front of a predator even worse than he was. Getting killed by that Jinzo and by her would be different. For one thing, with the Jinzo, it should at least be a proper slaughter, if anything else. If you fought Shimotsuki Setsuka unprepared, you'd probably fall apart into dust or something.

She had been the third head of the Arcadia Movement, Seika's predecessor, and one of the few in history to have both Psychic powers and the ability to see Duel Spirits. Rumour had it that she was the head with the second-highest kill count, short of her mother, the Duelist known as the White Witch, Madame Seiran Shimotsuki. The Movements worldwide feared and respected the Cold Queen with something akin to reverence. Shimotsuki's presence was the unspoken elephant in the room, the constant presence in almost all matters of the Movement since her unofficial takeover so long ago. The byword was 'benevolent dictator': it was her hand that made the Movement one of the most powerful organisations in Neo Domino. And she had been _twelve_ when it happened.

Her dark, bleak gaze took in the hall at a glance, and stopped on Dante and Hazuki and Ryuusuke supporting them. Her left eye twitched once. And she spoke in a low, dreadfully precise voice. "Cease. At. Once."

Hazuki suddenly stared at Shimotsuki with wide eyes, like a teenager who had been walked in upon making out in the living room. The confidence of her stance faltered, and she abruptly lowered her DuelDisk. Dante went one further; he dropped and bowed his head.

Very slowly, she turned to face Seika. "I have heeded your summons; yet I would not enter this place unless specifically bidden. Have I your permission to do so?"

"Y- Yes," Seika squeaked. "S- Setsu-chan..."

A collective gasp. Yuko strained forward to check, his expression worried. Adrian gasped, Satoshi choked, and a number of Duelists held their breaths.

Shimotsuki nodded her head slightly. From her, she turned to glance at thin air, which suddenly morphed into the Evilswarm Ophion.

I could hear gasps, and then realised that she was doing what she had done two years ago; open the Sight of _everyone_ in the _hall_ so they could see the damned large dragon for themselves. Even Youkai and I couldn't do that, even on a good day. "I am aware. It will not be forgotten."

Ophion bowed its head, barely, a gesture of acknowledgement, not cooperation or compliance.

"M- Milady Queen," the Jinzo whispered. "I... I didn't expect to see you here. I- I was about to convert them all in your great name, Milady."

A single dark eyebrow raised as, very slowly, she turned to Seika. "Was that true?"

"H- He was about to invade." Seika answered.

"Lies!" Jinzo replied. "I was... educating the mortals in the ways of Winter, how they should bow to our rule."

"Invade: a verb, first meaning being the entry of an armed force or its commander to a place so as to subjugate or occupy it." Shimotsuki crisply said. "Second meaning: to enter in large numbers, especially with intrusive effect."

"That's the term," Seika nodded. "And he never mentioned you. He mentioned a great master, though..."

Like the grind of a glacier, she slowly turned to look at Jinzo.

His pompous air whooshed out of him, and he started looking around like a cornered rat. "I... I..."

"We should have a talk," her voice was soft, dangerous, a valley before the inevitable avalanche.

Jinzo stiffened, as if about to consider pleading for his life like any proper person, and then broke out and ran.

She merely lifted a hand and spoke a single syllable. I didn't hear it, for it was soft, but a lot of things happened. There was a flash of light, an Arctic howl, and a scream of air suddenly condensed into liquid, before an explosion of frost and fog centred upon the Jinzo. The air became a solid fog bank, and for several seconds there was silence.

When it cleared, there were a series of gasps, everyone seeing the Jinzo crouched to pounce in defiance of her.

She moved her little finger, and a lance of invisible power struck out. The frozen monster shattered into thousands of icy chunks, grisly frozen shrapnel pelting the people below the stage for a brief moment before they disappeared. Quite a few screamed until she turned a casual eye on them, and the smell of ammonia was growing strong.

It was Dante who got the courage to speak up in the wake of the spectacle. "You... You're..."

She smiled, the gesture every bit as alien as I had ever seen on her face. "I have many names, changeling," she murmured. "But you may call me as you knew me, or as some of you may recognise me. I am the Cold Queen. Queen of Air and Darkness. Monarch of the Winter Court."

"Damn," Dante muttered. "I was expecting something simpler. I didn't expect the big scary boss herself to come."

"Rest assured that my grudge is not with you, but with those that you have sworn blood feud upon," she murmured.

Dante had paled, all the way to the tips of his ears. "I... I know of you. My dad told me horror stories about you. As the Winter Queen, not as... I didn't know that the Cold Queen of the Movement and the Winter Queen were one and the same."

"I only recently inherited the title," was her arch reply. "A colleague was here earlier. I believe that... yes, she is here."

The hooded Black Rose Witch cosplayer appeared in a swirl of leaves, and quite a few more screams echoed. "_She's with the Duel Spirits!_" someone yelled.

I had the feeling that come tomorrow, there would be some interesting rumours.

"Very well," Shimotsuki waved a hand. "I thank you all for accepting our invitation to Neverland. Of course, I am sure that quite a few already knew of the true nature of this... gathering. That of recent years, there has been an increase of spirits out on the streets, powerful spirits with no regard for human law or order. That some amongst your number have disappeared into the shadows, and no one have cared."

Some shifting, suspicious mutters, and agreements.

"What if I said that there was a reason for their disappearances?"

A louder murmur, more interested.

"Over the past years," she said, her voice carrying though she never said more than a whisper. "There have been several conflicts between different interests. Several times, events have been driven by internal conflicts within one or both of those interests. A spread of unusual activity in the natural world, odd activity in the mundane plane. Those disappearances, they are only part of the consequences."

"Oh!" Dante said. "It's a phantom menace!"

Agreement, rumbling until Shimotsuki turned her stare onto the crowds, and they calmed before her frozen fury once more. "It is highly possible that your friends are already dead."

Silence. Silence so total, so complete that it may well be outer space, before the noise erupted with protests.

Shimotsuki snapped her fingers. The resulting boom silenced them once more.

"Thank you," she murmured. "There is a dual cause. One is the overt threat of Duel Monsters gathering against one world. The other is the adversary, the poison, the unseen enemy. It is a kind of spiritual malady. A mental plague. An infection slowly spreading across the earth."

"And... this plague." Satoshi demanded. "What does it do?"

"It changes that which should not change," she said quietly. "It destroys a man's admiration for his cousin by twisting it into maniacal ambition. It distorts and corrupts the good intentions of agents of light and darkness into violence and death. It erodes the sensible fear that keeps those without talent from reaching out for more power, no matter how terrible the cost."

It might not seem comprehensible to anyone else, but I heard Youkai and Satoshi take a deep breath. To me as well, one mystery was solved.

"Ryokai-nii," Youkai murmured in horror.

"The former guardians," Satoshi looked ill. His previous job which had ended when Shimotsuki killed ten of the twelve people that made it up had been self-appointed guardians, Duelists who walked between planes to save people being abused by Duel Spirits. The other one was now a recluse somewhere in the American Southwest.

"Minatsuki Suzaku," I recalled, the Underground Duelist who had tried to avenge his sister using dark, dark powers. "Someone has been manipulating events. W- Who?"

And to that question, Shimotsuki did one of the most terrifying things I had ever seen. She took a seat on the podium, crossed her legs, laced her fingers over one knee, and stared straight at the scared audience. "As for who it is? I cannot answer."

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

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	10. IX: Reinforce Truth

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**IX: Reinforce Truth**

Almost everyone ran when the doors opened. It was almost strange. I guess no one wanted to be in the same room as Setsu-chan any longer.

Setsu-chan could be difficult to get used to. I faced her before when I was five, and I have yet to understand exactly how she worked. Setsu-chan worked on one very simple principle; she would do anything to reach a goal. Whether that goal seemed far-fetched, whether I knew it or not, her moves had a purpose. Her words when speaking to others were already strangely canted, as if she was trying to suit them for a purpose higher than just communication at five years old. There were children who gave her grief for it. I don't think any of them survived. The smart children, whether they realised it or not, soon ran away.

I did not. And yet... I lived. Setsu-chan was, in many ways, my best friend. When Madame was going to adopt me, she was so happy... and then the tragedy happened. I guess... I guess, Setsu-chan never got over it.

Setsu-chan watched them leave, her eyes glittering coldly as she stared at the remaining people: the Arcadia Movement, Rex-nii, Chase-nii, Satoshi-san, Rodriguez-san, Dante-san, and one more person, a man dressed as a cowboy, his sharp blue eyes glittering in a weather-beaten face.

"J- Jimmy-san!" I called.

Jimmy Cook tilted his head in answer, his eyes never leaving Setsu-chan.

"Why can't you answer?" Rex-nii demanded. "What's going on? Where's Ryuusei? And why are you here, if you're just delivering a vague warning?"

The blonde girl, Kujaku-san, tilted her head. "Make haste. Time is short."

"Time always is short," the other girl, the one dressed like a hooker chuckled, but kept her stare between Setsu-chan and Jimmy-san.

"Fourth case," Setsu-chan finally spoke. "A girl who enjoyed Dueling turning into a bloodthirsty monster, and a champion of equal opportunities between Psychics and society, who primarily operated in the shadows, who set out to wreck havoc in public."

This time there were audible gasps. "Y- You mean... you too?" Chase-nii looked scared. Youkai and Satoshi-san just looked ill.

"I survived, as did Misawa Ryokai, but not, as I guess, intact," Setsu-chan flicked her head to one side. "My vassal apparently fell to it as well."

As she spoke, from the grisly remains of the Jinzo smoke gathered, into a large plume into which... into which a pair of eyes began to form, glowing hatefully as Setsu-chan threw a hand to it. The smoke fizzled and was bleached white, falling to the ground in a dust of snow and everyone's gazes following it.

"In the Duel Spirit World, I suppose we call this virus the Lswarm," Setsu-chan considered, as her cold gaze fell upon Kiyoshi-san. "You will stand and tell us, Ophion of the Evilswarm, lest I rethink my decision."

The dark dragon grunted. _It is true._

"W- What?" Kiyoshi-san sounded calm. "W- What did you do, Ophion?"

"Oh, he tried to barter your freedom," Setsu-chan answered. "You would be alive, of course, with your partner, but chained to Winter instead. Does it not sound nice?"

"Don't fall for it," Chase-nii told Kiyoshi. "She'll eat you alive and spit the bones out." He then turned to Setsu-chan. "Shimotsuki, where's Ryuusei?"

"What does your reason tell you?" Shimotsuki cast an eye to the figure. Winds whipped around her, and when they died, the figure was revealed to be a tall, thin woman in a pink-ruffled dress reaching to the floor, bearing a rose-topped staff on both hands. Her dark hair stood out from the collar like a pistil.

Chase-nii and Rex-nii backed away. "M- Marguerite!" Chase-nii screamed. Or he might have yelled. It was difficult to tell with Chase-nii.

The Spellcaster, Marguerite laughed. "So... so, so and so. Thou art not so useless after all, eh, spirit-caller?Alas. The Summer King is tied up at the moment."

Chase-nii bristled. "For what reason? He should be home if it wasn't for you!"

"Because I was commanded to do so," she said. One pale hand drifted to the staff. "Certain events had convinced your brother-in-arms that he was no longer sane, bound to his word and will. He is now... learning otherwise."

"What have you done to him?" Chase-nii growled, nearly about to leap for her. Rex-nii moved, no doubt also thinking the same.

Marguerite laughed, and the sound of it came out silvery and smoother than honey. The laugh bounded around the room, clashing against itself in a manner that made my heart race with a sudden apprehension as I felt an odd kind of pressure settle over me, as if I were closed into a small room with the stench of her flowery scent about me. I shivered, trying not to show how harshly it had affected me.

"He is bound, by his own will," she said at last. "He is in... some discomfort. But he is in no danger from our hand. Once he acknowledges his place and his fate as ruler of Summer, he will be restored. We of Summer can ill afford the loss of our monarch."

"He needs to speak now," Chase-nii sharply insisted. "And I saw him then, and he definitely wasn't bound."

"Of course," Marguerite made a careless gesture. "Yet he languishes in the process of enlightenment, and at his bidding I have taken his form into battle, just as I have taken the shadow of his mother before him, as you have seen. Thus am I here to fulfil the obligation to... keep you updated, through a vassal where needed."

Rodriguez-san frowned. "You locked him away somewhere, but you're keeping his promises?"

Something cold and haughty flickered through Setsu-chan's eyes. "Promises must be kept," she murmured, and the words made wind and stone tremble. "His vassal's oaths and bargains are binding, so long he is restrained from fulfilling them. It means that she will give you what Fudo Ryuusei might give you, and speak what knowledge he might have spoken to you were he here in flesh, rather than in proxy."

Marguerite tittered. "I swear it, thrice bound. You know, that I may keep my promise, and this I know is true. Thus is my word given."

Silence passed. I could see the rest of the Psychics giving each other confused looks. To believe Setsu-chan, or not to...

"I believe you." Jimmy-san spoke. "I believed you the moment you said that you loved me."

Something flashed through Setsu-chan's expression, something unusual. I did not know it. "And why, should you believe it?"

"Because you don't believe in saying words you don't intend to act on," Jimmy-san pursed his lips. "And because whatever your past, whatever your future, you are Shimotsuki Setsuka."

A huff escaped her lips, though she smiled, very briefly. "Very good. Now the problem is, do you all wish to listen?"

"Fine," Rodriguez-san grumbled.

"Dante Swartzvauld," Setsu-chan smirked. "I would suggest you were to work with the Arcadia Movement once more. I say this, only because I anticipate that it would be much easier to find your enemies that had been infected in the ensuing struggle."

Dante-san grinned. "The Invader of Darkness and Kozaky?"

"Exactly."

"And I can kill them?"

Setsu-chan closed her eyes. "Indulge yourself."

Dante grinned fiercely. "Sure, why the hell not?"

"Very good," Setsu-chan uncrossed and crossed her legs once more.

"What the hell?" we all whirled around to see Hayato Ichimonji glaring at us. "You're just going to accept that? What's this Queen of Winter? Queen of Air and Darkness? Hah! You're just a-"

Marguerite made a gesture with one hand, and the rest of his words drowned into silence as he collapsed. Takeshi and Alexianna took a step towards him.

"Ignore him," Setsu-chan spoke. "Those who cannot learn discretion in their wording should not speak. You have other matters than what Marguerite would do to your acquaintance."

Takeshi gave her a challenging look. Setsu-chan smirked, and raised a hand which contained a glowing mote of light. "I mean it in the polite sense. The sooner this is over, the sooner that presence may go."

After a while, Takeshi and Alexianna faced her, but did not move away from Hayato Ichimonji.

"The enemy we face this time is... insidious," Setsu-chan finally decided. "At any moment, they could burst forth and attack you. You must defeat them in a Duel that places their heart into battle and conflict, and the victor shall appear. Should you fail, the... infected walks free, and then the contagion spreads."

"The adversary gains strength," Marguerite, the Sorciere de Fleur, I realised, said as Setsu-chan fell silent. "Winter can only check Summer, and even Marguerite cannot control the army so effectively. Only mortals may defend against those infected who have already escaped to the mundane plane. It is a dangerous time for us all."

"So you need our help," Satoshi-san crossed his arms. "_Telling_ us would be more direct."

"I do not _need_ your help," Setsu-chan replied. "Pain? Terror? Sorrow? Why should I wish to prevent such a thing? My power grows ever more with them. I am queen of the dark and cold, and such are my food, and they are so very _sweet_."

I shivered; Setsu-chan's words rang true, as if... as if...

"No, wielder of the Blaze: we speak of graver consequences." Marguerite looked solemn. "Should this adversary triumph, everything ends. _Everything_."

That... that sounded monstrous. Even Rex-nii looked ill.

"I am giving you the chance to settle it yourselves," Setsu-chan seemed amused by the change in atmosphere. "Already we have a few in the Movement who have been infected. I suggest you... cleanse your organisation before reaching into battle against the true enemy. Take practice against the foot soldiers, before you reach the commander."

"Only us?" Youkai echoed. "Alone?"

"Do not be ridiculous, you are not alone," Setsu-chan answered. "There are compatriots worldwide. I suggest you not get too close, though; should you be infected, your allies may well turn on you as well."

Slowly, Setsu-chan turned to me. "You say that people should be free. I agree. Make your choices, lead them. Choose what to make of the world. I care not. You will be the star of this generation, Kannazuki Seika. So is my gift to you."

After a while, we were leaving after that, and only Jimmy-san remained standing, still facing Setsu-chan.

"Am I infected?" Jimmy-san asked.

"No," was the short reply. "You remain obsessively love-struck, as you were when I saw you. It has been... a while."

"Two years."

"A while. A blink of an eye. I have broadened my perspectives."

"Enough to let me come with you?"

* * *

Marguerite had long disappeared when we left, bringing our messages for Ryuusei. I was left to ponder it myself.

Misawa Ryokai. The suspected head of Neo Domino's underworld, and Youkai's cousin, but you never heard it from me. Once tried to start something that would rip the veil between worlds and let Duel Spirits loose.

Minatsuki Suzaku. Tried to avenge his sister, by challenging Shimotsuki to something involving dark powers and danger and Duel energy; the details weren't quite clear to me.

Satoshi's colleagues. Ten of them dead, the last one a recluse, and only himself left. And most of them already degenerating to violence and sadism.

"What do you think?" I asked Youkai. He was shivering, a look that seemed common with the rest of the members, former and present alike, of the Arcadia Movement. We had left, ostensibly to leave Shimotsuki and Jimmy alone, and Michiru and Satsuki had followed us.

Michiru seemed paler than when I had seen her last, and dressed like Frankenhooker. I think Tenjouin-sensei would have had an aneurysm if he saw her featuring piercings in parts of her anatomy I hadn't thought existed. Satsuki looked as she always had, cool and distant, but now... watchful, like a hawk. Like there was no one to watch her back for her.

"She could be lying," Yuuki pressed.

"She can't lie," Michiru and Satsuki answered together with Seika, and all of them looked surprised.

"She can't lie," Kaido confirmed. "Whatever she did, it took away one of the basic weapons children have when growing up; the ability to lie and obfuscate the truth."

"So Shimotsuki always had to obscure the truth another way," I nodded. "She can't tell a direct lie."

Satoshi nodded gravely. "The Madame... Kaido didn't know the Madame, he only came to work for the Movement when she took over. She couldn't tell lies... but only direct ones. There were many more ways to fool people, and she knew them. She could fool someone with the truth. I think... I think, if it's to do with Summer and Winter, as Boss put it, then... Fudo Ryuusei might come back already changed. That Ryuusei... might be gone."

Ryuusei, who always answered directly... what have they done?

"There's no way we can fight an enemy we don't know," Rex thoughtfully nodded. "So what do we do? Wait for them?"

"Well, since Boss actually knew..." Youkai thoughtfully reasoned. "It must stand that there's a way to tell if someone's infected and if someone's not. Since she could recognise when that Jinzo was infected..."

"Then if we find it, we can use it," I cottoned on fairly quickly. "Only one thing. This is _Shimotsuki Setsuka _we're talking about."

Seika, Dante, Hazuki, Uzuki, and every Psychic present, plus Rex and I, actually nodded in agreement.

"I'm so glad that my reputation is still held in such high regard." We jumped as the woman herself appeared, standing close to Jimmy. "As you have gathered, perhaps there is a way. But it takes too long, and the moment of detection is too late. Therefore, the best you can do is see, observe, and deduce."

"I knew it," Youkai grumbled.

I crossed my arms. "What happens if we don't?"

Shimotsuki tilted her head, and being under her gaze was disturbingly intrusive. "Tell me, were it any other source that stood before you and claimed it, would you believe them?"

"Hell no," I was surprised by my answer. True, Shimotsuki was a sneaky bitch, but she had almost always played to our level, and we cottoned on quickly.

"And you would have done what the majority of the source have, and left," Shimotsuki waved a hand to the empty lobby. "Come the storm, I estimate that half of them shall already be dead. What better way to take the target by surprise than to kill everyone who may have an inkling of the true nature of this threat?"

My heart felt cold. It was exactly the thing monsters would do, you know? "And... the other half?"

"They will run," was the bland answer. "They will run, and they might end up as the boy Anjhel Takumi had been."

"The one who..." I swallowed. A bit after Ryuusei's own disappearance, Anjhel Takumi had disappeared from juvie and then, we found his body washed up in the Bay. It... wasn't nice. The model-pretty boy had been nude. His legs had been spread in a wide V, making the grotesque sight of a hand... let's just say that the family jewels were all too visible. His head had been tilted backwards, a smile forever frozen on his face.

It was all too obvious how he had died. It turned the two of us, Youkai and I, off sex for _months_.

"What happens... if we don't choose?" I whispered.

"Then you consign our fates to fickle chance... and I assure you, that you will be the worse off." was the flippant answer. "As you wish to survive, you have no choice."

Anger flared in my chest and shoved my brain aside on its way to my mouth. "There's no point in following what you say if you're not playing level with us. Why should we? I do not serve you."

Her back straightened at a tense murmur from Jimmy, and she let go of a fist, as if forcing her fingers to relax. "Do you know the story of the Fox and Scorpion?"

I shook my head, looking away.

"Fox and Scorpion came to a brook," her voice was low and sweet. "Wide was the water. Scorpion asked Fox for a ride on his back. Fox said, 'Scorpion, will you not sting me?' Scorpion said, 'If I did, it would mean the death of us both.' Fox agreed, and Scorpion climbed onto his back. Fox swam, but halfway over, Scorpion struck with his deadly sting. Fox gasped as his dying words, 'Fool, you have doomed us both. Why?' 'I am a scorpion,' said Scorpion. 'It is my nature.'"

"That's the story?" I hissed. "Don't quit your day job."

She laughed, velvet ice, and it sent another shiver on my forearms. Her gaze turned, not to me, but to Kiyoshi, who whimpered as she stared at him. "You will accept this, Chase Princeton. It is what you are. It is your nature."

"Bitch." King of wit, that's me.

Another laugh, low and level. "Tell me. Did you ever think of his fate, the Takumi boy? How did you think we knew that Takumi had died? Better yet, how did you think we know that Ryuusei had been turned?"

Rex sputtered. Seika whimpered. I heard Youkai curse under his breath. When my sight recovered, I saw some of the Psychics still wearing their horrified faces. I could feel myself turn horrified at the implication. That _Ryuusei_...

No, my mind, my body screamed no. No, no, definitely not. Ryuusei was stronger than that. The son of Fudo Yusei and Izayoi Aki was more than a monster.

Shimotsuki merely smiled. She turned, and walked down the hall with her two-woman retinue, aloof, reserved, cold. Barely had they taken three steps before all four disappeared into thin air. She really knew how to do a disappearing act, that Shimotsuki.

"He's not a monster," Rex stated, his voice with a conviction that I didn't quite feel.

_Neither was Shimotsuki,_ a cold voice echoed in my mind. _Not at first._

A cold little feeling wobbled through my guts.

See, that's the tragedy of the human condition. No one ___wants _to be corrupted by power when they set out to get it. They have good, even noble reasons for doing whatever it is they do. They don't want to misuse it, they don't want to abuse it, and they certainly don't want to become vicious monsters. Good people, decent people, they set out to take the high road, to take up power without letting it change them or push them away from their ideals.

But it keeps happening.

History is full of it. As a rule, people aren't good at handling power. And the second we start to think we're better at controlling your power than anyone else, we've already taken the first step.

For someone like Ryuusei... born with incredible Psychic powers, he already had power, he had already grown up with it. Like the First Avenger movie said it. A strong man who'd known power all his life does not respect the power, while a weak man would...

No. It could not be. Shimotsuki had done it, subverting the truth and leading us down to our own conclusions. The actual story could be a different story.

But, Occam's Razor tended to reign very often.

Maybe I don't have the full story. Maybe I wasn't personally facing the problem, and I don't know how much worse the alternative could be. Anjhel Takumi was a son of a bitch who nearly murdered a man, a senior of DA Kings and his own accomplice, as well as nearly murder Rex. I didn't particularly care for him, but no one deserved to debase themselves to death.

If Ryuusei had done that to him...

"I theorised that the fates that connected Shimotsuki Setsuka and Fudo Ryuusei were like possession." Satoshi murmured. "That essentially, it was taking two very malleable people and already shaping them to a path that had been walked for generations, that had been repeating, and that Setsuka and Ryuusei were just another set of repeating motifs. To be-"

"They're very real," Ishihara Takeshi looked very pale as he spoke up. "What happened to Ichimonji?"

"Your friend? He's an idiot," Kaido told him severely. "He just managed to barter away your life in an open-ended bargain with a spirit who's not really benevolent. Maybe he'll be lucky to see the sunrise before he dies."

Beside the Aesir Duelist, Alexianna flinched. "This is... another Duel Spirit battle, isn't it?"

"Considering that's it's an unknown threat that we don't know where it's coming from, when it's coming, or from who, not to mention the why and how..." I thought. "We continue being ourselves."

You could hear a pin drop. The older Duelist pair looked very thoughtful, Ryuusuke, Yuuki and Kiyoshi still looked like someone had brained them, the rest of the Movement were resigned, and so were Takeshi and Alexianna.

"It makes sense," Rex thought out loud. "We're already being a thorn by being ourselves. As long as we keep investigating, as in Chase and I, sooner or later someone or some people are going to come and tell us to stop. When that happens-"

"-we can catch and interrogate them," Youkai caught on. "That's pretty good. So, now that we have a phantom menace, and we have a warning, we can know what to expect. We just have to look for weird stuff."

Satoshi tilted his head. "Kaido thinks it's a great idea. Or he said so after panicking."

"Do what you like," Adrian scowled. "I'm going to explore again, try and find out what are the two armies doing by the entrances and try to stop people passing through."

"Passing through..." I nodded. The Movement could not afford more people jumping ship like Cromwell had probably been attempting.

As I walked through the lobby, I accidentally ran into Yamamoto Koichi, who had one arm around Tsugare. Both of them look real close, the kind of intimate of two people who know each other so well that they could watch each other's back without asking or reciprocate.

"I got the puppies," I informed the morose Duelist.

Koichi nodded, but did not answer for a while. Just as I was about to leave, Koichi finally spoke. "Do you think she's playing on the level with us?"

"... I don't know," I admitted. To abuse the metaphor, Shimotsuki was a riddle wrapped in a mystery in a freaking Gordian knot of enigmas.

I stepped out of the lobby, outside into the cooler Neo Domino night. I squinted around for a moment, took a couple of steps out, and got hit on the head by something damp and squishy.

I flinched and slapped at my hair. Something small fell past my face and onto the ground at my feet. A toad. Not big, as toads go – it could easily have sat in the palm of my hand. It wobbled for a few moments upon hitting the ground, then let out a bleary croak and started hopping drunkenly away.

"Huh?" Youkai and Seika had joined me, and Youkai had voiced my exact sentiment.

I looked around me and saw other toads on the ground. A lot of them. The sound of their croaking grew louder as I walked further. Even as I watched, several more amphibians plopped out of the sky. Toads hopped around everywhere. They didn't carpet the ground, but you couldn't possibly miss them. Every moment or so, you would hear the thump of another one landing. Their croaking sounded vaguely like people croaking.

One amphibian landed with a splat before my boot. Amphibious brains spattered on concrete.

"_Eww_," Youkai wrinkled his nose. "A storm coming?"

"A weird storm," I commented.

A weird howl echoed, and a streak of orange went past me. I had only seconds to realise that the streak was still there, and it was instead Jimmy cruising along on his Duel monsters. The head of the South Arcadia Movement couldn't be caught riding something as pedestrian as a D-Wheel, no sir-ee. Alongside the Jurrac Duelist, Yuuki was clinging on for dear life, and Yuko was already heading for the skies.

Youkai and Seika ran, and I followed. Rex took over quickly, his loping stride covering more ground than my quick panicked steps. Hazuki and Uzuki broke pattern, but turned another way that would allow the Himemiya sisters to block another exit.

The Psychic Duelists present moved in smooth concert, and still we were unable to save anyone.

I turned, and straight ahead of me were bodies and blood.

I couldn't see much of them. Three people were down. There was a lot of blood around. A fourth person, a young woman, crawled toward the mouth making frantic mewling sounds.

A man stood over her. He was nearly seven feet tall and so thick with slabs of muscle that he almost seemed deformed. He wore overalls, a black-and-white prison stripe thing, and his face was twisted as grotesquely as a mask. There was a large, curved axe in his right hand. As I watched, he took a pair of long steps forward, seized the whimpering girl by her hair, and jerked her body into a backward bow. He raised the axe in his right hand.

Jimmy didn't bother to offer him a chance to surrender. He took a stance not ten feet away, aimed, and put three blasts into the masked maniac's head. At the same time as the Jurrac let out a brief roar that reached straight to the primitive panic centre, Jimmy took a card and fired. Literally.

The man jerked, twisting a bit, and released the girl's hair abruptly, tossing her aside with a terrible, casual strength. She hit the wall and let out a cry of pain.

The maniac turned towards Jimmy, raising the axe. Jimmy didn't bother to flinch, and instead took another card. The meteor he conjured burrowed down, joined by three more blasts, and the maniac went hurtling back, screaming. Overhead, some more amphibians dropped.

I turned my head; the other Psychics present had struck with Jimmy. Yuuki's face held an implacable, restrained anger, and Seika did not look sweet or caring. Yuko was angry, and calculating. Hazuki and Uzuki were pale, but checking those who had fallen, searching for a chance.

The stench of cooked flesh rent the air before the maniac gave one last scream and shattered.

"C- Chopman the Desperate Outlaw," Kiyoshi muttered, before bending over to throw up.

It had been a deliberate, gleeful work of art, as well as serving a purpose. Shimotsuki's words had come back to haunt me. _What better way to take the target by surprise than to kill everyone who may have an inkling of the true nature of this threat?_

Sure, Shimotsuki was an ice-cold, manipulative bitch, but she had always been coldly practical. And even if she was manipulating us, it didn't change that there was a threat, that didn't care or know, and it was killing people right on the doorstep of the Arcadia Movement, and that she had warned us. It didn't change that we were too late.

Overhead, the May clouds rumbled, threatening an out-pour of rain.

There was a storm coming.

* * *

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	11. Interlude: Castle Walls - Narrative

_**Interlude – Castle Walls**_

_**An LLS Production**_

_**Dedicated to decode9 for 50th review!**_

* * *

"I am Kannazuki Seika, the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement."

The words tripped off her tongue, uncertain and afraid. She turned to face Nakamura Iemitsu. "C- Can I really say that?"

"You must," was the short answer. Barely three months, before the will had been placed into effect and a child placed into the position once more. A child without the precocious headstrong intellect that was his Missy... "You must," he repeated.

"But... why am I the head?" Seika questioned. "I have no power... no notable intelligence, no skill."

"I cannot imagine." was the answer that came. "I suppose that if not for the other..."

"What?"

"Orion Hunter. Missy's cousin, and the one who would have been the head."

"Then where is he?"

"I do not know. Missy had him declared dead when we left."

Seika paused, considering, and her sad face grew more pronounced. "I see... so I am in a position no one wants."

They turned a corner, and Iemitsu faulted to one side, momentarily forgoing the protection of Seika. Seika gave a sift gasp before she was slammed into a wall by a large tentacle.

"We're sorry!" the younger of the Yamada twins, Yuko, apologised. "Yukio, you can let her down now."

The older twin, Yukio, stared at the terrified face. "You are the new head of the Arcadia Movement, are you not?"

Seika struggled in the embrace of the Sea Witch Gustkraken. "I... I don't have any power..."

"Yukio!" Yuko scolded.

"Is that so?" the tentacle moved, and Seika slumped on the ground. "But there is nothing stopping you from escape, is there? Just move and drop."

Seika trembled. "B- But..."

"A head who cannot free herself would be troublesome," Yukio dismissed as she struggled back to her feet. "A leader who cannot face those she rules is sad."

"Yukio!" Yuko snapped. "You don't have to be that way to our new leader! She's chosen by Boss, isn't she?"

"Then I do not understand," Yukio's stare bored down on her. "How do you call yourself a leader?"

"I... I..." Seika's voice was faint.

"Yukio!" Yuko snapped.

"Did I say something wrong?" Yukio asked. "The Movement is built on strength. For its leader to be incapable of even the basic protections and self-defence is simply disastrous. How are we supposed to entrust our lives to such a leader?"

"Lives?" Seika echoed.

"The leader has the lives of the Movement's members placed in her care," Yukio answered. "How do you not know?"

Iemitsu looked at her features about to cry, and wondered exactly the same thing about all the questions posed.

_Missy... what were you thinking?_

"RRRRUUUUUNNNNNN!"

* * *

"Why is it that the explosions only happen on our three-day weekends?" Youkai questioned as he ran behind his dusty duster-clad boyfriend.

"I don't freaking know!" Chase yelled back as they jumped to avoid the fireball. "Duck!"

Youkai feinted to avoid the lunge from the Earl of Demise right behind, and blasted a Hinotama at the Souls of the Forgotten for good measure. "Where the hell is our distraction?"

"Right here!" a yell came from above.

Chase and Youkai threw themselves as the Psychic currently on their heels ran, and went down on a sudden impact from above. There was a sound of impact, a scream, and the Psychic went down hard. He lay on the ground like a butterfly pinned to a card, arms and legs thrashing uselessly. His chest and collarbone had been crushed.

By an entire frozen turkey. A twenty-pounder. The plucked bird must have fallen from the assembly line overhead, doubtlessly manipulated by Youkai's powers. By the time it got to the ground, the turkey was still hard as a brick. The drumsticks poked up above the crushed chest, ends wrapped in red tinfoil.

The rogue gasped and writhed a little more. The timer popped out of the turkey.

Everyone stopped to blink at _that _for a second. Even by the standards of the Arcadia Movement, a Looney Tunes rendition was not something seen twice.

Chase panted, his back flat on the ground. "For my next trick... anvils."

Youkai slapped him.

* * *

"That was a crocodile," Rex stood very still. He was somewhere in the middle of South America, that much he was certain, as well as along the Amazon River. Beyond that, he was as lost as anyone else.

"Might have been eaten already," Adrian casually mentioned. "Naga did say that the crocodiles weren't her domain, but we've got to get this guy."

"One of the Legendary Planets, oh joy," Rex sarcastically answered as he dodged the flung trident. It embedded itself deep into the fan of the boat they had, and the straight end twanged dangerously.

"Joy," Adrian nodded in answer as he activated the DuelDisk and both Duelists faced the giant, bipedal alligator. "Rule number one... should be, try not to take it on in its domain. But then, we've already that, so let's skip to the most important one."

"What's that?" Rex gulped.

"Win," Adrian stared at it, as it headed for the waters and lunged towards them. "We beat him, we can ask for info. You want to know about your friend, right?"

Rex's face hardened as he looped a slender steel cable. "Let's do this."

* * *

"Yusei, what are you doing?" Aki asked.

"Fixing the generator," a muffled voice came out from underneath. "If I can increase the electric output, the conversion of plasma might be faster and so-"

"Not that," Aki sighed as Yusei pulled out. "Yusei... he's our son, you know. I want him to return, but I don't want you to starve yourself working overtime." she pushed the tray to him. "Please?"

He looked at the tray, and then to Aki who was preparing her DuelDisk. Slowly, he took the tray. "We'll be fine... we'll find Ryuusei..." he echoed.

"We will," Aki murmured. She hardly sounded convinced herself.

* * *

"You called me."

Kujaku Satsuki gripped the _senba zuru_ in her hands. "B- Baa-chan... she's dying."

Shimotsuki Setsuka did not respond. "You say it as if I should care."

"I want to make a deal with you." Satsuki spoke loudly. "Heal Baa-chan, and..."

"The price for that will be high," Setsuka answered, crossing her legs. She wore a demure floor-length gown now, but her crown remained. "In exchange, you will serve me for a time."

"For three months?" Satsuki proposed.

"Every weekend, you will do my bidding," Setsuka answered. "They can be separate, or they can be placed together. If I were to call upon your services for an extended time, you would of course be permitted extra time free of my services. Shall we settle the further terms in private?"

"Of course."

Setsuka smiled, and it was not a warm one as they appeared in a forest, where a throne of trees awaited...

* * *

In the middle of a raging desert, the winds blew. Sand eddies were stirred up, and they passed by the walking man. The man was headed everywhere, and nowhere.

A tattoo gleamed in his hand, as he checked the map...

_Satisfaction Town..._

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	12. X: Mask Change

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**X: Mask Change**

Being the head of the Arcadia Movement was not as glamorous as everyone thought. Firstly, there was the responsibility that came with the position. Although Baa-chan took over after Nii-chan and Setsu-chan disappeared, I had to look after the Movement... for their sakes. Even with what little I could do...

The next was the isolation. Knowing the light and shadowed sides of the Movement, I sometimes felt sick. That Psychic Duelists had to face such violence in their lives... and sometimes, even the violence of others.

Three days ago, four people died in that alleyway because we were too late. We could not save anyone.

The blood was still there.

I spent the nights between writing out forms, reports, waiting, and falling asleep. I was gently shaken, and I realised that I had fallen asleep at the huge desk that had belonged to all the previous heads of the Arcadia Movement.

"Seika-chan?"

Captain Kaname Yuuko was about the same height as Setsu-chan, with long silver hair that reaches her stomach while her fringe covered her eyebrows. Her skin was fair, and her eyes gleamed lavender. If one were observant enough to notice, she wears a bracelet charm of a snowflake and a seashell around her wrist. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt under a black vest with a red tie, and a belt with a deck box attached to a skirt that reached her lower thighs, matched with black tights and black knee-high boots.

"Y- Yuuko-chan?"

"Seika-chan, they told me..." Yuuko-chan looked conflicted. "That... that you were the new head of the Arcadia Movement. Reggie and Glen."

"I am," I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "Yuuko-chan... you're a police officer."

"I don't read the news that often," her protest fell flat as she turned a concerned face to me. "I- I should have kept in touch. I shouldn't have waited, even after... even after Setsuka. I should have come eleven years ago. But... Setsuka asked me why didn't I, and... and then she categorically refused to tell me where you were. She didn't even want to see me. And now... now, how could you be the head of this place?"

I blinked. "I am. Baa-chan helps me, but I am practically the leader of the Movement."

"There must be some way around it," Yuuko-chan sighed. "Well... I... I saw the reports. The four bodies found by the Movement. You were there, right?"

"I was," I sat up. "Nakamura-san can answer your questions. I need to prepare for school, Yuuko-chan."

Yuuko-chan said nothing as I got out of the chair. "You're not talking to me as well, are you?"

"I have school, Yuuko-chan," I shook my head.

If, what if, I told her about Duel Spirits... Yuuko-chan would not, could not, believe me. The Movement was the only organisation which could help at this time. What if... what if Yuuko-chan was targeted? Chase-nii, Rex-nii, they weren't Psychics, and they are targets. For myself... I was no Psychic. I knew that very well. And yet... and yet, I was the leader of the Arcadia Movement.

I don't know what to do.

Did... did Setsu-chan face this everyday? No wonder. If I had to face this, this... this worry, this protectiveness, this... this stress, for nine years, I would have already given up. And Setsu-chan had made it grow instead.

"You can tell me, Seika-chan," Yuuko-chan whispered. "Or do you hate me like Setsuka?"

"Setsu-chan never hated you," I answered. "If she did, you would have already disappeared."

Yuuko-chan flinched, and I realised how that must have sounded to her. Yuuko-chan was a Captain of NDPD, so she would have known about what Setsu-chan did... how Setsu-chan's history was spotted by murder.

"Will you walk with me, Yuuko-chan?" I asked once I had finished brushing my teeth, took a piece of toast and a drink from the commissionaire and headed back to the Opal Office for my school bag.

Yuuko-chan fell into step beside me. "So... you're in Queens, right?"

"Yes. I have to keep my grades up to remain," I nodded. "I am no Lady, but I think I can keep my status in Obelisk Blue. And Yuuko-chan? How is your work?"

We continued chatting, until Nakamura-san came for me and then I was whisked to Duel Academia Queens.

It stood besides Duel Academia Kings, its sister school, and the two schools were technically on the same campus, so there was a constant presence of boys despite the name. I remembered Nii-chan at my entrance exam... I tried not to cry of feel frightened at entering the school. I had so much to live up to...

"Seika!" Uzuki complained. "You're daydreaming! Pay attention before-"

"Kannazuki-san?"

I swallowed as Hibiki-sensei stopped before my desk. "Y- Yes?"

"You're up for practical Dueling," Hibiki-sensei nodded to me.

I walked up and faced my opponent, a first-year Obelisk Blue who had white hair and bright green eyes.

"Hello, Kannazuki-sempai!" she nodded. "I'm Nicolette Kurosagi, but please call me Nikki!"

"Yes... Nikki-chan," I nodded as our DuelDisks unfolded.

"Duel!"

Nikki: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"I'll go first, draw!" Nikki announced. "My first move is to summon Elemental HERO Stratos [1800/300]!"

I did not react as the hero with turbines for wings appeared. _Elemental HEROes were one of many archetypes which were disabled by_ _the rise of Synchro summons. The disadvantage becomes clear in comparison; for one, they need three cards, like Ritual Monsters, and featured fewer searchers. But, they are very threatening. For a Duelist to use Elemental HEROes means that they have a strong bond between their cards and themselves, able to overcome the very small probability of having all three cards in the hand, field or graveyard at the same time... in short, they must have superb luck at drawing. There are, however, powerful cards to bridge the gap..._

"The effect of Stratos allows me to add a HERO monster from my deck to my hand," Nikki said. "So, I'll add Elemental HERO Ice Edge to my hand. I'll set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" I called, glancing at my hand. "I activate the Field Spell, Secret Village of the Spellcasters." I called as the Duel field in the middle of Queens' auditorium was replaced by a ring of thatched round houses. "Now, I shall set a monster and a card, as well as activate the Continuous Spell, Arcane Barrier. Turn end."

"Draw!" Nikki called. "I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge [800/900] to the field!" the small icy monster appeared. "Stratos, attack that set monster~!"

"When Apprentice Magician [400/800] is summoned, a Spell Counter can be placed on a card of my choice, such as Arcane Barrier." I called as the spiky-haired purple-robed magician appeared. A light appeared on the statue that was Arcane Barrier as she appeared, and another appeared when Arcane Apprentice was destroyed. "When a Spellcaster is destroyed, Arcane Barrier will gain another Spell Counter. With that, the effect of Arcane Apprentice allows me to set a level two or lower Spellcaster Type monster down."

"Ice Edge, attack the face-down monster!" Nikki cheered as the monster charged. "Activate the set card, Skill Successor [800/900 → 1200/900]!"

"Again, another Apprentice Magician," I announced as two more lights appeared.

Nikki pouted. "You're no fun. Turn end. [1200/900 → 800/900]"

"Draw," I called. "I flip summon the Spellcaster, Stoic of Prophecy [300/200] to the field. Activate the Spell, Arcane Barrier. By sending this card with four Spell Counters and one Spellcaster Type monster I control, I may draw up to four cards. Stoic of Prophecy has his own effect, allowing me to add a level three Prophecy monster from deck to my hand by a mandatory effect, so I shall add Temperance of Prophecy. I summon Temperance of Prophecy [1000/1000] to the field, and activate the Spell, Spellbook of Secrets, to search for Spellbook of Power. I set two cards, and activate Card Destruction. We discard our entire hands and draw cards equal to the number of cards we discarded."

"I know," Nikki groaned in irritation.

"The effect of Temperance activates," I announced as the summoner glowed. "At main phase, if I have activated a Spellbook Spell card previously, I can tribute her to special summon a level five or higher Light or Dark Attribute monster from my deck, at the cost of not being able to special summon another level five or higher monster this turn. So come, Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]!"

"A two-thousand attacker here?" Nikki backed. "B- But..."

"Activate the set equip Spell, Spellbook of Life," I called. "By banishing one Spellcaster in the graveyard and revealing one other Spellbook Spell in hand, such as Spellbook of Power, I can special summon the level four Fortune Lady Watery [?/? → 1200/1200], who gains the level of the banished Fortune Lady Windy, which is three, so Watery is now at seven [1200/1200 → 2100/2100]."

"Your monster... is at three thousand," Nikki realised. "So... each time they gain levels, they grow stronger?"

"Watery's effect," I announced. "When she is special summoned when I control a Fortune Lady, I can draw two cards. Now I activate the Spell, Galaxy Queen's Light!"

"G- Galaxy Queen's... Light..." Nikki realised. "An Exceed deck?"

"Darky and Watery both become level seven!" I called as Darky glowed [2000/2000 → 2800/2800]. "And I still have cards, so I'll activate the set Spellbook of Power to increase the attack power of Darky by one thousand [2800/2800 → 3800/2800]. Now, Diffusion Wave Motion!"

"No!" Nikki gasped as one very potent Spell came up. My Fortune Ladies might not look like much, but people said that the Fortune Ladies once nearly beat Uncle Jack. "I can do it... I pay one thousand life points! Darky, attack her Heroes with your Dark Fate!"

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 7000

Nikki: LP 8000

Darky charged, destroying those in her way, and laughed as she did so in the anticipation of victory.

Nikki: LP 8000 → LP 6000 → LP 3000

Seika: LP 7000

"The effect of Spellbook of Power allows me to add some more Spellbook Spell cards from deck to hand equal to the number of monsters destroyed by the attacking monster this turn, that is, two, so I choose Spellbook of Secrets and Spellbook of Wisdom," I announced. "Darky's own effect allows her to revive the sisters I discarded earlier."

"Sisters...?" Nikki stared as one more Watery and a Lighty appeared, brandishing their staves [?/? → 1200/1200] [?/? → 200/200].

"Fortune Lady Watery allows me to draw two more cards," I called. "And with that, I construct an Overlay network with the level seven monsters! Come, Hierophant of Prophecy [2800/2600]!"

The magician was tall and thin, with a long face and generally the inspiring young magician. He wore black robes edged in gold and sigils, and carried a wide-topped staff of shining gold and green. A crown of gold and green glittered on his head as he glared at Nikki.

"Turn end," I declared.

"D- Draw!" Nikki flushed. "I play the Spell-"

The field around us rumbled, as if it had been waiting and catching her unaware now. "W- What?"

"The effect of Secret Village," I nodded. "When I control a Spellcaster and my opponent does not, my opponent cannot activate Spell cards."

Nikki bit her lip. "Then, I'll set two cards, and end my turn."

"Draw," I nodded. "The effect of Hierophant. When I detach one material, for every Spellbook Spell in the grave I can destroy one Spell or Trap you control. It is finished."

"What? No!" Nikki wailed as her protections were shattered.

"Hierophant, attack with Judgement of Magic!" I called. "Watery, direct attack!"

Nikki: LP 3000 → LP 0

Seika: LP 7000

Whispers broke out as the holograms faded and Nikki just stood to stare. "I... I..."

"From the start, Kurosagi-san already had a liability," I could hear a Hibiki-sensei announcing. "Against a Spellcaster deck running Secret Village of the Spellcasters, Kurosagi-san already had an inherent disadvantage because..."

"Because the Elemental Heroes rely on Fusion," I whispered. "And by locking down her Spells..."

Hibiki-sensei nodded. "Kannazuki-san, could you tell the class why the fact that you have a greater hand size and field advantage would influence the Duel so?"

"Because I have a greater pool of cards in my hand, and therefore more ways of countering anything Kurosagi-san could have thrown at me," I replied neutrally, having remembered Nii-chan saying the same thing on the subject. "Playing cards from one's hand tends to use up hand advantage, a consequence often described by Duelists as a comparison of one's hand size after using a card with the hand size before using it. Therefore, many cards are considered to be -1, because your hand size decreases by one card after it is used. Cards with discard costs tend to be -2, because hand size decreases by two cards after playing them, and there are yet more that give a loss of advantage. Most cards meant for drawing are considered neutral or 0, and a small number of cards, which included the Spell Pot of Greed, are considered +1, which is very rare. As mentioned, most cards have negative hand advantage values, which is why in a Duel, both Duelists' hand sizes tend to decrease as the Duel progresses. However, since I can draw more cards, the disadvantage is much more mitigated."

"Exodia!" someone shouted.

"Yes," I nodded. "With the later Contact Fusions pioneered by Yuuki Judai, what could arguably be the forerunner of Synchro and Exceed monsters reigned over normal Fusion monsters because the overall loss of advantage was cut by one, therefore leaving a Duelist with more cards in hand and so more room for response. Yet, having great hand size advantage can also be disadvantageous due to the hand size limit of seven cards that is applied each end phase. There are also cards that make drawing disadvantageous such as Greed, Heavy Slump or Disturbance Strategy. That fact that my Fortune Ladies have so much hand advantage sometimes make it necessary to run a fifty-card deck. But, Nikki-chan presented a classic example of preserving hand advantage just now."

"Huh?" Nikki-chan blinked. "I did?"

"By summoning Stratos, Nikki-chan essentially can search for any HERO monster in her deck and add it to her hand," I explained to the audience. "Which may include the rare Elemental HERO Neos, but often means another HERO to use later. Stratos also means that high-level HEROes can be searched, and later summoned. Then, she also summoned Elemental HERO Ice Edge, which by the cost of a card from her hand can also translate to a direct attack. So, when Nikki chose not to use its effect, and used the monster with higher attack power, she was already considering my field advantage and the best way to go about changing the game in her favour."

"But, I still lost," Nikki-chan pointed out.

"I had three facts in my favour." I pointed out. Even if I had no powers, Duel Monsters was my advantage. I could be useful. I could do this... "I can swarm the field, and still replenish my hand faster than Nikki-chan. The weakness of Fusion, which Elemental HEROes rely upon, is that it requires about three cards to perform, and therefore Fusion users were often struggling for hand size. In the days of Pot of Greed, it would not present so much of a problem, but now it is very huge since Fusion users often lose hand advantage faster than Synchro or Exceed users. The problem can be offset a bit, but the inherent disadvantage has remained with the focus of Elemental HEROes on Fusion. The last advantage was Secret Village of the Spellcasters. By controlling a Spellcaster at the same time as the Field Spell, I can lockdown my opponent's use of Spells, which becomes crippling to a Fusion deck like Elemental HEROes because it takes away the use of Fusion Spells and even Pot of Greed, if we were using them. So, I won due to overwhelming field advantage rather than bad moves on the part of Nikki-chan."

"Then, Elemental HEROes aren't that good to use, right?" one of the class, Mutsuki, asked.

"There are other HERO Duelists I know who still do very well today," I pointed. "Edo Phoenix is a Destiny HERO Duelist, and still manages to win his Duels, right?"

A murmur of agreement passed.

"And on a newer one... Yuuki Ayame is a good HERO Duelist," I considered.

More agreement.

"Thank you, Kannazuki-san," Hibiki-sensei nodded. "And Kurosagi-san. Please return to your places."

"That was so cool, Seika!" Uzuki cheered. "You managed to totally win and school the class too!"

"I- it's not that impressive, Uzuki-chan," I shook my head, trying to pay attention to Hibiki-sensei in her school-wide lecture on Hand and Field Advantage.

"Kannazuki-san!" I stopped after the lecture, when Nikki-chan was running towards me. "Erm..."

"Yes, Nikki-chan?" I paused with Uzuki.

"Erm..." Nikki paused, before talking. "_Ineedyourhelp,_" She quickly spoke.

"Huh? With?" I prompted.

"With..." Nikki paused. "Well... I'm actually related to Ayame-neesan as well. I'm a relative of Chancellor Tenjouin, you see... and I inherited a deck from Uncle Judai as well."

"Yes..." I leaned closer.

"Well... five years ago, Uncle Judai disappeared," Nikki-chan whispered. "And Ayame-neesan wanted to find him, but... _but she's disappeared as well..._"

* * *

"So this is the dump Yuuki Ayame was last seen in?" I muttered to myself. The shack was somewhere in the middle of the Daimon Area, not high-life but also not about to be torn down. A cheap mall, I guessed, or a block of flats.

"Yes, Chase-nii," Seika nodded, standing with Uzuki and the new girl, Nicolette Kurosagi, or Nikki as she insisted. I hadn't the heart to refuse. "Yuuki Ayame disappearing now... Chancellor Tenjouin was also worried. I... I can't see spirits without help, so please."

"Well, at least Fubuki-sensei crying over the phone is more explicable..." I sighed. "And would give us more credit. So, why was I called here?"

"Well, we're trying to help Nikki-chan," Seika reasoned. "And I need a chaperone, and only the two of you are good Duelists."

I stared at Seika. "What about Glen and Reggie?"

"Well... it seems rude to disturb them." Seika murmured.

"They're your employees," I pointed out but did not press. Obviously to ask Reggie, who could give a glare cold enough to give Kaido a run for his money, to investigate the tunnels was just asking for an electric shock from Glen.

"We're free now, Princeton-san," Ryuusuke swung off the D-Board I loaned him. "We might as well help Kannazuki-san investigate."

"You told Rex, right?" I asked Seika.

Seika very carefully did not meet my eyes.

"Seika..." I groaned, typing a quick message to Rex and Kaido and Youkai. "D'you think it's Duel Spirits?"

"Duel Spirits?" Nikki echoed. "No way... I didn't think Ayame-neesan didn't inherit the gift."

"It runs in families," I grunted, getting what _gift_ she was referring to. "It just takes a bit to awaken that potential. Like life-risking danger. She disappeared yesterday?"

"N- No," Nikki quickly answered. "She called in, and told Aunt Asuka that she wasn't coming back... and that she was sorry."

I stared at the shack thoughtfully. "What d'you think?"

By my feet, the ghostly Infernity Beast puppy sniffed, whined, and gave me a doggy look. We'd got real chummy when it found out that I wasn't going to sacrifice it, and it was pretty much free to go or stay, so it chose. We had an agreement.

"Yeah." I muttered. "Lead the way. Follow me, people. Girls, middle. Ryuusuke, you take the back."

"Why me?" Ryuusuke asked.

"You're a guy, suck it up and take the back."

Ryuusuke grumbled something about his shift, but took the back as we trooped in anyway.

Neo Domino's commuter tunnels were a fairly recent construction, compared to much of the rest of the city. The tunnels are a maze if you don't know them ― long stretches of identical overhead lights, drab, clean walls dotted with advertising posters, and intersections bearing plain and not always helpful direction signs.

Most of the tunnels had been closed, but I followed the puppy through the building, through the Puzzle Area, and after a while in the muggy heat was about to wish that the Beast could read a street map when it stopped as an unfinished building where the Puzzle and the Daimon Area met. It sniffed around in front of a service access door that proved to be unlocked, and that led down to a similar door that opened onto a darkened section of the subway that looked as though it had been under construction but was abandoned when the building had shut down.

It was completely dark, so I pulled a pocket flashlight from my duster and clicked it on, the ensuing powerful beam of light disorienting and bright.

"What are we following?" Nikki asked.

"Infernity Beast is tracking," I told her.

_Better the hound than I. I will not stand the indignity-_

"Yes, I know." I hissed quietly at him.

Nikki considered it. "You can see Duel Spirits?"

"I didn't just inherit the face from my uncle."

The Beast drifted in front of us down the tunnel, and we followed it without speaking. It took us to the intersection with the main tunnels of the subway – which I fervently hoped wasn't in use by the latest of underground leagues – and on a brief walk down another tunnel, to a section shut behind a rusting metal gate with a sign that read:

**DANGER KEEP OUT.**

Please, don't try this at home.

The gate proved to be unlocked, and we went down into a damper section of tunnels, rife with the smell of mould. After another thirty metres or so we reached a place where the walls became rough and uneven and shadows lay thick and heavy, despite the glow of my torch. The Beast, which I was going to name Killer as soon as it'd let me, drifted over to an especially dark section of wall and barked there.

"O... kay," I said. "I guess this is where we get in."

"_What_ is where we get in?" Ryuusuke asked, his voice sceptical. "Get into _where_?"

"Old Domino," I said. I ran my hands over the wall. To the casual touch it appeared to be bare, unfinished concrete, but I felt a slight unsteadiness when I pressed against it. It could not have been solid stone. "There might be a panel here somewhere. Trigger of some kind."

"Old Domino?" Uzuki commented. "Never heard of it before."

"History, second year project," I said. "Zero Reverse."

Ryuusuke folded his arms. "We're listening."

"The city is... a metaphorical graveyard," I said, still searching for a means of opening the door with my fingertips. "Things happen all the time. Earthquakes, tsunamis... Zero Reverse. Neo Domino was pretty much built on the remains of the old Domino City, hence Old Domino. They say that the Old Momentum was where the Battle City took place around, and that the original field sank beneath the sea during Zero Reverse. Either way, when Neo Domino was reconstructing, they just built and salvaged on top of the ruins. So you wound up with a whole city existing under the street level. They used to have a huge problem with rats and criminals holing up under the streets when the two cities were still separated."

"But not any more?" Uzuki asked.

"The thugs mostly migrated to Satellite when the Public Security Maintenance Bureau got serious, and then shit happened around the Fortune Cup and WRGP era." I answered. "Maybe a few Underground Leagues remained, maybe something else around. I know Shimotsuki made a point of sending a team down here at least once a year to flush out Psychics hiding here."

Ryuusuke tilted his head. "So you're taking us minors into a maze of light-less, rotting precarious tunnels that may or may not contain illegal Dueling rings and monsters that have been responsible for at least one Duelist disappearing."

I chuckled. "Maybe leftover radiation from Zero Reverse too."

"God, you're a fun guy."

"You're the one who wanted in," I shot back as my fingers found a tiny groove, too tiny to dig out for me. "And I just got it."

"You know, when I got a text saying to meet you in the tunnels, I wasn't expecting for you to end up here." Seika, Uzuki, Ryuusuke, and Nikki jumped as Youkai and Hazuki appeared in the shadows. Closer inspection revealed Hazuki's uniform to be mostly intact and Youkai to be wearing black – a bomber jacket thing.

I stepped back as Youkai leaned over and pressed a part, around the groove. A small, flat section of stone clicked and retracted. The switch had to have triggered some kind of release, because the section of wall pivoted in the centre, turning outward, and forming a door that led into still more dank darkness.

"Hah," I said with some satisfaction. "There we go."

"Hold on," Youkai muttered, messing with his phone before he put it away and belted his pocket shut. "Beacon. I'd rather not be lost until Kaido sends the next team down."

Good thinking. I wanted to hit myself for forgetting that. I looked at the dark, dank tunnel, and glanced at Hazuki. "After you?"

"What happened to chivalry?"

"I need your mighty thews to protect me," I replied. "Seeing as I'm just the guide who can see spirits, and you're the Psychic Duelist who runs a deck mostly of Fire Attribute Plants. Worst case, you can set it on fire. I'd be eaten before I even scream."

Hazuki rolled her eyes, looked at the group, nodded, and led us in.

We found ourselves in a tunnel where one wall seemed to be made of ancient, mouldering brick and the other a mixture of rotting wood, loose earth, and winding roots. The tunnel ran on out of the circle of light from my amulet. Our guide drifted forward, and we set out to follow her, walking close together. The tunnel gave way to a sort of low-roofed cavern, supported by the odd pillar, mounds of collapsed earth, and beams that looked like they'd been added in afterwards by the dwellers in Old Domino.

In my view, the Beast circled a bit uncertainly, then started sniffing to the right. I hadn't been following for five seconds before the skin on the back of my neck crawled, and tried to crawl over my head and hide in my mouth.

I must have made some kind of noise, because Youkai shot a look back at me and asked: "Chase?"

I lifted a hand and peered at the darkness around me. "I don't think we are alone."

"We're in a maze, we're in the darkness, and if there's a Minotaur, I will _kill_ you," Youkai muttered under his breath as we lined our backs up.

From the shadows outside the light came a low hissing sound. The rest of my skin erupted in goose-flesh.

Hazuki apparently did not share my sentiment, for she lifted her voice and said clearly: "I am Himemiya Hazuki, Titania of the Arcadia Movement. I have no time or desire for a fight. Stand clear and let us pass."

That took balls. Seriously. I have nothing on the Ladies of the Arcadia Movement.

A voice – a voice that sounded like a tortured cat might, if some demented being gave it the gift of speech – mewled out of the shadows, grating and _loud_. "We know who you are, Duelist," the voice said. Its inflections were all wrong, and the tone seemed to come from not far above the ground, off to my right.

The Beast let out a high-pitched whimper and hid behind my legs, and I had a brief moment to wonder why I still attracted the Duel Spirits that were not inclined to fly. That would be easier, right? Or maybe not.

Hazuki and Seika exchanged stunned looks before she turned back to the source. "Who are you?"

"A servant of the Summer Lady," the voice replied from directly behind me. "Sent here to guide you safely through this realm and to her court."

I turned in the other direction and peered more closely toward the sound of the voice. The light from my torch suddenly gleamed off a pair of animal eyes, twenty feet away and a few inches from the floor.

I looked back at Youkai. He'd already noted the eyes and turned to put his back to mine, watching the darkness behind us.

Hazuki turned back to the speaker and said: "I ask again. Who are you?"

The eyes shifted in place, the voice letting out an angry, growling sound. There was a clicking of teeth. "Many names am I called, and many paths have I trod. My Lady sent me to bring you thither her court, safe and well and whole."

"Sorry, but Kaido taught us really well," Hazuki snapped. "Thrice I ask and done. Who are you?"

The voice came out harsh and sullen. "Babur am I called by the Warm Lady, who bids me guide her monarch's guests with safe conduct to her court and her throne."

"All right," Hazuki said. "So lead us."

The eyes bobbed in place, as though in a small bow, and Babur mewled again. There was a faint motion in the shadows outside my light, and then a dull orange glow appeared upon the ground. I stepped toward it and found a faint, luminous footprint upon the ground, a vague paw, feline but too spread out to be an actual cat's. Just as I reached it, another light appeared on the floor several feet away.

"Make haste, children," mewled Babur. "Make haste. The Lady waits. The season passes. Time is short."

I moved toward the second footprint, and as I reached it a third appeared before us, in the dark, and so on.

"What was that all about?" I murmured to Hazuki. "Asking it the same thing three times?"

"Kaido, folklore thing," she murmured in reply. "Supernatural creatures of a certain kind aren't allowed to speak a lie, and if they say something three times, it has to make sure that it is true. It's bound to fulfil a promise spoken thrice. So even if this thing hadn't actually been sent to guide us safely, I made him say so three times would mean that he'd be obligated to do it. I wanted to make sure it was on the level. But they hate being bound like that, apparently."

Ahead of us, the faintly glowing eyes appeared briefly, accompanied by another mewling growl that sent a chill down my spine. Youkai grabbed my sleeve. "Oh." He didn't look any too calm himself. His face had gone a little pale, and he walked with his hands clenched into fists on my sleeve. "So if Babur had good intentions to begin with, wouldn't that make him angry?"

Hazuki shrugged. "Never mind good intentions. It never said that it would lead us out again."

The two of us stopped, gulped, and followed.

We followed the trail of footprints on the ground for another twenty minutes or so, through damp tunnels, sometimes only about two metres high. More sections of the tunnel showed evidence of recent construction. We passed several tunnels that seemed entirely new. Whatever beings lived down here, they didn't seem too shy about expanding.

"How much further?" I asked.

Babur let out a sound from somewhere nearby – not in the direction of the next footprint, either. "Very near, noble Duelists. Very near now."

Not before long, we came to a large, elaborately carved double doorway. It was made of some black wood like elder or mahogany, the doors were damned high, and carved in the kind of rich bas-relief dating from the Renaissance. At first I thought the carvings were of a garden theme – leaves, vines, flowers, fruit, that kind of thing. But as I approached the door, I could see more detail in the light of my torch.

The forms of people lay among the vines. Some sprawled amorously together, while others were nothing more than skeletons wrapped in creeping roses or corpses staring with sightless eyes from within a bed of poppies. Here and there in the garden one could see evidence of faeries – a pair of eyes, a veiled figure, and their retainers, little faeries, nymphs, satyrs, and many, many others hiding from the mortals' views, dancing.

"Nice digs," Youkai commented neutrally. "This the place?"

I glanced around for our guide, but I didn't see any more footprints or feline eyes. "Guess it must be."

"They aren't exactly subtle, are they?" Nikki archly remarked. I had the feeling that she thought this was an adventure. Part of me wanted to know how she would react in the face of a howling monster. Part of me... didn't.

"They all can be when it suits them." was the neutral answer. I took a deep breath.

Hazuki reached to the door and struck it solidly, three times. The blows rang out, hollow and booming. Silence fell on the tunnels for a long moment, until the doors split down the middle, and let out from behind them a flood of light, sound and colour.

I had no idea what to expect, but it definitely wasn't the middle of a garden. The path leading from the door was in yellow brick, and was edged in flowers that bloomed too brightly for anything other than poisonous flowers on earth. Sunlight shimmered through the curtains of ivy from the sprawled arches overhead. It was surreal, and I suddenly understood how the Pevensie children had felt when they entered the Wardrobe to see Narnia for the first time.

Something shifted, and Babur showed himself. It, and I use the word in the sense that he was a tiger and inhuman and I'm just babbling right now, was a friggin' tiger, the kind of predator that was scarily beautiful even as it ate you. Flames licked at its paws and body.

Hazuki drew a breath. "You're... a Flame Tiger."

"Follow." Babur inclined its head, and started off on a trail through the forest. It wasn't a long walk. The trail wound back and forth and then opened onto a grassy glade.

I stopped and looked around. No, not a glade. A garden. A pool rested at its centre, still water reflecting the moon overhead. Benches and boulders of a size for sitting on were strewn around the pool. Statuary, most of it granite, of different subjects, stood here and there, framed by flowers, placed between young trees or on its own. On the far side of the pool stood what at first glance I took to be a gnarled tree.

It wasn't. It was a throne, a throne of living wood, its trunk grown into the correct shape, branches and leaves spreading above it in stately elegance, roots spreading and anchoring it in the earth. That looked awesome, but I was considerably less awed that I should be at the effort that must have been necessary. I was too busy glaring at the woman perched on it.

Marguerite smiled, and her smile was the too-wide predatory kind of thing Shimotsuki regularly hauled out. Her hair threaded through a yellow bowl-cut head, and the body attached was slumped at the foot of the throne. She wasn't alone, though.

People stood here and there. A paint-spattered zombie worked furiously on some sort of portrait, his face set in concentration. A tall man, pointed ears marking him as an Elf of some sort, stood in the posture of a teacher beside a slender girl who was drawing a sword, aiming at a target of bundled branches. On the far side of the garden, smoke rose from stones piled into the shape of an oven or a forge, and a broad-chested man, shirtless, bearded, heavy of brow and fierce-looking even if half-dressed in green and wearing one of those stupid fez things, stood on the other side of it, wielding a smith's hammer in regular rhythm. He stepped away from the forge, a glowing-hot blade gripped in a set of tongs, and dunked it into a trough of silvery water. Obviously, the Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu was focused on his work, ignoring us. Haunting pipe music, sad and lovely, drifted through the glade from a young woman sitting with a set of reed pipes, playing with her eyes closed. It picked up speed, and tempo, and the woman continued to play and play and play. It was fantastic music, the kind of thing that almost made me feel that there was an epic battle going on.

Marguerite's expression turned serious. Right there and then, all at once, they stopped. Dozens of Duel Monsters, beautiful and ugly and mysterious and beast-like faces alike turned to watch the soloist, eyes glittering in the muted sunlight.

Babur gave a purr.

The woman continued to play, but I could see that something was wrong. The flush of her face deepened. Her eyes widened and began to bulge, and she was shaking. A moment later, the music began to falter. The woman tore her face away, and I could see her gasping for breath. A second later she jerked, then stiffened, and her eyes rolled up in her head. The pipes slipped from hers fingers, and she fell, first to her knees and then limply over onto her side, to the soft earth. She hit with finality, eyes open but unfocused. She twitched once more, and then her throat rattled and she was still.

Marguerite? She just licked her lips, her mouth spreading into a lazy smile. I saw her shiver with what was unmistakably pleasure.

"There," she murmured. "You see? Never let it be said the Lady Marguerite does not fulfil her promises. You said you'd die to play that well, poor creature. And now you have."

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

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_**Please review!**_


	13. XI: École de Zone

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XI: ****École de Zone**

Until today I could not have been said to have much experience with Duel Spirits. I know, distantly, that Nii-chan had a few partners, and could see spirits, but he never mentioned it. I only knew because Setsu-chan had that ability, and she mentioned that Nii-chan had it as well. When Nii-chan disappeared, and everyone said it was the storm, Chase-nii had whispered in the dark of night that it was Duel Spirits. That Duel Spirits had been the ones to take him away.

I didn't know then. I always thought that Duel Spirits were what they are. But this experience changed it, for then I began to think of Ancient Fairy Dragon, Aunt Ruka's monster. How could anything consider taking a three-year-old away from their own family?

Maybe Ancient Fairy had not done it with bad intentions. The fact is, it was done, and Ancient Fairy had placed the safety of worlds above the well-being of a pair of twins. Ancient Fairy would have whisked Aunt Ruka into the Spirit World without much of a thought, that I thought I saw.

They are what they are, Chase-nii had said. I thought that was it. I was wrong; Marguerite was much, much worse.

As the woman died, there was a soft sigh that echoed, and polite applause. I felt more sickened than I thought I could have... that someone had died and they were applauding...!

"We have guests, my fellows." Marguerite whispered. The gaze of several eyes hovered, and a Fairy's Gift hovering around the tree-throne blinked, showing no emotion.

"E- Erm... hello?" I swallowed.

"Good evening, child," Marguerite smiled, showing a dimple. "Welcome to the court of the Lady of Summer, the hand of the Summer King. I am the Sorciere de Fleur. You may call me Marguerite."

More bristles, from those behind me. Nikki-chan squeaked.

"I see," I whispered. "You must be the Lady that Babur was talking about."

"Indeed."

"He reminds me of Dewloren."

When I spoke it, there were several that recoiled, and even Marguerite's eyes widened before they narrowed. "Have a care what names you speak before us, child, lest the wrong entity comes before this court."

"I am the head of the Arcadia Movement, and you will address me as such," I answered.

Silence fell. The regard of the spirits, now solid, grew more intent, more uncomfortable.

Marguerite's mouth spread into a slow smile, which in turn became a quiet, rolling laugh. She let her head fall back with it, and they joined in with her. They sat there laughing for a good thirty seconds, and I felt my face begin to heat up with irrational embarrassment before Marguerite waved one hand in a negligent gesture and the laughter obediently died away.

"By the stars," she murmured, "I adore mortals."

I clenched my jaw. "Very good. Then will you answer me: where is Yuuki Ayame?"

"If I knew that bit, do you really think I would tell you?" Marguerite lifted a finger to her lips, as though she needed it. "I can't just give you that kind of information, leader."

"Is that so." Which was vague enough to be taken several different ways.

She sat up, crossing her legs with a rustle of cloth, and settled back. "It means that if you want me to answer, you shall have to have to pay for it. What is the answer worth to you?"

"I assume you have something in mind." I murmured. "That's why you sent someone to give us safe passage here. And out, yes?"

More silence.

"We _are_ guaranteed safe passage out, are we not?" I asked, widening my eyes. "Otherwise, I fail to see the point of further negotiation when I might not survive it. I don't feel safe. Chase-nii, do you?"

"No," he quickly answered. "No, not at all."

The rest of us agreed with him, and Hazuki-nee seemed to be actually considering it.

"Quick," Marguerite murmured. "I like that. Yes, I do. You will have safe passage given from leaving my domain to the castle you call the Arcadia Movement headquarters." She extended a hand to me and gestured to an open stone bench to the right and a little beneath the level of her throne.

"Please, sit down," Her teeth shone white. "Let's make a deal."

"You want me to make a deal. With you," I said. I didn't bother to hide my disbelief. "Interesting."

"And why should you find the notion amusing?"

"Is it not?"

Her lips slithered into a quiet smile, and she left her hand extended, toward the seat beside her. "You came to seek something from me. Surely it would not harm you to listen to my offer."

"I've heard that before. Usually from people trying to kill Setsu-chan." There was that one kidnapping incident that began Setsu-chan distancing herself. After she did what she did, and they disappeared.

Marguerite touched the tip of her tongue to her lips. "One thing at a time, leader."

"Suppose I don't want to listen."

Something in her eyes suddenly made her face cold and unpleasant. "I think it might be wise for you to indulge me."

"Seika," Chase-nii muttered "These people are giving me the creeps. If she's playing games with us, maybe we should go."

"That would be the smart thing." Hazuki-nee agreed. "But it wouldn't get any answers."

"Come on." I decided. I stepped forward and started to the bench. Marguerite watched me the whole time, her eyes sparkling. Reluctantly, they followed me.

Her eyes flicked towards Ryuusuke. "The traveller. I knew your mother."

"You did?" Ryuusuke paused.

"Of course. She is one of us." Marguerite tapped her fingers on the arm of her throne. "She is a most compassionate woman, always caring for the weak and a champion of healing. As expected of her kind, though."

"Who is she?" Ryuusuke asked. "What do you mean?"

"Gyakutenno Megami. La, what of it?" Her eyes gleamed with avarice. "Didn't you know about your mother? A pity that we didn't have this conversation sooner. Of course, if you would like to forfeit your name, to know all about your mother, her…" Here, her voice twisted in distaste, "...life, I am certain we can work something out."

I could see that Ryuusuke gritted his teeth, and I felt his childlike frustration as an echo of my own. His mother? Unnatural deaths? His father had perished in his sleep. _My_ father had died of a heart attack. My mother died in childbirth.

Or had they?

If, if Marguerite could help me...

A sudden, burning desire to know filled me, starting at my gut and rolling outward through my body – to know who my mother was. Papa said that I had her eyes, but I knew nothing of the sort of person she was, other than what my gentle father had told me before his death. What were my parents like? How had they perished, and why? Had they been killed? Did they have enemies lurking out there, somewhere? I was a changeling. Did that mean that my mother was a Duel Monster as well? A spirit like Marguerite, like Ryuusuke's mother?

I looked up at the witch, her smile sharpening, and felt like when I had been played by Setsu-chan. We had been set up. She had intended, all along, to dangle this information in front of Ryuusuke as bait. She wanted to get power over Ryuusuke-san if she could, or more.

"I can show them to you as they really are," Marguerite assured, her voice dulcet. "You've never seen your mother's face. I can give that to you. You've never heard her voice. I can let you hear that as well. You know nothing of what sort of people your parent was – or if you have any other family out there. Family, child. Blood. Every bit as tormented and alone as you are..."

I stared, at her deceptively beautiful face, and listened to the soothing, relaxing voice. Family. Was it possible that I had a family? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins? Others, like me, perhaps, moving through the societies of the world, hidden from view? Could Marguerite give me that?

"The price is comparatively low. What need have you for your choice? What harm to pass to me for security, for your family?" She pressed. "This is not information easily gained, even by my kind. You may not have the chance again." Her whole form fairly trembled with eagerness.

I glared at her, but she didn't seem bothered. "Well? Our deal?" I demanded.

Marguerite idly stretched out a hand. A goblet appeared in her fingers and sprouted flowers as I watched. She took a sip of the drink, whatever it was, and then said, "First, I will name my price."

"I don't have much to trade, all things considered."

"Hmm... let me see." She tapped a fingernail to her lips again. "Your issue."

"Eh?" I blinked.

"Your issue," she said, toying with a lock of blue hair. Her other hand dug through the yellow-haired head, and a groan of pain could be heard. "Your offspring. Your first-born. And in exchange I will give you the knowledge you seek."

"I don't have any children."

"Naturally not. But the details could be arranged."

My eyes flickered to the corpse of the woman. As I watched, her body was sprouting flowers, the flora growing over the remains of the dead. "Indulge me. That musician?"

"Oh? Nothing of value," Marguerite shrugged. "Not the daughter of the Herald, but nevertheless another who sought asylum. She was our musician, and as you noticed of no mean skill She sought to make herself even more talented, inspired, and I granted it... at the price she offered. Is that not fair?"

"Did you ever make him that offer?" I tilted my head towards the other man. The one at her feet. Hayato Ichimonji, a friend of Ishihara-san reduced to such depths...

She tilted her head, staring at me, her smile suddenly frozen.

"Well?" I asked in a louder voice. "Did you not hear the question?"

The smile became something hard. "What did you say to me?"

"I said _no_," I answered, spitting out the words with every ounce of contempt I could muster up. Beside me, Ryuusuke was shaking his head, as if shaking off some compulsion. "I can see how you treat Ichimonji-san. I see clearly how you treat the man who said nothing wrong but his own feelings. I know what to expect from you, you arrogant, self-involved, petty, cruel queen-bee _twit_."

Marguerite's expression changed, though not in any kind of focused way. She looked... startled. Chase-nii gave me a shocked look. Then he glanced around, as if hunting for some kind of armoured vehicle to throw himself into.

"You took my brother away from me," I said loudly. "Did you think I had forgotten that? Or was it just too small and unimportant a fact for you to keep it from dribbling out of your brain? Do you think I'm too stupid to understand that you set this up in the hopes that you'd startle us into agreeing to whatever deal you made, you psychopath? I can't decide if you're insane or just that _stupid_. We are your _guests_. We came here, under your invitation and your protection. And in spite of that, you're trying to convince us to sign on with you. To become your slaves."

Marguerite stared at me, with her mouth dropping wide open. So did everyone with me. I think her whole court was doing that as well. They never expect it from me. And I was the one who was best friends with the one they were really afraid of.

"Now, you hear me," I stared right into her eyes. "I don't agree. I'm not handing over a child to you. I'm not handing _anyone_ over to you. We're not negotiating, not anymore. I'm going to ask very direct, very cutting questions, and you're going to answer them, thrice bound, that every answer you give is true, and nothing but the truth. No subverting. No twisting. You're going to use words with less than three syllables to answer every question. And then you'll let Ichimonji-san and Yuuki-san return with us, and never touch them again. Or we throw down."

"_Seika_," Chase-nii hissed in a strangled voice.

For a long moment, there was dead silence. And then Marguerite's face twisted up in fury. The seductive beauty of her features vanished, replaced by hot, blazing rage like the desert sun. Her eyes blazed, and the temperature in the air rose suddenly, painfully, enough to cause patches of the grass and the leaves to burn. She had power, power that hung around her like it had on Setsu-chan, and it was like body warmth.

She glared at me with naked hatred in her too-big eyes, before Marguerite's evident anger evaporated. She leaned back on her throne, lips pursed, her expression enigmatic. "Well, well, well. Not so easily captured, it would seem."

I stared back at her, and thought about the few times I actually had to stand up to Setsu-chan. In many ways, it meant that now I had to fight against a Setsu-chan that was determined to get her way in any fashion. "Dewloren."

That flinch again.

"Setsuka."

More flinches.

"Setsuka." I spoke louder. "Setsu-"

"You do not want to finish that, lest you not like what follows," Marguerite snarled.

"Okay," I replied. "_Ryuusei_."

The ground itself echoed. Marguerite looked startled, even fearful. The rest of her court froze, bright eyes glittering and confused.

"Do you really think," I asked. "That my brother will not come if called?"

"You come, and challenge me in my own realm?" Marguerite snarled. "I will curse-"

"You do that, and you'll have to tell Ryuusei why you cursed his baby sister," Chase-nii thoughtfully said out loud. "I don't think he'll be happy. He might even commit murder, just to make his point clear."

I stared at her eyes, and saw hate and rage and many things, and I saw what I was doing. And in this case, in this moment, I somehow knew exactly what this was. I wasn't making fire with a card. I wasn't cleverly finding a weak point in a strategy, in a game. I wasn't using my knowledge to exploit what my enemy was doing.

I was casting everything I had done, everything I believed, everything I had chosen – everything I ___was __– _against the will of a powerful and ancient being.

Marguerite might be a Duel Spirit. Marguerite might know magic to turn me into unmentionable things. She could quite easily kill us here, and now. But I could defy her. I could lift my will against that of anything, and know that the fight might be lopsided, but never hopeless.

But... I needed a game changer. In fact...

"But that is not interesting," I murmured. "I trust you wouldn't object to making a bit of a game of this dispute?"

Oh, the glade got ___intense_, as maybe fifty throats all inhaled at the same time. I could practically feel the air grow closer as all of those beings leaned very slightly toward me, their suddenly sharpened interest filling the clearing. If there were music, the tempo would have changed, suspended strings and muted percussion.

"But, missy," Marguerite considered. "We're already playing a game. One cannot change the rules simply because one is losing."

"But one can change the _stakes_," I replied. "What if you could get more out of it? What if, you could get someone close to the Winter Queen out of it?"

Marguerite leaned forward, her eyes never leaving me. "You propose?"

"I propose a Duel," I whispered. I was getting something already: they loved to play games. So did Henry, and look what happened. They were listening. "You and me. A Duel. If you win, you take me. If I win... then I get to take Ichimonji-san and Yuuki-san alive and well back home safely, and you never touch them again. Or you tell me where is Yuuki-san, and how do I get her back. Yes? You can employ a champion if you require."

Marguerite shivered, and I could tell it was one of excitement. "My sweet? You may stand to defend your lady."

Ichimonji-san got up, his eyes wide and panicked and regretful and I had no doubt that he would not be talking out of hand for a very long time. "Y- You're... the brat. With... the Winter Queen."

"I am," I replied.

His words bubbled forth. "Oh god, oh god, oh god-" his voice cut off, but his expression remained pleading.

"Choose your champion," Marguerite chuckled. "Or stand as your own."

"I-" I faltered as Chase-nii blocked me. "Chase-nii?"

"Sorry, but I'm not going to tell Rex that I lost you," Chase-nii snarled as he undid the gun DuelDisk to face Ichimonji-san. "I am not known as the Knight of Zero for nothing. I'll stand as champion."

Marguerite's expression did not change. "You'll face her fate too, should you lose."

"_If_ I lose," he lifted his chin. "I don't intend to lose."

"Very well," Marguerite raised her hands, and the Duel Spirits around scattered as a space around Chase-nii and Ichimonji-san was made.

"Duel!"

* * *

I was as stunned as everyone else when the woman died. If we could be so easily dispatched... and I saw Hayato Ichimonji having his skull crushed under her hand. He was glaring, and then looking at me, and his expression was frankly pleading for me to put him out of his misery.

Seika's reaction was... stunning. She must have been taking lessons from Shimotsuki. It explained a lot. Right until Seika called the Witch of the Time Flower an arrogant, self-involved, petty, cruel queen-bee twit, at which I just thought she was suicidal.

Marguerite was foaming at the mouth, but Seika had lured her into a game; a Duel. And if there was one thing the cards hadn't failed me at, it was at the Duel.

So I faced the clearly terrified Hayato Ichimonji, considered a few kind words, and decided not to. He landed himself in the damned consommé to begin with.

"Duel!"

Chase: LP 8000

Hayato: LP 8000

"Poppet," Marguerite purred, and the very sound seemed scary if you went just by Ichimonji paling. "If you fail, I will think up punishments and send them to you one way or another."

Ichimonji swallowed. I just sighed.

"Draw!" I called. "I summon Infernity Necromancer [0/2000] who moves into defence mode upon being summoned. Then, I set three cards. Turn end."

"Draw!" Ichimonji looked clearly terrified. "I... I summon Noble Knight Joan [1900/1300] to the field!"

The Maid of Orleans appeared, finely armoured.

"Then I equip her with Noble Arms – Arfeudutyr!" Hayato called as a dark-hilted blade appeared in her hands. "When Arfeudutyr is equipped to a monster, I can choose one of your set cards, and then my Joan loses five hundred attack permanently to destroy the target card. I choose to destroy your right-most card!"

"Trap activate, Raigeki Break!" I called. "I discard a card, and you lose your Joan, right there!" A bolt of lightning fell down and struck Joan.

Hayato scowled. "I set two cards, and play the Spell Foolish Burial to send Queen's Knight from deck to the grave. Turn end."

"Draw!" I called. "Activate the Spell, Into the Void. I draw a card, and at the end phase I discard my entire hand. Now, I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Infernity Launcher. I discard an Infernity monster by its effect. Activate the effect of Infernity Necromancer: when my hand is at zero, I can special summon from my graveyard one Infernity monster, such as Infernity Archer [2000/1000]! My archer, direct attack!"

"Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted!" Ichimonji retaliated, and Joan reappeared on the field. Huh...

"The effect of Infernity Archer activates," I answered. "When my hand is at zero, this sucker can attack you directly!"

"What?" Ichimonji squawked as my Archer pulled and fired.

Hayato: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Chase: LP 8000

Ichimonji coughed, and I could tell that he was clearly suffering in pain. "What?"

"Silly," Marguerite shook her head. "This is a Duel. Of course it shall hurt. Continue fighting."

"We can stop this right here." I offered. "Turn around and let us go. We'll do the same with Ichimonji."

"Oh, kill him if you wish to," Marguerite said absently. "He is nothing to me."

Ichimonji let out a hissing sound and stared at her.

"You aren't," the witch calmly stated. "I have made that clear. You were something I picked up out of obligation, and will end your life in my service soon. You are little better than a slave. Your life, your soul, your mind is forfeit should I choose to take them."

"But I... I'm fighting for you." Ichimonji protested. "And you're just going to write me off like that?"

The Witch of the Time Flower shrugged without ever glancing at the young man. "And I find that extremely convenient. But you are not delivering the results I desire. And I certainly never asked you to be so incompetent as to be injured by the prey."

The hate that suddenly flared out from him was so palpable that even I felt it. I could hear his teeth grinding, and the sudden flush of anger on his face was like something out of a comic book. His body tensed as though he were preparing to fling himself to his feet.

At that, she turned, a too-wide smile on her face, and faced Ichimonji for the first time. "Ah. You may not have talent, but at least you have spirit."

"Oi," I muttered. "My turn. I'll set the last card and end my turn."

"Draw!" Ichimonji yelled. "Noble Knight Joan, attack Infernity Archer! When she battles, she loses three hundred attack power at the damage step [1900/1300 → 1600/1300]."

This time, Ichimonji was braced as the knight was destroyed.

Hayato: LP 6000 → LP 5600

Chase: LP 8000

"Now, I send a card from hand to grave, and retrieve my Queen's Knight," he muttered. "I summon Queen's Knight to the field. Turn end."

"Draw!" I called. "I discard the Infernity card. Infernity Archer, attack him directly!"

"Trap card, Negate Attack!" he called.

"Fine," I groaned. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Hayato cheered. "Now, I summon King's Knight [1600/1400]! And by his effect while I control Queen's Knight, I can special summon Jack's Knight [1900/1000] from my deck! Now, I activate the Spell, Polymerization!"

"Oh, crap," I muttered as one of the strongest of Duel Monsters' Warriors, the Arcana Knight Joker [3800/2500] appeared.

"Joker, attack that Infernity Archer!" Ichimonji commanded. Any pity I could have felt died when faced with his knight cleaving my archer.

Chase: LP 8000 → LP 6200

Hayato: LP 5600

"T- Turn end," Ichimonji was panting with the effort. I guessed it must be taxing for him, nursing the pain, that no one was coming for him. That he was trapped, about to be traded again.

Well, my turn. "I draw! I reveal Infernity Demon [1800/1200] to special summon him! Now, I get to search my deck for an Infernity card, such as Infernity Avenger! So, I summon Infernity Avenger [0/0]! Tuning, level four Demon and level three Necromancer to level one Avenger! Against the backdrop of darkness, many eyes open... open the truth of the gates! Synchro summon! Take flight, Hundred Eyes Dragon!"

My hundred-eyed dragon [3000/2500] was uglier than sin itself, and that was saying something, given the Infernity propensity to fugly monsters.

"Send Infernity Launcher to grave to special summon Demon and Necromancer," I announced as those two reappeared. "I search for Infernity Barrier, set the card. Use Necromancer to revive Infernity Avenger once more. Tuning, level four Demon and level three Necromancer to level one Avenger! When the dead and the living meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro summon! Come forth, Infernity Death Dragon!"

In a towering rage, my most-oft-used dragon [3000/2400] needed no description, but suffice it to say that it ran a close second to Hundred Eyes Dragon.

"I banish Infernity Necromancer to activate the effect of Hundred Eyes here," I decided. "I revive Infernity Demon. Now, using the effect of Infernity Death Dragon: when my hand is at zero, I can choose to destroy one monster, and inflict half its attack power as damage to you. The way I see it, your Joker needs a hand to back it up, and you're fresh out."

"What? No, no!" He yelled as my dragon set his warrior on fire. I had to continue, I had to protect... Seika... dammit!

Hayato: LP 5600 → LP 3700

Chase: LP 6200

"Infernity Demon, Hundred Eyes Dragon," I ordered. "Direct attack."

Hayato: LP 3700 → LP 0

Chase: LP 6200

As the holograms faded, Hayato struggled feebly, but Marguerite sauntered over and kicked him in the ribs, and he went down. "You stupid animal," she snarled. "You have cost me. This is useless, useless to me. I will make sure you pay."

She then twisted away and cast herself back onto her throne. She gripped the arms of it, her fingers twitching.

Seika checked him over, turning him to Hazuki's practised hands, before getting up to face Marguerite. "Our game is concluded, and we are the winners. Will you now keep to your bargain?"

"Promises... must be kept," she murmured. "Very well. You asked. You may have the knight who does not believe... and you may put up with him as you will. I shall not harass him."

"Not by proxy either," Seika quietly said.

"Not by flesh or proxy or magic," Marguerite impatiently agreed. "As for the Herald's daughter, she is... not my purview. Find her, if you will."

"Ryuuki was here..." I thoughtfully considered. "He wouldn't have left without Ayame, so... they escaped."

"The precious thing," Marguerite sneered, waving to her garden. "Sought to free her father of his destiny. As if fate was something to be decided by her and her alone, not a complex chain of events that ties all of Creation. She bartered power from the Summer Court, and was later struck down with her consort by my hand, with the King's aegis."

I blinked. Since Marguerite's motions were odd, I guessed that she wanted us to see... that statue. The one of a familiar two figures, each entwined into a sincere embrace, their expressions... struck with horror. As if the stone virus had eaten upon them...

Uzuki gave a choked cry, and Nikki a muffled sob. Youkai gave a curse, and Ryuusuke a few swear words. Hazuki glanced up, her expression horror-struck and weary as Seika gasped in realisation. All of them looked pale. I felt like what they were probably feeling right now; partly angry and horrified. This was a great reminder, that we were in the heart of a sorceress's domain, and she could probably rain down a lot worse on us. It was a reminder that while Summer's ways might include kindness, it was by no way defined by it.

This was a pretty good time to remember that Marguerite was a manipulative bitch as well. She smirked, giving a girlish bounce on one foot.

"Why?" Seika choked. "_Why?_"

"Because what they attempted was hubris," Marguerite said, uncaring of our outrage and more pleased, as if she herself was the only one whose opinion mattered. "To remove the Herald of the Gentle Darkness is to ruin us all and consign our fates to fickle chance. So pathetic. So _mortal._ So convinced that they are the centre of their universe. It was so amusing, the boy's cries as his little lovely was petrified in his arms. The witnesses of my power, are they not sweet?"

"We'll take them," I decided. "We have to. We won the right to have them safely borne with us. So, we'll be depending on you to deliver it properly to the Movement, Marguerite. To the Arcadia Movement. Or you're an inhospitable host, and I'll tell every Duel Spirit that."

Marguerite's eyes narrowed. "You will ask me of this?"

"We could make it a demand," I suggested. "We get what we needed, and your reputation doesn't get hurt."

"Let's go," Seika whispered, and she looked tired. So did the rest of us, so I did a quick count, nodded, and turned my back. I could feel her eyes pressing against my back like thorns. I ignored her.

"I did not give all of you leave to go," she said, her voice chilly. "The half-blood child you have with you, I sent my employee after him. I can only assume that you have killed a favourite hireling of the Summer Court."

Seika answered for me. "We didn't ask."

"I will not forget this insolence, or the petty wrong your charge has done me." Marguerite's voice followed us. "Ere the dusk of his life I shall have vengeance."

"The innocence of youth," was the reply. "Come on."

I walked to the double doors and out. As soon as we were both outside, the doors swung shut with a huge, hollow boom that made me jump. Darkness fell, sudden and complete, and I fumbled for my torch as my heart lurched in panic. The reek of flowers had followed us, like some persistent onion smell.

The spectral light from my flash-light showed everyone's strained face first, and then the area immediately around us. The double doors were gone. Only a blank stone wall remained where they had been.

"Shit, Chase," Youkai sighed. "You had to make enemies _now_? And what was _that_?"

"The doors here must have been a way to some other location." Ryuusuke offered.

"Like some kind of teleport?" Uzuki muttered.

"More like... a temporary entrance into the Spirit world," he said. "Or a short-cut through to another place on Earth. I couldn't have done that without a card. That's serious magic."

"It's not worth it," Hazuki offered.

I could swear that Ryuusuke flushed. "I- I know. I just... then I saw what she did... to this guy."

In silence, Ryuusuke and I helped haul Ichimonji, and we tracked through. The Infernity Beast was still shivering. Wimp.

"Dexter Towers," Seika whispered in realisation. "She sent him after Ryuusuke-san. Why?"

"As a pet, I guess," I answered, shivering. Marguerite was one of the _nicer_ Duel Spirits, at that. Which pretty much gives a pretty good idea of the horrors that Shimotsuki ruled over.

"Why are you frowning?" Youkai murmured to me.

"Because all I got was more questions. Everyone's been telling me to hurry. Duel Spirits don't typically do that. They're practically immortal and they're not in a rush. But she went for the high-pressure sales tactic, like she didn't have time for anything more subtle."

"Why would they do that?"

I sighed. "Something is in motion. And then there's Kiyoshi to consider. You think that Kiyoshi might have been a target?"

"But Kiyoshi is linked to Boss," Youkai argued. "Maybe one of those political rivalries?"

"I imagine that Ophion might be obligated to make his displeasure very clear." I shook my head. "If we could have stayed longer, I might have been able to work out more, but it was getting too nervous in there."

"Discretion, valour," Youkai commented by way of agreement. "We leave now, right?"

"Knowing my luck, we'll be jumped."

"What about Ayame-neesan?" Nikki insisted.

"The... two of them..." I carefully chose my words, "We'll find them. Marguerite might be a psychotic sadistic bitch, but she has to keep her word and tell us. Or else... Ryuusei gets on her case."

"You say that like it's supposed to be assuring." Ryuusuke blinked.

"If he doesn't, Shimotsuki gets on her case," I corrected.

"Setsu-chan is scarily good at ensuring that promises are kept," Seika assured her. Nikki looked mollified.

We didn't speak until our guide had led us out of the underground complex not far from where I'd parked Carpe Jugulum. We cut through an alley.

About halfway down it, Youkai grabbed my arm and jerked me bodily behind him, snapping a word of warning. In the same motion he swung out one foot and kicked a metal trash can. It went flying, crashing into something I hadn't seen behind it. Someone let out a short, harsh gasp of pain.

Youkai stepped forward and picked up the metal lid that had fallen to the ground. He swung it down at the shape. It struck with a noisy crash.

I took a couple of steps back to make sure I was clear of the action, and glanced back at the shaken kids. "What the hell?"

I felt the sudden presence at my back half a second too late to get out of the way. A hand closed on the back of my neck like a vice and _gripped_. I felt neck-bones give slightly, and I panicked. That was some serious finger strength.

A voice, a feminine alto, growled, "Call him off. Call him off before I break your neck."

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
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_**Please review!**_


	14. XII: Howl of the Wild

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XII: Howl of the Wild**

"Alexianna-san!" I cried.

By all accounts, Alexianna LeRouge was actually a distant cousin of Setsu-chan. That I already knew. However, I knew that no matter how much influence Alexianna had, Setsu-chan still beat her. I knew it because the accounts had listed Alexianna's profile in the Central Movement. And how Alexianna's career extended as a pawn of the Movement until she took her life back.

Slowly, Alexianna let go of Chase-nii as Youkai flipped and got away from Ishihara-san.

Youkai's eyes flicked from Chase-nii to Ishihara-san and to Alexianna. His face set. "Angel."

"Sylph," Alexianna raised both hands in a gesture of fisted surrender. Better for Psychic Duelists, since then there was no need to worry if they had a card ready. "Sorry. We were on stakeout. We were trying to get to Ichimonji."

"Oh, like that makes everything better," was Uzuki's assessment, but she helped Ishihara-san up.

Ishihara-san groaned, his lip split open and his hair messy but otherwise okay. "That hurt. Lexi, we really could have tried something else. They're jumpy."

"We could have," Alexianna-san turned to face us, shifting her weight to another foot. "Sorry. What were you doing in there?"

"Looking for missing Duelists," I answered. "And you, Alexianna-san?"

"Takeshi and I were looking around," she defended. "None of your business."

"The Movement is at war, Alexianna-san," I evenly answered. "And I am its leader."

There was that pause once more. "...I see," Alexianna-san finally replied.

"The Rune Eye twitched around here," Ishihara-san offered. "So we were on stakeout. I've seen Duel Spirits try to shift form before, so we couldn't be sure until we met you face-to-face. You guys must be tired. I'll take Ichimonji to the hospital."

"Thanks," Chase-nii answered him, looking at the sky. "You know... it's awfully late."

"It's... seven right now," Alexianna-san checked her watch. "The sunset's already passed, Takeshi."

"Oh," Takeshi shrugged. "We'll have to take Ichimonji. You guys, you'll... be alright?"

"Yes," I nodded. There was a chorus of agreements.

"With us, the Himemiya sisters, we'll be fine!" Uzuki cheered.

The couple nodded and left, toting Ichimonji-san along to a waiting car.

The trip back through Neo Domino did not take too long; we just walked through one of the few shortcuts Youkai knew. As we passed, an orange-haired man flipped and did a swan dive off a roof, to land on the back of a flying white horse ridden by a blond man.

"Glen and Reggie," Youkai pointed. "Old hands. Boss picked them up way before me. They work with NDPD sometimes, more often assigned to the First Investigative Brigade."

"I know," I answered. "Glen and Reggie joined the Movement nine years ago, when Setsu-chan really started on the Movement. She recruited them in Gotham City."

"From what I heard, they're tougher and faced the closest things like Divine that the world has," Youkai shrugged. "Have you found a suitable older partner for the newbie here?"

"Erm... I think Ryuusuke-san might prefer to work as he has been for now," I answered. "Ryuusuke-san?"

"From what Nakamura-san told me, I might prefer to remain a civilian member," Ryuusuke answered. "I think I agree, if that... Marguerite is only one in a few cases."

It took a while, but the foot traffic had been light and we dropped Nikki-chan off at home before returning. As we entered the foyer, Nakamura-san stood before me, unusually stoic.

"Seika-_ojou_, there has been... an unexpected appointment," he said. So there was someone Nakamura-san preferred not to see, in the waiting room.

"An unexpected appointment?" Youkai was speculating as we rode the elevator to reach the meeting room. "What kind of-"

We paused. The dark-skinned man was seated beside another dark-skinned man, the second one significantly older than the first, and they were dressed in hard-worn camouflage clothes. Both of them had been studying Baa-chan, but their eyes turned to the door as we entered.

"Sorry I'm late," I bowed to an incredibly nervous Baa-chan and then to the two men. "I'm Kannazuki Seika, the invested head of the Arcadia Movement. May I ask who are you?"

"Miss Kannazuki?" the two men stood up. "I'm United States Army Sergeant Major Austin O'Brien. This is Specialist Archibald O'Brien."

"O'Brien... I see," I nodded. "My apologies that you had to come all this way from Okinawa to see a child, Sergeant."

"It is of no problem," the first man nodded, and his age was definitely older. Wrinkles showed on his face, at the corners of his eyes, but other than that he remained serious. "Miss Kannazuki, as you may know, we have claimed an interest in the Arcadia Movement in the past."

"Indeed? Neither I nor my regnant leader are aware," I answered, frowning. "Nakamura-san?"

"I too am unaware of the details discussed between the Missy and Sergeant O'Brien," Nakamura-san answered. "The sudden appearance of the United States military is unprecedented. I would have assumed that at the very least a Colonel be sent for negotiations."

"That is neither here nor there," Austin O'Brien argued. "Although the United States military is aware of the various branches of the Movement in place around the world, two of these branches in Louisiana and New York, we feel that the presence of the Central Movement in Neo Domino City may break Article Nine of the Japan National Constitution, that states that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes, and that land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The... potential of the Arcadia Movement has come to our attention given the recent cases in Neo Domino itself."

"I do not understand," I murmured. "I do not understand why these concerns were not first brought up during my forerunners' tenure as leaders of the Movement."

Both the men looked stunned.

"She is right," Baa-chan was smiling. "The Arcadia Movement remains an extra-governmental organisation, working with the Neo Domino Police Department where needed but otherwise limiting itself to Psychic Duelists. We consider ourselves a social organisation, that is highly invested in Duel Monsters and Psychic Duelists. If the United States military has concerns, they could have been brought up with the Movements in New York and Louisiana, whose existences you are aware of as you have mentioned. I do not see why we are entertaining soldiers right now. Neither do I see why the United States Army has chosen to raise its concerns now, with the lack of Shimotsuki Setsuka about. Therefore, please, enlighten us."

Sergeant O'Brien looked grave. The younger one, possibly family, looked more... shocked. Stunned.

"We are Psychic Duelists, but we are foremost an organisation that wishes to see change for the better," I gently murmured. "Please, tell us, the true purpose of your appointment with us. Or we shall have to conclude this at once."

"Well... I didn't expect to be outed by a kid," Sergeant O'Brien sighed. "Simply put... the Army might have thought of the potential army the Japanese government might have been mobilising, but mostly it's about the numbers of Psychic Duelists. You know how the Peru riots ended, right?"

"A Raigeki was fired," I recalled. "Everyone was killed."

"Yes... so, when people see the Movement, they're imagining an organisation with people of nuclear capabilities, worldwide," he explained. "Literally walking WMDs. And all of them take instruction from Japan. Can you follow me, kid?"

"I am the invested leader of the Movement, not its figurehead," I replied. "I can see that you would be worried about security, but I do not understand why this has not been brought up before. Surely the heads of the Movement before me would have met you before."

The Sergeant did not meet my eyes. "Setsuka Shimotsuki..."

"I do not believe for a moment that you were terrified of a child, whom I know is barely two years older than I." I believed it. Setsu-chan once inspired nightmares in a serial killer.

The Sergeant looked... haunted. Like he had seen a ghost. "I was a friend of Judai Yuuki. I saw things... that no one would believe. And that girl? Her mother? The negotiators ran for the hills when this assignment came up. It degenerated into a case of leaving each other alone. Until now. I only came here because of the change in leadership."

"Until now," I echoed. "I can see that there are... legitimate security concerns. I can say that I can try to make remunerations where needed. But I cannot leave this Movement to the Army, or even to the Self-Defence Force, or anything else. Consider, that before we are weapons of mass destruction, we are people, led by a defenceless girl without power as well."

His eyes widened. "You..."

"I have no power, save this position," I replied. "I too know what it is like to fear what one does not understand. But, I have a Psychic Duelist as a guardian, and another as a brother, as my best friend, and many more. Yet I am the head of the Arcadia Movement, of the Central Movement and of the others across the globe. We work as security and protection, amongst many different industries worldwide. We promote peace and Duel Monsters as our platform on the stage globally. You may contract us, but in the end we are people, subject to our own aims of equal opportunities, peace and non-violence. Will that answer suffice?"

"I may accept the answer," he considered. "I fear that my superiors might not."

The other rolled his eyes, as if wondering why was he doing this. I agreed.

"Then... perhaps if we provided reasonable doubt?" Baa-chan suggested. "How about a Duel, Sergeant? A Duel between the Specialist and a Psychic Duelist. You can assess that for yourself."

The two men exchanged looks. "Very well," the older O'Brien conceded.

"Excellent." Baa-chan stood up. "How about now?"

The Specialist kept staring at me as we descended in the lift. "Are you really the head of the Arcadia Movement?"

"I am, the fully invested head," I answered. "The will of the previous head was quite clear on that. Since I am a minor, Baa-chan is technically the one covering matters, but my presence is required as well. Why?"

"Well... because the Sergeant said that the head was a lot more terrifying," he considered. "For a kid. And I think you're pretty terrifying as well."

I thought about it. "Why?"

"You're the powerless leader of an organisation that totes Duel Monster cards as deadly weapons. Surely there's got to be some badass normal in there."

"You have a strange turn of phrase, Mr O'Brien."

We reached the general practice lot, and Uzuki jumped to me. "Seika! I'm going to Camp Kaboom!"

The Sergeant actually raised an eyebrow. "Camp Kaboom?"

"The primary method of Psychic Duelists fighting is burn damage," I explained. "So mostly we draw on the three basics: Sparks, Hinotama and Ookazi. Of course, given that we have a lot of Psychic Duelists, we had to go out of the city to teach a group how to apply such burn damage. Officially it's a self-defence camp, but given that we spend on average about two days out of a week turning thirty acres of sand and scrub into glass, Camp Kaboom was named as it is."

Both men had blinked at my full explanation, and now looked thoughtful. "You teach these things in groups?" the Sergeant asked.

"We have to," I nodded. "Well, the basics. After that, there are some who ask for advanced lessons, but that's reserved for special cases."

"And this burn damage..." the Sergeant looked thoughtful. "What can it mean? As it, how much damage are we talking about?"

"An Ookazi could probably set a small building on fire, but that requires a lot of power from the Duelist," I answered. "The damage inflicted in game terms and the heat generated has to be proportional, and there's only so much fire produced with eight hundred points of damage. At least my consultants say so."

"Uzuki, we have to start on training already," Hazuki-nee called from across the room. "The Professor offered to help, you know."

"Y- Yes!" Uzuki called. "So, Seika, who are they?"

"A- Ah. Uzuki, these men are from the Okinawa base," I answered. "Sergeant Austin O'Brien and Specialist Archibald O'Brien. Is there anyone free for a Duel?"

"Seika, maybe you should ask them to practice with us," Jii-chan called, getting down from the Duel stage. He was in his lab coat, but he still had a practised air. "O'Brien? The Volcanic specialist?"

"Yes," the older O'Brien nodded. "Yusei Fudo, the King of the generation. And this is Specialist Archibald O'Brien."

"Not forever," Jii-chan laughed. "So, which of you are Dueling?"

"I will be," the younger O'Brien stepped up.

"I see... Uzuki, you try," Jii-chan called.

"Yes!" Uzuki jumped up, excitedly unlocking her DuelDisk. "Well? Come up here!"

"No powers!" Jii-chan warned.

"Yes, yes!" Uzuki laughed as she faced Archibald. "So, what's with the serious face? Smile some more!"

"Maybe when I'm off-duty," he offered. "But please, call me Archie."

"Very well, I won't go easy on you if you don't call me Uzuki!" Uzuki laughed.

"Duel!" they shouted as Chase-nii entered the scene.

* * *

"O'Brien?" I muttered as I recognised the two guys. I knew only one family who could have that kind of family-inherited soldier features.

The older O'Brien blinked. "Manjoume?"

"My uncle," I stuck a hand out. "Chase Princeton."

He nodded, shaking it. "Austin O'Brien. The one currently Dueling is Archibald O'Brien."

Poor kid, was my automatic thought. There's something about certain names that pretty much ensures that particular child will be teased and bullied by his peers all through childhood. I think the parents do it on purpose, to ensure their precious progeny will grow up tough and hard. With a name like Archibald, the guy was destined to be in the Marines or something someday. That, or a serial killer.

"Then, I'll start!" Uzuki laughed. "I activate the Spell, Pot of Duality. By revealing the top three cards of my deck, I can take one card and shuffle the rest into my deck, but I cannot special summon the turn I activate this effect. I'll take Madolche Marmalmaide to my hand. With that, I set a monster and two cards, and activate the Continuous Spell, Madolche Ticket. Turn end."

"Draw!" Archie called. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Hazy Pillar. Now I can normal summon Hazy monsters with one less tribute. I summon Hazy Flame Peryton [1600/1700] to the field!"

"A level six monster-" Uzuki cut off as the flaming horse neighed and pawed the field in front of Archie.

"Now, I can send one Fire Attribute monster from my hand to the graveyard, and tribute Peryton to special summon two Hazy Flame monsters from my deck," Archie called. "Come, Hazy Flame Cerberus [2000/200], Hazy Flame Mantikor [2200/300]!"

"Two monsters with over two thousand attack power..." Uzuki stared.

"Battle!" Archie called. "Mantikor, attack the set monster!"

"Madolche Marmalmaide!" Uzuki called as the card flipped over to revealed the orange-haired maid that appeared in a bunch of sparkles and perched on a jigsaw puzzle of an orange biscuit screamed and shattered.

"Most set monsters are meant to be a wall," Archie answered. "Best to let the stronger monster attack first. What are you doing with that card? You're supposed to put your monster into the graveyard…"

Uzuki shook her red-head as she slipped the card atop her deck and allowed the DuelDisk to shuffle the cards. "The Madolche cards all share one effect – when they're destroyed and sent to the graveyard by my opponent's cards, whether by battle or card effect, whether in my deck, hand or field, they return to the deck right afterwards!"

"...shit," was his succinct answer. "So I'm stuck dealing with them over and over again?"

"And because of Madolche Ticket, I get to search for a card when a card returns from my graveyard or field to the deck or hand," Uzuki winked. "So I'll search for Madolche Magileine and add her to my hand!"

"Well, there's still the fact of my other monster!" Archie defended. "Go, Hazy Flame Cerberus!"

"Continuous Trap, Ultimate Offering!" Uzuki called. "During my main phase or my opponent's battle phase, I can do this for the cost of five hundred life points! Come, Madolche Magileine [1400/1200]!"

The pink witch appeared, grinning madly as she twirled around on her fork-broomstick. Her wide hat was pulled low, giving her an intimidating aura as she stood to face the monster.

"Go, Cerberus!" Archie called as the monster roared and leapt on the witch, devouring her.

Uzuki: LP 8000 → LP 7500 → LP 6900

Archie: LP 8000

"Too bad... when Magileine is normal summoned, I get to add a Madolche monster to my hand," Uzuki murmured as she pulled a card from her deck. "And Magileine returns to the deck."

"Shit," Archie muttered. "Wait... then Madolche Ticket?"

"Can only be activated once per turn," Uzuki shook her head.

"Okay... turn end," he declared.

"Draw!" Uzuki called. "You could have gone for a rank six monster..."

"Yeah, my deck is like that," Archie nodded. "But I need more materials first. Like fire, that needs to be banked first... I don't like chaos. So I consider that my deck is an embodiment of chaos."

"I see..." Uzuki considered. "I summon Madolche Magileine again."

Another witch appeared, this time really angry, enough that clouds of steam was appearing around her head as she stuck her tongue out at the two beasts.

"I search for a second Magileine," Uzuki called. "Activate Ultimate Offering, I'll summon the second Magileine."

The second witch appeared, cackling madly as she and her identical twin winked and gloated.

"Repeat, with the third Magileine," Uzuki called. "Now, I search for Madolche Butlerusk [1500/800] and summon him with the effect of Ultimate Offering!"

Uzuki: LP 6900 → LP 5400

Archie: LP 8000

With the third witch, came a cloud, and followed by a man in an impeccable suit and tail-coat and monocle standing on a piece of biscotti, pouring a cup of tea with a white teapot. As we watched, the butler served tea to all the witches.

"With the effect of Butlerusk, I can search my deck for a Field Spell when he's normal summoned and I control another Madolche monster," Uzuki responded. "Activate Field Spell, Madolche Château!"

We found ourselves in the middle of a bad rendition of _Candy Crush Saga_ again, this time complete with cotton candy trees. In baby pink.

"You know... I have a hard time taking this seriously, with your monsters." Archie admitted. "Why activate the Field Spell?"

"You should," Uzuki warned. "I construct an overlay network with Madolche Butlerusk and Madolche Magileine! The fairy that rules the sugar kingdom, come! Begin the haunting dance of the night! Exceed summon! Queen of the kingdom of sweets, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!"

As the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' began playing, the throne appeared. It was made of a confection of opera cake, and primarily decorated with cappuccino-coloured whipped cream at its head and white chocolate at its arms, carved into a curve. It stood empty for a moment... and from stage left entered the queen. Her hair was grey-white and spun, like cotton candy, to hand on either side of the beaming, rosy face. She was dressed in a frilly gown with overcoat, the gown being white on ochre, and the coat edged with brown lace on ochre, complete with a bodice tied with laced liquorice ropes around her waist. The overall effect reminded me of a tiramisu cake – yum. Her crown was perched on her head, delicate as sugar spun into that shape, and a horned staff was held in one hand [2200/2100].

"Now I overlay the two Madolche Magileine!" Uzuki called. "Come, king of the fairies, Fairy King Albverdich!"

"Oh..." Archie heaved a big sigh as the elfin monster appeared, dressed in long robes of white with a red scarf, and a sprite dancing on one shoulder. His pointed ears were clearly displayed as fanning out on either side of his head [2300/1400]. "Finally, a normal-looking monster... I thought that this girl's deck might be really hopeless..."

Her expression froze. "What did you _say_?"

"Well... it's a bit hard... to take them seriously," Archie volunteered.

Uzuki's expression could have burned him, it was that intense. "Toon monsters are hard to deal with when Toon World is around. They were the nightmare of every Duelist in the early days of Duel Monsters. What are you implying? My monsters support one another, they fight together, they cry and laugh and charge together... and you're not taking us seriously? Let me get one thing straight; we're good. We're not _nice_."

Before you say anything about tiny and fierce, I should remind you that this girl is not only the younger sister of Himemiya Hazuki, the Titania, but also a Psychic Duelist. I got the feeling that she would have gotten a lot of flak for not only her heritage, but also for her childish monsters. It was probably the crudest form of self-preservation, but Himemiya Uzuki had been a hamster compared to her sister. Well, hamsters had wickedly sharp teeth as well.

"I detach one Exceed material, Madolche Magileine from Albverdich to activate his effect," Uzuki announced. "I lower the attack and defence of all non-Earth Attribute monsters by five hundred. But that's not important, because I detach one Exceed material, another Magileine, from Her Majesty the Queen to select both Madolche monsters in my graveyard to shuffle into the deck, and shuffle an equal number of cards my opponent controls into the deck!"

"But my monsters can't be targeted by card effects!" Archie justified.

"How nice," Uzuki answered. "The Queen _doesn't_ target."

Giggling, the Queen banged her staff, and the ghosts of two witches cackled as they flew past, perched on their brooms as they buffeted the howling flame monsters back to Archie's deck.

"The Madolche Château allows me to add both Magileine to my hand when they would be sent to the deck instead," Uzuki interrupted. "Madolche Ticket allows me to special summon one Madolche monster from my deck when I control a Fairy-Type Madolche monsters, and all the royalty of the Château are Fairies! So come, Madolche Puddingcess [1000/1000]!"

The (evil) blonde princess in her wedding-cake gown appeared, dancing a waltz of some other rendition of Tchaikovsky's ballet. Of course, I didn't admit it, because it would be very damaging to my pride to be slightly intimidated of something that cute, and I suspect that Uzuki might not let me off.

"Okay... and she warranted to be special summoned, why?" Archie mentioned as the princess curtsied before her mother.

"She's one of the royals of the Château!" Uzuki raged. "Firstly, when I have no monsters in my graveyard, she gains eight hundred attack and defence [1000/1000 → 1800/1800]! Next, she's a Madolche monster, and so she's got the advantage with her mother to gain five hundred attack and defence from her castle [2200/2100 → 2700/2600] [1800/1800 → 2300/2300]!"

Archie's face had paled until he was the colour of coffee milk, which was a really hard feat.

Then, Uzuki smirked. "And, by the way? Ultimate Offering, summon Madolche Magileine!"

This time, the witch [1400/1200 → 1900/1700] reappeared, cackling madly as she hefted her broomstick and made motions in the perfectly innocent way that it was, with stabbing and thrusting, but considering that it was a _giant_ fork... yeah, I was beginning to feel how Hansel must have felt when the witch was about to eat him.

The Sergeant was counting. "Er... nineteen plus twenty-seven plus twenty-three times two is..."

"Ninety-two hundred," the Professor supplied.

Archie faced the cute Madolche monsters, who were grinning malevolently, and Uzuki standing behind them and wearing a wicked grin as well. "Erm... oh, god."

"Take no prisoners!"

You haven't lived until you've seen the witch do stabbity things with her fork to people. You haven't lived until the Queen Tiaramisu brained you with her staff. You haven't quite managed until the Puddingcess made a _jute_ right to the face. And the pardon only came when the Fairy King advanced, stared at him, and just sighed in a disappointed look.

Archie: LP 8000 → LP 0

Uzuki: LP 5400 → LP 4900

It looked painful. Also cool. But mostly painful. For me, of course. Archie's pain was a readily apparent subject as he slammed into the floor.

"I got my tail handed to me by a candy-land princess..." Archie moaned. "How do I tell the boys at West Point that..."

"And in something like a One-Turn Kill, too..." Austin O'Brien whistled. "I'll never see them in the same way ever again."

"Many tend to have that same reaction when Uzuki battles," the Professor agreed. "She is... very uniquely combative." A nice way of saying that she prefers fights to any diplomacy involved.

Uzuki punched the air. "I win!"

Of course, then the lights went out.

"Oh, God," Archie whispered. "What's happening?"

I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the sudden darkness.

Above, the sounds of things exploding echoed.

* * *

_**OC applications are open! Please include:**_

_**Name:  
Age:  
Occupation:  
Appearance:  
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Trivia:**_

_**Please review!**_


	15. XIII: Dark Calling

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XIII: Dark Calling**

"_Attention to everyone. The Movement is currently under fire._" The intercom went off as we clicked our flash-lights on. "_This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill. Please move in a calm and orderly manner to the outside of the building._"

"_Under_ fire?" Austin O'Brien questioned Jii-chan.

"A building this size would have a sprinkler system," Jii-chan replied. "If there's a part on fire chances are it's deliberate."

"Light," I said. Almost before I was finished saying the word, Hazuki-nee murmured quietly, and a ball of fire in her hand began to glow with a green-white light. She held it overhead by one finger, drawing stares and coos from us.

"I think I'm getting to why this place is described as a small militia," Austin-san murmured.

By its orange light, I crossed to the door and felt it. It felt like a door. "No fire in the hall."

"Fire stairs," Jii-chan commented. "They're not far."

The feeling of being hunted had increased, even as we took the stairs and ran two or three at a time. The emergency strips glowed a dull red, but still functioning; at least we could see.

Something went off. Loud. Steady. _WOOF... WOOF... WOOF... _with the mechanical regularity of a metronome.

Now, saying that it was _barking_ might give the general shape of things, but it does not convey the scale. In Neo Domino, an alarm for a storm or an earthquake was well known. They make your usual warning siren sound. But that sound is different when one is next to it. It is no howling wail. When close to the source, it becomes a tangible flood, a living sonic cascade that rattles the brain against the skull.

The bark was like that, on several levels. Every time it echoed, several of my muscles tightened and twitched as if hit with a miniature jolt of adrenaline. I couldn't have slept through, even without the little jabs of energy that hit like charges of electricity with each bark. It was deafening in the little stairwell, nearly as loud as explosions.

There were twelve painfully loud barks, and then it stopped. My ears rang in the sudden silence that followed.

"Inukai," Hazuki-nee hissed. "The alarm. We're assembling, and for the first time. No one's been dumb enough to attack the Movement for three years already."

"Mother of God," Archibald-san swore. "Why do you have attack protocols? In fact, why was there such a warning?"

"This is how we keep getting ourselves into trouble." Chase-nii answered for me. "We just exist. In that respect, we're a lot like Israel. Except without compulsory military training. But they brought the fight _here_, in the middle of the Daimon Area?"

"I think, Chase-nii..." I swallowed. "I think it might just be after us. Can we have an alliance?"

"Get behind me," Hazuki-nee ordered, snapping to Chase-nii and I. "And the two soldiers, watch our backs."

"Truce, for now," Austin-san nodded, he and the other moving back with Jii-chan.

When we reached the first floor, it was to a scene of carnage.

The reception desk lay in shambles, the reinforced wood shattered and in pieces. And fighting it was still the current receptionist, Inukai, who was struggling with the Swords of Revealing Light against the... what? Its evil, expressionless face cackled madly as it sliced out at the Psychic. Inukai managed to shield himself, but was driven back to fly and hit the desk remains.

As the Swords began to fade, for a second the creature was visible as an immensely tall, lean, shaggy, vaguely humanoid _thing _with dark matted hair and over-long forelimbs tipped in long, almost delicate claws. As the Swords of Revealing Light fell, Uzuki pointed a card at the thing and hissed a word, and a blindingly bright beam of light flashed out. The beam swept past, intersecting with its upper left arm, and where it touched fur burned away and flesh boiled and bubbled and blackened.

The monster flashed to one side of the doorway and vanished, leaving nothing behind but a view of the smoking pinprick hole in the expensive panelling of the foyer.

Uzuki pointed her card at the entrance, Hazuki at her back. Archibald-san and Austin-san did the same with their guns. For maybe ten seconds, everything was silent.

"Where is it?" Jii-chan hissed, eyes wide.

"Gone?" I suggested. "Maybe it got scared when Uzuki hurt it."

"Really?" Chase-nii drawled. "It's probably looking for a better way to get to us." He looked around. "Let's see... If I was a killing machine like a shadow, how would I get in here?"

The options were limited. There was the glass-panel doors in front of us, and the passageway on the other side, now barred shut with a steel drop-barrier. He turned to face the window, still looking. Silence reigned, except for the sigh of the air-conditioning, billowing steadily into the foyer from the–

"The vents!"

Hazuki-nee turned, and thrust her card toward a large air vent, covered with the usual slatted steel contraption, and screamed: "_Lightning Vortex!_"

Blue-white lightning filled the air with flickering fire, while a spear of blinding electricity crackled and slammed into the metal vent. The metal absorbed the electricity, carrying it back through the vent itself – and into anything inside.

There was a chirping scream and then the vent cover flew outward, followed by a blur in the air. Even as it arced toward us, that shape flowed and changed into that of something stocky and viciously powerful like a humanoid shadow. It hit Hazuki-nee high on the chest and slammed her to the floor. On the way down, I caught a flash of golden-yellow eyes dancing with sadistic glee.

Uzuki turned to kick the thing off of Hazuki-nee, but Austin-san beat her to the metaphorical punch. He slammed the barrel of a pistol into its flank as if driving a beer tap into a wooden keg with his bare hands, and pulled the trigger on the way. Fire and noise filled the room, and the monster went bouncing to one side. It hit the ground once, twisted itself mid-air and raked its claws across Jii-chan's midsection. Using the reaction to control its momentum, it landed on its feet and hurled itself out of the room by way of the shattered window.

Jii-chan staggered and let out a small cry of pain.

Archibald-san stared at the window for a second, his eyes wide, then breathed, "Mother of God."

I turned to Hazuki-nee, but she waved me off. It didn't look like she was bleeding. I turned to Jii-chan and tried to assess it. There were six horizontal lines sliced into the soft flesh of the abdomen, as neatly as if with a scalpel. Blood was welling from them – but not deep enough to open the abdominal cavity or reach an artery. Baa-chan's medical talk was useful in these cases, and it was going to help now.

I seized the discarded lab coat, folded it hastily, and pressed it against his belly. "Hold it here, please." I whispered. "You've got to control the bleeding. Hold it here."

Jii-chan bared his teeth in pain, but nodded and grasped at the improvised pad with both hands.

Archibald-san looked from Jii-chan to the window, his eyes a little wide. "Mother of God," he said again. "What is that?"

"Despair of the Dark. We're never going to get that thing to hold still long enough to kill it." Uzuki commented as she glanced to the window, hoping to spot it, and found herself staring into an oncoming comet of purple flame, presumably courtesy of the monster. She fell back, and the fiery hammer of the explosion flung us supine to the floor.

That otherworldly shriek sounded again, mocking and full of spite, and then there was a crash from somewhere below us.

"It's back inside," I said. I offered my hand to Hazuki-nee to help her up. She took it, but as I began to pull, she clenched her teeth, and I eased her back onto the floor at once.

"Can't," she panted. "Collarbone."

Of every kind of simple fracture there is, a fractured collarbone is one of the most agonising injuries. She wasn't going to be doing any more fighting today.

The floor beneath abruptly exploded. Chase-nii gasped, and then he was falling. The noise was hideous. There was a large hole in the floor, and there was a faint light that let us see into it.

I looked down as Chase-nii lay there, stunned for a few seconds, struggling to remember. The floor. The monster had smashed its way up through the floor. It had pulled him down – but all the falling debris must have crashed through the floor the monster had been standing on in turn. Chase-nii had just fallen about a storey amidst maybe a ton of debris, and managed to survive it. He was very lucky.

Something moved. The rubble shifted and a low growl began to reverberate up through it.

His eyes widened in panic, and before he could run, a black-furred, too-long forearm exploded up out of the rubble. Quicker than anyone could react, its long, clawed fingers closed with terrible strength on his throat.

* * *

Here's something a lot of people don't know: being choked unconscious _hurts_.

There's this horrible, crushing pain on your neck, followed by an almost instant surge of terrible pressure that feels like it's going to blow your head to tiny pieces from the inside. That's blood that's being trapped. The pain surges and ebbs in time with your heartbeat, which is probably racing. Doesn't matter if it's a tiny supermodel or a professional wrestler, because it's simple physiology. If you're human and you need to breathe, you're going down. A properly applied choke will take me from sour to unconscious in four or five seconds.

Of course, if the choker wants to make the victim hurt more, they can be sloppy about it, make it take longer. I'll let you guess which one the Despair of the Dark preferred.

I struggled, but I might as well have saved myself the effort. I couldn't break the grip on my neck. The pile of rubble shifted and surged, and then the Duel Monster sat up out of the wreckage, sloughing it off as easily as a bear emerging from beneath the snow. Nightmarishly long arms hung below its knees, or where I guessed its knees were, so as it began moving down the hallway, I was able to get my hands and knees underneath me, at least part of the time, preventing my neck from snapping under the strain of supporting my own weight.

I heard boots hitting hardwood. The monster let out a chuckling little growl and casually slammed my head against the wall. Stars and fresh pain flooded my perceptions. Then I felt myself falling in the technical air and landing in a tumble of arms and legs that only seemed to be connected to me in the technical sense. Ow, technicality hurts.

I lifted dazed eyes to see Austin-san and Archibald-san drop down with belt lines, toting a little gun. When they saw the Despair, they stopped in their tracks. To their credit, they couldn't have hesitated for more than a _fraction_ before opening fire.

Bullets zipped down, so close that I could have reached out a hand and touched them. The Despair flung itself to one side, a blur, and rebounded off the wall toward the gunman, its form changing to disappear into the shadows.

"_Now_!" someone called, and a sudden howl of thunder filled the hallways with noise and light. Lightning and fire crashed, and the monster bounced through the crater, letting out a deafening caterwaul of pain and boundless fury. Gunfire joined in a thunderous, frantic crescendo as it bounced for the shadows, and up and out.

Then screaming above-head.

I tried to push myself to my feet, but someone had set the Duel fields below on tumble dry, and I fell down again. I kept trying. By using the wall, I managed to make it to my knees. I heard a soft sound up. I turned my head blearily toward the source of the noise and saw a blond form drop silently from the floors above through the hole that the monster had made. With useful little belt lines. Rex Atlas landed in a silent crouch, cold and feral and dangerous even seemingly unarmed.

Two men joined him. One was the Hispanic Duelist, Adrian Rodriguez. He wore his Indiana Jones outfit, the bandanna squirrelled away to be replaced with a nice choker.

The second was more muscular than the other two. Shinamori looked more pale, and like a mess, but had a goddamn fireman's axe in one hand. He had nice goggles on, and they gleamed as the O'Brien soldiers joined them down. Without any visible signal, they all started prowling forward at the same time.

Rex paused when he reached me, glanced over my injuries with cold eyes and whispered, "Stay down."

No problem, I thought dully. Down is easy. "How...?"

"Came for Seika. Shit blew up."

The screaming stopped with a last flare of fire. Down the hole came a brown-haired boy, Inukai. Blood matted his hair and covered half of his face. There was a long tear through his jacket on the left side. His left arm hung uselessly, but he still gripped his DuelDisk close. He was still twitching when he hit the floor: _Ow_.

Shinamori gestured with a hand, and the other two spread out and moved forward, while he came to the side of the wounded guard. "What happened?"

"We hit it," he said, his voice slurred. "We hit it with everything. Didn't even slow it down. They're dead. They're all dead."

"You're bleeding," Austin-san assessed. "Get behind."

He nodded unsteadily.

The guy had to be either incredibly lucky or really good to have survived a close-quarters battle. I stared dully for a second before my impact-addled brain sent up a warning flag. _Nobody_ was that lucky.

"Rex!"I choked out.

'Inukai' turned in a blur of motion, sweeping the DuelDisk at Rex's head like a club – but he had begun moving the instant I called and he missed knocking Rex's head off by a fraction of an inch. The trio flung to one side and rolled as the other arm flashed out, lengthening and sprouting fur and claws as it came. The worst of it was avoided, but the claws left a triple line of scratches down one thigh, and they welled with blood.

"Shit, shit," Archie cursed.

The Duel Monster followed, surging forward, its body broadening and thickening with oversized jaws and vicious fangs. It overbore him by sheer mass, slapping and raking with its clawed paws, snapping with its steely jaws. I heard a bone break, heard Archie cry out in rage – and then the monster flew straight up, its head and shoulders slamming into the floor as it came down with such force.

Say whatever you like, but Archie had been panicking, and adrenaline made possible what superhuman feats restraint held back. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, slowly lifting and straightening his arm as she did. The forearm had received a compound fracture; I could see bone poking out through the flesh

There was a shout, and Adrian Rodriguez flipped from somewhere close by, a challenge that was answered by a leonine roar that shook the hall.

Then silence.

A moment later, a blur came, dragging the real Inukai's limp form by the hair. The veil faded as the monster came closer, once more showing us its bestial, not-quite-human form. It stopped in front of us, maybe ten feet away. Then, quite casually, it lifted one of the corpse's hands to its fanged mouth and, never looking away, calmly nipped off a finger and swallowed it.

_Eww_. I was going to have nightmares for _months_.

Satoshi narrowed his eyes, and his mouth split into a challenging smile as fires gathered around him. "Did you need a break before we continue?"

"Break?" Its voice was weirdly modulated, as if several different _things_ were approximating speech at the same time. With the word, it calmly snapped the corpse's left arm mid-humerus. At the same time, the axe was flung and casually deflected to embed itself near my foot.

Well... shit.

"I am going to kill you," Satoshi calmly growled.

"Fiery one." It grinned, but its expression was perpetually grinning anyway. "Even in your world, your power, you cannot stop me. The others lie, slain and defeated. Your fellows are fallen. Even the foolish pretenders to power could not stop me."

The monster's mouth split into a leering smile of its own, and its bestial voice purred: "Break, little mayfly. Break."

I found the wall, and got to my feet and leaned against concrete, staring at the monster. It was hard, and I had to use the wall to help me. I took a deep breath and stepped away from the wall. Moving very carefully, until I stood between the monster and Rex.

I turned to face it squarely. "Okay. Let's have it."

"Have what, spirit-caller?" the monster growled.

"You aren't here to kill us," I said. "You could have done it by now."

"Oh, so true," it murmured, its eyes dancing with malicious pleasure.

"You don't have to gloat about it, prick," I muttered under my breath. "So why don't you just say what you came to say?"

The Despair studied me, and idly nipped another finger. It chewed slowly, with some truly unsettling snapping, popping sounds, and then swallowed. "You will trade with me."

I frowned. "Trade?"

"Trade," it said. "The one named Kiyoshi, of the Evilswarm. For all you doomed warriors."

I eyed the thing. So it wanted Kiyoshi too? "Suppose I tell you to fuck off."

"I will no longer be in a playful mood," it purred. "I will come for you. I will kill you all. I will kill your blood, your friends, your pets. I will kill the flowers in your home and the trees in your fields and the life on your graves."

I believed the creature. Despair of the Dark. Level eight, Zombie-Type. Twenty-eight hundred attack, three thousand defence. Special summoned when sent to graveyard from the hand or deck by the opponent's card effect. The thing is, it was something based on legitimate fear, fear of the dark. And it was the fear that summoned the damn thing in the first place.

So which bloody idiot summoned it?

Once upon a time, I asked Kiryu-sensei about his... experience. He said that no matter what, the Earthbound Gods had class. They were primarily motivated with _just_ taking over and spreading darkness. Right.

As I grew up, I learned more about the Spirits, and things like the Despair? They were different. They were not as powerful as the Earthbound, but they had plenty of power, as predators feeding in the shadows. Kaido theorised that they were based on the legends about fearing the darkness, because no one actually knew what was inside. That things that fed on despair dwelt there... and they were pretty much the closest thing to maliciously gleeful that we could understand.

The Earthbound Gods, I guess, would have been much above petty hunting. Ditto for the Dark Signers, I guessed, other than the collateral damage. Things like the Despair of the Dark, they hunted and fed on fear, I figure. They were the reason you had to watch out for the graveyard and the shadows.

Something approximately the same size and shape as the blade of a bulldozer went rushing across, tearing up earth and gravel and debris. The unseen force dug into the earth an inch beneath the corpse, hammered into his unmoving form, and ripped him free of the monster's grip. It went tumbling over ten feet of ground to the doorway – and struck his head savagely on the stone wall framing the door as he went through. Well, with any luck, Inukai was already dead when that happened, because otherwise he would really have been dead.

The Despair gave a roar. That roar held all the fury of a mortally offended maniacal ego and promised a death that could only be described with the assistance of an encyclopedia of torments, a thesaurus, and an anatomy textbook.

"Fuck you, too," Youkai panted from above.

Water rushed out of the pipes around the Despair, isolating it in a shallow pool.

"Agreed," Yukio was gripping one side of the hole, and already his cold eyes resembled Shimotsuki's expression. "The leader is currently carting off the casualties to the infirmary. That leaves a lot of people to take this thing. You think I can drown it?"

"Bet you I'd burn it first," a voice joined him.

"I'll strangle it." someone offered.

"My Puddingcess can kick its face in." Uzuki, obviously.

More suggestions, more discussions of gratuitous violence on its person, and the monster backed slightly. "I do not fear you. I do not fear all of you."

"You damn well should." Seika's small form was there, defiantly glaring at the Despair of the Dark even though it had beat a lot of us. I was more focused on that Seika had _swore_. "You attacked us here, in our home, in our sanctuary."

"You have no power over me, little child," it spat.

"Don't plan to bind or banish you, old ghost," Jimmy's crisp voice murmured. "Just gonna kick your ass up between your ears."

"I am the cold and dark." it snarled. "I am the fangs and claws. Little pretenders of power, shivering once they see a Despair of the Dark. What can you do?"

"What any Duelist can." was the solemn reply from Jimmy. "Challenge you. We are the Arcadia Movement. We have power, and power has purpose. This is our purpose, to defend our place. This is our aim; to get you out or dead. The way I see it, mate? We'd all prefer dead."

I saw the Despair of the Dark pause. Sure, it was pretty strong, and smart, but everything runs counter to its thinking. It wasn't going to try attacking for the same reason a wolf does not attack a whole herd of sheep; sheep have hooves and they can bite.

"Militia, seriously," Archie muttered, still holding onto his broken arm. "W- What is that?"

"Despair of the Dark," Austin-san muttered. "What? I thought... Duel Spirits aren't solid. Not here."

"Someone gave it form," I agreed. "Someone sent it after Kiyoshi, one of the newbies. It's friggin' powerful."

My blood was dripping out of my nose, and I saw it, the scarlet against my palm. If only... if only...

Cold. Dark.

During that time, with the Jinzo, Seika had somehow managed it. I refuse to believe it was coincidence. I refuse to believe that they didn't have ears about the Movement. Most importantly, I had to believe that they were waiting, a true summon with intent and purpose. And freedom to act.

I held my hand out, blood apparent as if in an offering. It seemed the right thing to do... assuming that she didn't kill me later. If these yahoos could do it, for whatever purpose... if they summoned the real deal, the Despair of the Dark, then the Arcadia Movement had to buck up and fight. We had to lug out our own monster. After all, when Spells and Trap don't work, people use monsters, right?

I was no Psychic Duelist. But I was what the nasty thing called me; a spirit-caller. Now all I had to do was call, and hope and pray that she was listening. Even though she wasn't technically a spirit, but the fact remained that I could damn well come into contact with her. If I could... then maybe, just maybe, we could survive before we were ripped apart...

No. No, I couldn't. For one thing, the blood had dried.

Shinamori took his hands around his mouth, and blew. The conflagration of golden flames curled around, and the Despair cackled as they rebounded and flew. At me.

"Shit!" Shinamori screamed, unable to stop the blast.

The air hissed, and Youkai jumped down, a black blur to push me away as the gold flames scorched a useful piece of debris.

"Shinamori, you idiot!" Kaido was yelling above.

"Oh, another one," the Despair gloated, even though it was looking up at Kaido. "And whither shall you go, then?"

"Nowhere. It'd be a bitch to reorganise things." I could imagine Kaido firmly readjusting his glasses. "I just have to throw you out. Tell me, do you know why this place was chosen?"

The monster tilted its head. It looked... uncertain.

"Right now," Kaido began with exaggerated care, "You're standing in the middle of Neo Domino's piping system. Surrounded by water, moving water, running water. And no matter how much juice your employers gave you, it's not up to the Madame's security. Shadow Spell!"

Chains, real chains of black material, shot out of the freaking walls themselves and launched themselves through the monster. I mean really through, complete with blood and guts and everything else. It screamed again, and this time I caught a hint of something; _fear_.

Now was a good time to recall that Kaido had a very useful power; psychometry. He could look at someone, unabashedly, nakedly, and see their entire past written out before them. Their fears, their traumas, their strengths, but not their minds... maybe.

And their weaknesses.

If there ever was proof that knowledge was power, Kaido was living it. A beast that had taken down about a dozen Psychics, and Kaido was schooling it. Hard. "Not going to bind, not going to banish," Kaido chanted, his voice sub-audible below that monster's shriek. "Kick his ass."

Fire ran the lengths of the chains, burning something fierce and the air itself seemed superheated, focused. That kind of fire... I'd seen it once. Ryuusei was working a Hinotama into a fist. He held it enough to punch and burn something. The imprint of his hand remained on the meat. It took focus, on the heat, on the laws of thermodynamics to cause heat to run the chains and slap on the Despair of the Dark.

The Despair might not be bright, but he knew enough that Jimmy and Kaido working together might just school his ass-to-ears ratio. It burned, oh it burned, and even as the chains shattered, it rose like some great malevolent bat out of hell.

The Despair of the Dark disappeared into the darkness, its howls drifting up in its wake as it fled. It continued to scream in pain, almost sobbing, as it rushed up the hole and fled out of another glass panel. As glass tinkled down in a shower, the Arcadia Movement followed its departure with a surly sense of satisfaction, and I couldn't say that I blamed them.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	16. XIV: Roaring Earth

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XIV: Roaring Earth**

The aftermath of the attack was pretty standard. Since the majority of the forces had been concentrated on the front, the glass panels already had replacements waiting in the wings. Between escorting the injured, calling the NDPD and the infirmary, and then dragging my feet up, I was exhausted.

Nakamura-san hobbled, one leg torn open and yet he remained, ever on duty. "The total bill has been compiled. We will take it back from the guilty party once we find them, Seika-ojou."

"I see."

"There are twenty injured. Five dead. We found Inukai's body." Nakamura-san continued, detached, professional. "At the very least Inukai was an orphan. We are arranging a cremation per the standing arrangements that the Madame had made long ago. There are death-benefits to approve, and funerals to arrange. I think it would be best for it to be a mass one. To show that we are still standing."

"Very well, Nakamura-san."

"And we shall have to compose a eulogy, I suppose." Nakamura-san looked distant, lost. "It is an unprecedented, but not unknown event. We shall have to call in all the Movement heads. Master James and Ariyashi are in the infirmary, exhaustion. Most of us seem to be fine. Princeton and Atlas are shaken, if not badly hurt except for Atlas. The O'Brien pair have been sworn to secrecy, and the Professor shall be fine. Do you require assistance?"

"How can you remain so calm, Nakamura-san?" I whispered. "How? Twenty of us injured, five of us dead, and the toll could be so much worse. And it is only one enemy. What about next time? And after that? Why did it escape? _Why_? Why couldn't I do anything?"

Nakamura-san remained silent. "You have done what you can."

"But I have not done anything but grieve!"

"And that is the point," Nakamura-san answered. "The Missy may seem like she is disaffected. In her own way, she cares. But the Missy, she cares about different things than most people. The dead have no need for funerals, for closure. The Missy cares about the living. And that is why she is disaffected; because she must remain strong for the others in the Movement who are grieving, who wish to fight to the bitter end, who can actually grieve and fight. It is when the ceremony is over, when the scars have subsided a bit, then it would be permissible for the Missy to grieve. But you are not the Missy. You are Kannazuki Seika, and you are undeniably human. Perhaps, that is why."

I stared, unblinkingly, at Nakamura-san. "How does she do it? I cannot imagine doing such a thing."

"I have asked myself the same thing," Nakamura-san reflected. "I can only suppose that my Missy considers each and every case, each member that comes to us for protection and relief. And then she imagines what will happen should she not remain strong, to leave those still living in the lurch. With that, she steels her heart, and work. So that it will not happen. Have I managed to help you, Seika-_ojou_?"

"... Setsu-chan is stronger than I will be," I whispered.

"We have different strengths," Nakamura-san firmly answered. "Yours is to show your emotions most openly, Seika-ojou. It is a gift and a curse, and ultimately it is what unites us. Because then the Movement knows that their leader is not all-powerful, and they must survive somehow. To remember. To have revenge. And then, to finally say goodbye, is what we must do."

I bit my lip down, and I cried, while Nakamura-san stood there and talked me through the documenting process. I am sure that others cried with us. Perhaps a few did. But otherwise, there was silence, respect... and closure.

For those who must grieve.

* * *

I was halfway through the coffee when Dante Swartzvauld sneaked up onto me.

"Boo."

"Gah!" I jumped, nearly spilling my precious coffee. "Did I offend you or something?"

The pointed-ears kid grinned from ear to ear, landing on his feet. "You're a damn baby, you know that?"

"The last time something sneaked up on me, it was motivated to end my life," I pointed out.

"Point," Dante looked serious.

I took pity on him. "So... care to explain the ears?"

"My _Mutti_ was human." he sighed. "My _Vati_... he was the Duel Spirit called Witty Phantom. Both of them raised me, together. He didn't need to, Vati could have left. Most half-spirit children don't have much to do with their children, or..."

"Or?" I asked as Dante shivered.

"Or they're treated as slaves... maybe worse," Dante whispered.

I sympathised with him. Considering Marguerite's treatment of Ichimonji, I doubted that Duel Spirits on a whole were good parents if Ryuusuke was abandoned by his mother. They might even think that as parents they were entitled to everything the kid could give, including and up to some dubiously abusive things. I gave mental props to the Witty Phantom for trying to do right by his kid. "What happened?"

Dante's expression darkened. "Two years ago, my parents were... massacred by three Duel Spirits. One of them was Jinzo. The others are Kozaky and the Invader of Darkness."

I considered Dante. He was a changeling... and other than the ears, I couldn't tell. "Do all changelings look like you?"

"No, I'm just born half-Fiend," Dante scowled. "I know kids born to Fairies tend to have a luminous aura around them, and the kids of Warriors and Spellcasters look the most normal in general. How does Alice say it...?"

"Don't you dare," I scowled. "Anyway... what do you think of the attack?"

"You mean, other than the bogeyman of the Duel Spirits thrashing the place?" Dante considered thoughtfully. "I think it was sent."

"Sent," I echoed.

"Yeah. Despairs of the Dark and Fears of the Dark, they tend to remain in the darker dimensions of the Spirit world," Dante considered. "Vati told me a lot of stories about them. In the Spirit world, you're not supposed to enter an alley that you can't see the end of, because there's almost guaranteed to be a Despair or a Fear about. Fears are easy to banish. Despair... not so much."

"Fascinating," I replied. "So who sent the thing? Or who can send something like the nasty?"

"The Despairs by themselves serve either Court." Dante confessed. "But most just... roam around. That one was rather malicious, like the Invader of Darkness, pretty bad."

"That was _pretty bad_?" I half-yelled.

"There are worse things," Dante shrugged. "One Despair of the Dark isn't that impressive in the long-term."

"You think funny." I didn't realise how Dante felt until he was silent for an extended period.

"You know something?" Dante finally said.

"Yes?"

"Humans can choose to become one of the Duel Spirits as well," Dante's voice came without inflection. "Like the Black Magician and Black Magician Girl, like the legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Changelings like us... we can choose. Whether to be human... or be a monster."

"You're not a monster."

"I wish I am sometimes." Dante snorted. "People adore monsters. They fill their songs and stories with them. They define themselves in relation to them." Dante shook his head. "Do you know what a monster is? Power. Power and choice. Monsters make choices. Monsters shape the world. Monsters force us to become stronger, smarter, better. They sift the weak from the strong and provide a forge for the steeling of souls. Even as we curse monsters, we admire them. Seek to become them, in some ways."

His eyes became distant. "There are far, far worse things to be than a monster."

"Monsters hurt people. You don't."

"If I was one... I'd be a happy monster," Dante sighed. "But, like I said... there are far, far worse things."

"Like what?"

"Mediocrity." Dante's voice was bitter. "Mediocre like Vati, mediocre like Mutti, until even their deaths were unremarkable. Like the five who died today. If I choose, I'll likely be another Witty Phantom. Mediocre."

"That's not very nice," I considered. "Witty Phantoms have their good points as well."

"I don't do nice," Dante sharply replied. "Guess the eulogy would be very nice, very standard. But I didn't know those people. I haven't been with the Movement for two years already. This is just an assignment, for the moment."

Now, that tipped me off. People don't just brush off violent deaths like that. Or at least, keep their opinions to themselves. People don't go on about how meaningless being mediocre is in the face of violent death... not without a very good reason. So I paused, and I looked at Dante Swartzvauld, holding himself stiffly. As if... as if waiting in anticipation.

"You're thinking of making the choice," I realised. "And then you'd join Winter. But you don't know how to get into contact with the Winter Queen."

Dante scowled, and it did interesting things to his face. "Am I that predictable?"

"I'm just sharp," I leaned back, now irritated and thinking. "How about this? We have a Duel. You win, I help you. I win, you leave me the hell alone out of your quest. 'Kay?"

"Fine," Dante scowled.

We found an isolated spot, which wasn't hard in the whole building because there were those who were sleeping, on the night shift or just too occupied to pay attention to us. So, it was with an audience of zero that the Duel began.

"Duel!"

Dante: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"Draw!" Dante called. "I activate the Spell, Through the Looking Glass!"

"...what?" I blinked as the eponymous mirror itself appeared.

"Now, I use its second effect, discarding Wonderland General Doppelgänger to special summon Wonderland Guard Mad Hatter [2200/2000] and Wonderland Guide White Rabbit [1200/1200] from my deck!"

Palm, meet Face. As I watched, the field flooded with...

"And the effect of General Doppelgänger: I special summon the infamous twins, Wonderland Twin Dopple [1500/1500] and Wonderland Twin Ganger [1500/1500 → 2300/1500] from my deck to the field!" Dante continued. "Since they're treated as having each other's names, they can gain eight hundred attack power [1500/1500 → 2300/1500] [1500/1500 → 2300/1500]! But this turn, I can't normal summon, so I'll just set a card and end my turn."

Great. Now I was facing, fresh from Wonderland, the Tweedle-twins, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit.

"Draw!" I looked at my hand, figured, and just decided. "I summon Infernity Necromancer [0/2000], and he automatically moves to defence mode upon normal summon. Next, I'll set three cards. Turn end." I felt a stabbing pain as the card was played.

"Draw!" Dante called.

"Trap, Infernity Inferno!" I called. "I pitch my last two cards and two Infernity monsters from my deck to the graveyard."

"Doesn't matter," Dante gloated. "Mad Hatter, attack the Necromancer!"

"Infernity Bishop in the graveyard protects Necromancer from all destruction!" I called, and the resulting shield caused the Hatter to bounce back.

"Fine," Dante scowled, seeing as the Tweedle-twins would have the same effect of nil on me as well. "Turn end!"

"Draw!" I called. "I'll set this card. Now, I use the effect of Infernity Necromancer to revive Infernity Archer [2000/1000]! Infernity Archer can attack directly when my hand is at zero!"

"What!"

"Hell Snipe!" I called, ignoring the pain in the rush as my archer fired.

Dante: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Chase: LP 8000

"Hngh..." Dante snorted as he cradled the wound. "Good..."

Something clicked. "Wait... what are you doing? Or what am I doing?"

"What is needed," Dante fiercely replied. "Well, I would have challenged the head, but she's too soft to do what is needed. This ritual is done between Duel Spirits and humans, usually partners. This ritual would... imbue the winner with the curse of the Shadow Games. Although my blood is only half-human... my spirit blood can call upon the twelve dimensions. Well? Are you done?"

"No!" I snapped. "What the hell? Shadow Games? Games of Darkness? That's risking our lives! You want to die that much?"

"I want... to get revenge," Dante snapped. "But, today proved... proved that the Movement isn't enough. We'd be sitting ducks for what comes next."

"Dammit..." I sighed. "No, no we won't."

"How can you say that?" Dante shot back. "You saw it. Ariyashi Kaido beat it back, but for how long? No, we need the Dark Games."

"You don't," I snapped harshly. "For one thing, it's easy power. Power too easily gotten is easily stolen. And we aren't built for such power. There are other ways to gain power, more difficult ways... but that power is the kind that no one can ever take away. Ourselves."

"Ourselves...?" Dante choked. "It's not that easy!"

It just hurt, the screaming pain from the Despair of the Dark. "Try... me. Turn end."

"Draw!" Dante called. "I play Polymerization to fuse White Rabbit and Mad Hatter, to summon Wonderland Hare, Mad March [2800/1500]!"

The giant March Hare leered as it appeared.

"Attack Infernity Archer, Mad March!" Dante called.

"Infernity Bishop, protect Archer!" I roared as the shield caused it to bounce back.

Chase: LP 8000 → LP 7200

Dante: LP 6000

"Well?" I challenged, giving my most irritating smirk. It irritated me when I looked into the mirror, and it seemed to irritate everyone, so given that Dante was the one starting this game gambling our lives, it would be more pressure.

"Turn end!" Dante scowled.

"Draw!" I snapped. "I summon the tuner monster, Infernity Beetle [1200/0]! Infernity Necromancer, revive your compatriot, Infernity Destroyer [2300/1600]! Now, Infernity Destroyer, by the effect of the Infernity Queen sleeping in the graveyard, can hit you directly!"

"What?" Dante squawked.

"And Infernity Archer, direct attack with Hell Snipe!" I called.

Dante: LP 6000 → LP 1700

Chase: LP 7200

I was already listing to one side, but I didn't care. "Bastard... you're just like all of them. You think it's so easy to gain power, don't you? Yeah, it's easy... but in the end, you lose something of yourself. In the end... you'll become a monster. Not on your own terms, but on someone else's terms. I don't care. I'm not going to be a monster like you. I'm not going to be weakly scrambling for power like the bastard you are. I am an Infernity Duelist."

Hunger, pain and starvation. With nothing else but the desire to live that made me keep walking. It was fire, fire hotter than hell, the sunlight had been. But I'd survived, and I'd changed. Even without Kiryu-sensei, I had changed. I had fought. I had lived, on my terms. I saw it; the point. I was pitting myself against the ancient malice and darkness that was Dante's spirit blood.

So what if he was half-spirit? I was a Duelist. I _am_ a Duelist. I am an Infernity Duelist. I played with high risks each time I Dueled. I had a thorough psychological grounding in risky Duels with my life on a top-deck. Bring it on, you bastard.

"Main phase two, activate the Spell, Infernity Burst!" I called. "I control four Infernity monsters: Necromancer, Destroyer, Beetle and Archer. Eat thirty-two hundred points of damage, idiot!"

"Spell of Pain," he countered.

"Infernity Barrier!" I muttered as the orange blast rebounded onto him instead.

Dante: LP 1700 → LP 0

Chase: LP 7200

"Ow, ow, ow..." my skull was cracking, and I'm pretty sure that the infirmary was going to chew me out, but I couldn't move, not at all...

"Idiot," Dante grumbled, returning a moment later with Youkai in tow.

"Chase?" Youkai was there, the scent clean and airy. "Chase? What... happened?"

"A polite disagreement. I won." I gave a woozy thumbs-up. "Say... my head hurts."

"You shouldn't be Dueling when your skull's cracked," he sighed, pulling me up. Youkai was really a lot stronger than he looked. "I had to call home. At the same time as the attack here, Shinamori and Rodriguez reported disturbances at the points between the two worlds. Looks like something was running interference on the two forces watching the Arcadia Movement. Are you listening?"

"Head hurts," I wobbled slightly even in Youkai's hold.

_You are an idiot._

"Shut up, Rei," I muttered.

"I bit you called you an idiot," Youkai bemusedly muttered as we turned a corner. "So, you picked a fight with Swartzvauld?"

"He started it," I defended. "Wimp. Tried to start a Dark Game." I understood, though. Witty Phantoms were really weak Fiends, for a level four monster.

Youkai's grip tightened for a minute. "I'll kill him."

"Try not to. People freak out when they face monsters, and I think the scope of this hadn't occurred to him," I leaned against him. "I shouldn't talk in big words. My head hurts."

"I'll kill you, you're an idiot for accepting a Duel," Youkai sighed as I was bodily dumped into the cot. "I guess we can be idiots together. Duster."

"Don't wanna..." I groaned. The duster was warm.

"You'll die of heat prostration first, don't wanna." Youkai muttered as my duster was tugged off and I complied anyway. "Come on, I'll join you."

"Does this thing have space?" I doubtfully muttered as I kicked off, but shifted to let him have access. I was still running on bare fumes. That was my excuse on falling asleep on him.

_You are a supreme idiot for refusing, _was Rei's opening spiel in the dream world. It now resembled a bleak desert, the battlefield I had seen placed over the Kaiba Dome by Tenjouin Michiru and her wacky magic thing. Rei had taken his actual form, a purple dragon with grass-green eyes, and was snorting flames as I was unceremoniously dumped into a pool of hot water. Scalding water.

I came up, sputtering. "W- What?"

Beside Rei, a gun clicked. I knew for one that all Satisfaction Town DuelDisks could shoot rubber bullets, as my imaginary Kiryu-sensei was currently demonstrating at Rei, while the dragon growled. The dragon was wearing shackles of silver; the ones that I had stuck him in during the last cage-fight, nearly three years ago. Since then, I hadn't used his card.

_The Dark Games are the power of the Nameless Pharaoh, _Rei explained. _You would have gotten power that could rival the Courts. Power enough to rule the world as you wished it. The power to grant anything, any wishes. To end suffering._

"Suffering and pain is called 'being human'," I scowled. "And you're the one trapped by this idiot, aren't you?"

_You amuse me, _it defended. _Therefore I shall not crush your head beneath my claws. Yet the half-blood may well have a point; you, your friend and the girl are the only ones who are deeply, deeply vulnerable to the Spirits. The Despair of the Dark proved that you, and her, are weak._

"I'll kick you," the Kiryu-sensei threatened.

"I'm not weak," I defended. "Okay, I might not have cool powers or anything, but I know that Rex doesn't either."

_That child has Scar-Red Nova Dragon. Even the Despair cannot stand up to one of the Cosmic Synchro monsters, imbued with the great powers of the Earthbound. You have I, and you are not using the power I place at your disposal. Power has purpose for a good reason._

I opened my mouth, and then closed it again.

"The potential for power in an alliance," Kiryu-sensei spoke aloud, even though it was my head, "is too great to simply ignore. There are too many things out there determined to kill you, idiot student."

_Very good. So long as you keep my vessel, you have the option to seek more power if necessary to protect yourself or others, and you prevent it from being used by unscrupulous sorts like the half-blood._

I grimaced. "So?"

"So, this is a time to consider employing a portion of that power." Kiryu-sensei slowly stated.

I stared at him and said, "Rei. You've been convincing... well, _me_. Behind my back."

_For months_, he said calmly. _It was only polite. After all, you wanted nothing to do with me. Familiarity breeds contempt... amongst other things._

"So..." I looked around me. "This is... my mind. You've been changing things, but it's me." I looked at Kiryu-sensei. "We're in agreement, that his presence and influence are dangerous."

"We are," he said. "He must not be allowed to dictate actions or to direct our choices through suggestion or manipulation. But he can, and should, be used as a resource, under careful control. He can offer us enormous amounts of information."

"No," I said. "I can find other ways when I want information. I'll… figure out something."

"You don't have those ways now," Kiryu-sensei pointed out.

"That's beside the point," I told him sullenly. "I'm not quite insane or lazy enough to let him give me reliable information just for kicks."

A rubber bullet was fired. Kiryu-sensei leaned down and eyed me.

"Listen to me," he said, and his voice became sharp, commanding. "Here's the cold truth. You're determined to take us into battle against forces you cannot possibly overcome through main strength. Not only that, but your sources of assistance may also turn against you if they learn what's in your damn head. You are wounded. You are out of contact with your friends. Rex is asleep, dammit!"

"It's the right thing to do," I said, setting my jaw.

Kiryu-sensei rolled his eyes. "Tell me, is it necessary for you to die in the process?"

I glowered at him.

"This meeting is just a formality, you know," Kiryu-sensei crossed his arms. "You're already planning on asking Rei for help. That's why you accepted the damn Duel, that's why you're working yourself to exhaustion. You wanted to contact us long-term."

I lifted a finger. "I only did that because I was stupid in accepting it while I was injured."

Kiryu-sensei arched a brow. "How'd that work out for you, idiot disciple?"

"Don't be a wise-ass."

"The point," he continued, "is that you have little or no chance to win. You must know how and why Kiyoshi is a target. You must know if there is another way. You must know the details of the conflict between Ophion and Ouroboros, or the next time you might as well cut your own wrists."

"Don't have to," I told him. "I could just sit and wait for Marguerite's revenge to come by."

"Six of one, half a dozen of another," Kiryu-sensei agreed. "In addition, your body is in no condition to do anything at the moment." He leaned forward. "Face it, you need help. So accept it when it's offered. Free him to help us."

I inhaled slowly and stared at Rei for a moment. "After... after I ran away, after I walked through the desert and got my head together at Satisfaction Town, I promised myself. I promised that I would live, on my own terms. That I wouldn't cross the line. I wouldn't allow myself to be pushed around, or push anyone around."

"Don't you want to survive?" Kiryu-sensei asked.

I rose from the pool and shook my head. The hot water sloughed off me. "Yes. But some things are more important."

"True," Kiryu-sensei nodded. "Like the people who are going to be killed when you die."

I froze.

"Take the high road if you want to," Kiryu-sensei spoke. "Choose to walk away from this in the name of principle. After your noble death, everyone you no longer protect, everyone who might one day have come to you for help, everyone who is killed in the aftermath, every life you might have protected in the future, will be on your head."

I stared at the darkness and then closed my eyes.

"Regardless of where it came from, Rei offers you the power of knowledge. If you turn aside from that power only _you_ can take up... then you abandon your commitment. To protect and defend those who are not strong enough to do it themselves. Do you think Seika can survive alone? Aki-sensei might be the Black Rose, but violence can be taken two different ways, and you have to admit that she might not be able to deal is something else is sent."

"No," I said. "That isn't… that isn't my responsibility."

"Of course it is," my subconscious said, his voice clear and sharp. "You coward."

I stopped and turned, staring at him.

"If you die, rather than do everything you might to prevent what is happening, you are merely committing suicide and trying to make yourself feel better about it." Kiryu-sensei clicked the chamber into place. "That is the act of a coward. Beneath contempt. Alien to the way of the Infernity. What happened to the guy who swore to follow our way of the Infernity?"

I went through the logic of his argument, and didn't make any headway against it – of course. While Kiryu-sensei might look like another here, he wasn't. He was _me_.

"If I open this door now," I said slowly. "I might not be able to close it again."

"Or you might," the imaginary Kiryu-sensei commented. "I have _no_ _intention_ of allowing any control. So you'll be the one who determines it. Us."

"What if I can't contain him again?"

"Why shouldn't you be able to? It's your mind. Your will. Your _choice_. You still believe in free will, right?"

"It's dangerous," I said.

"Of course it is. Since when did you let that stop you? Now you must choose. Will you face that danger? Or will you run from it, and so condemn others who need your strength to their deaths?"

I stared at him for a minute. Then I looked at Rei. He waited, eyes steady, expression calm even for a reptilian face.

"Will you help me?"

_Of course,_ he answered, his manner one of subservience without a trace of resentment. _I would be pleased to offer you whatever assistance you permit._

He looked humble. Cooperative, even. I knew better. He was a powerful force. He might look humble and cooperative, but if that was his true nature I wouldn't have to lock him away in my head to begin with. I didn't think he was harbouring murderous impulses or anything _now_ – my instincts told me that he was genuinely pleased to help me.

After all, that was the first step. And he had patience, and time. He could afford to wait.

Dangerous. Dreigoon, or Rei, represented nothing less than the intrinsic allure of power itself. I had never sought to take the damn card. Hell, a lot of the time I thought about how nice it could be if I hadn't had the nasty inheritance of my Sight, or Rei. The power had been a birthright, and if it had grown since then, it had done so by the necessity of survival.

I'd tasted a darker side to having power – the searing satisfaction of seeing an enemy fall to my strength. The lust to test myself against another, to challenge them and see who was the strongest. The mindless hunger for more that, if once indulged, might never be slaked.

All Duelists knew that desire. All Duel Spirits know that power it gave.

Power. It's always about power with these guys. Keeping it, hoarding it, exercising it, like a goddamn investment. There were other things; survival. Making sure that they came up on top. To make sure I remained alive, and therefore Rei remained alive, Rei was being a bastard. It worked.

I was terrified, to look within me and see the desire to cease the fight and do as I would, free of conscience or remorse. I looked at the dragon, patiently waiting, and was terrified. But... there were lives at stake: men and women and children of the Movement, who already had one set of enemies by their own membership. Seika... Rex.. the Professor... Aki-sensei... Rex was still a wreck, without Ryuusei. Ryuusei was stuck, if Marguerite could be believed. Seika was too young, too nice to deal with the kind of enemies Shimotsuki would have already murdered in cold blood. If I didn't give it to them, who would?

I took a deep breath, reached into my pocket, and found a silver key there. I threw it to Kiryu-sensei.

He caught it and rose. Then he unlocked the shackles.

Without Rei, we were probably sitting ducks. With Rei, and maybe whatever I could ask from Kaido, I could probably even surprise the next few guys. It would almost be cheating.

Like Batman would say: I'm winning. Even if I was terrified.

* * *

_**Through the Looking Glass**__**  
Type: Normal Spell  
Activate one of these effects:  
-Discard one 'Wonderland' monster to special summon from your deck two 'Wonderland' monsters with the total combined levels equal to the level of the discarded monster.  
-Send two 'Wonderland' monsters from your deck to your Graveyard, to special summon from your deck a Wonderland monster with a level equal to half the combined level of the sent monsters.  
You cannot Normal Summon the turn you use this effect.  
Description: two rooms separated by a thin wall with a wall mirror on each side, on one side are Wonderland Warrior Princess Alice and Wonderland Guide White Rabbit while on the other side stands Wonderland Guard Mad Hatter. **_

_**Wonderland General Doppelgänger**__**  
Level 8/ DARK/ Effect  
Once per Duel. when this monster is sent to the graveyard, you can special summon one 'Wonderland Twin Dopple' and one 'Wonderland Twin Ganger' from deck. They cannot attack the turn they are special summoned by this effect. When this monster declares an attack, you can tribute this card to activate one of these effects:  
-Special summon 2 Wonderland Doppelgänger Tokens [DARK/ Warrior/ATK 2400/DEF 1800.  
-Special summon 3 Wonderland Doppelgänger Tokens [DARK/ Warrior/ATK 1800/DEF 1200]  
-Special summon 4 Wonderland Doppelgänger Tokens [DARK/ Warrior/ATK 1200/DEF 600]  
-Special summon 5 wonderland Doppelgänger Tokens [DARK/ Warrior/attack 600/DEF 0]  
**__**At the end of the Battle Phase, you can tribute all Doppelgänger**__**tokens you control to Special Summon this monster from your Hraveyard.  
ATK:**__**3000, DEF: 2400  
Description: a tall black armoured figure with a diagonal line going through half his armour**__**making all of the armour on that side white with the shoulder of that side shaped like a flame. On the upper half of the white side is a black D and on the lower half of his black side is a white G. The leg under his black armoured side is white with the knee shaped to resemble a flame and the leg under the white side is black. He wears a black cape with a white flame design and a white helmet with black horns with a mask with one half black and shaped like the mask of comedy and the other half white and shaped like the mask of tragedy. Holds a sword that is split at the handle, so it appeared as two blades running up from the hilt. **_

_**Wonderland Guard Mad Hatter**__**  
Level 6/ DARK/ Warrior/ Effect  
When this monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle, it gains 400 ATK and can attack once more.  
ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000  
Description: a man wearing a long black straight jacket on his back, wearing a black long sleeved leather shirt carved with symbols of four circles within a larger circle in one circle is a heart, in another is a spade, in another is a diamond and in another is the club. Wears black leather pants trailing a pocket watched encased in a solid block of ice. Wears a black top hat with the same symbol as his shirt with four long curved S shaped blades around the brim of his hat. He holds a tea cup filled with tea and a sword in the other hand with four different top hats with the same blades as the ones on the hat he is wearing balanced on the tip of the blade. **_

_**Wonderland Guide White Rabbit**__**  
Level 2/ DARK/ Beast/ Effect  
You can discard this card from your hand to add one Heart Kingdom from your deck to your hand.  
ATK: 1200/DEF: 1000  
Description: a white rabbit in a blue overcoat holding a pocket watch. **_

_**Wonderland Twin Ganger**__**  
Level 4/ DARK/ Warrior/ Effect  
This monster's name is also treated as 'Wonderland Twin Dopple'. This monster gains 800 attack for every other monster on the field with the same name as this card.  
ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500  
Description: a warrior wearing black armour with the helmet shaped like the white mask of tragedy. Their is a white G on his chest, he wears a white cape and he carries a white sword.  
**__**Wonderland Twin Dopple**__**  
This monster's name is also treated as 'Wonderland Twin Ganger'. This monster gains 800 attack for every other monster on the field with the same name as this card.  
ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500  
Description: a warrior in white armour shaped like flames with the shoulders flared at the edges. Has a black D on chest. A helmet shaped like the black mask of comedy. Wears a black cape and carries a black sword.**_

_**Wonderland Hare, Mad March**__**  
Level 8/ DARK/ Beast/ Fusion  
'Wonderland Guard Mad Hatter' + 'Wonderland Guide White Rabbit'  
If this card attacks a Defence Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent. If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell or Trap cards until the end of the Damage Step.  
ATK: 2800/DEF: 1500  
Description: a tall man with deranged looking hair with brown overcoat clutching a tea cup and dishes**_

_**Please review!**_


	17. XV: Wild Nature's Release

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XV: Wild Nature's Release**

"Why?" Chase-nii was asking. The bodies of the dead surrounded us, and Kiyoshi's eyes were wide as they took in the sight. At the two entrances, Youkai stood at one and Ryuusuke stood at the other. Both of them looked shell-shocked, but Youkai was taking it slightly better, I noticed. I was wondering why Chase-nii had chosen to interview Kiyoshi in the middle of the morgue, but now I knew.

"No..." Kiyoshi whispered. "But..."

"We have twenty injured," Chase-nii pressed. "Five dead. And by the monster who was looking for you."

Kiyoshi turned pale, the colour of oatmeal. "I- I don't know."

"We're trying to protect you, Kiyoshi-san," I murmured. "Please, trust us."

"I don't know," Kiyoshi murmured. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"If you don't know, then Ophion knows," Chase-nii said. "Then it's got to do with that war the Evilswarm is having."

The dark dragon appeared, perched on one of the tables. _You... you question of things beyond your ken._

"I don't need to question to know one thing," Chase-nii fiercely replied. "I know that there's only one thing that would propel things like the nasty tonight to attack a public place like the Arcadia Movement. I know that there's only one thing that would cause it to attack us."

_Oh?_

"Power." Chase-nii spat. "It's always about power with yahoos like you guys. Keeping it, hoarding it, exercising it, like a goddamn investment. What the _hell_ did you do, Ophion?"

…_I came here,_ the whisper was quiet. _That is why. It is because of I._

"Ophion..." Kiyoshi whispered. "It's... it's okay."

"Like hell it is," Chase-nii spat. "Can you Duel?"

"Y- Yes?" Kiyoshi stuttered. "W- Why?"

"In that case, we can make you someone else's problem," Chase-nii nastily replied. "We can challenge Ouroboros and make him leave you alone-"

_Foolishness. My brother would kill you before that._

"-or, we find you a backer," Chase-nii finished. "First, we gotta do some groundwork. How powerful a leader are we talking about here, this Ouroboros?"

_Power that rivals the Queen's dragon, Trishula. Power that is more than that of the ghoul that attacked this castle. Incredible power. Where he is at his height, I am at my ebb, and Ouroboros would rather it so._

"Can't you challenge him?"

_You speak as if it were merely a matter of us quarrelling. My very existence itself is placed at stake._

"Between Kiyoshi and you?" Chase-nii prompted. "Even to save Kiyoshi?"

Silence.

"I thought so," Chase-nii did not have any judgement in his voice. "You know, if Shimotsuki were here, she'd have a very extreme but effective way of settling the problem. But no one is a bitch like her."

"What's the method?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Make you Duel the Duel Spirit." While Kiyoshi was choking, Chase-nii continued. "And if you die... well, it's nothing to her. She might have a point here."

"Chase-nii," I urged. "We can't. Kiyoshi is one of us."

"Seika, you know that a danger that is posed to the rest of the Arcadia Movement because of one person can be submitted for investigation." Chase-nii muttered in frustration. "To Kaido. And it has to be done."

"But, Kaido-san..." I paused. "We..."

The door banged. "Kiyoshi? Kiyoshi!"

"Take some time to consider," I murmured to Kiyoshi. "If you will allow it, we will interview Ophion. If not, we must find another way. We'll get through this."

I did not feel very convinced myself as I got on the podium with Baa-chan.

"On this day, we are gathered to mourn the five who died in the attack on the Arcadia Movement." Baa-chan was reading out. "We of the Arcadia Movement condemn these terrorists that attack innocent civilians and force us to resort to overwhelming force to defend our lives. We give thanks to the twenty who have been injured in their actions above and beyond the call of duty and obligation, and to the five who have died in the protection of our sanctuary. We of the Movement shall not forget them. They will be avenged in the end."

It was horrible, seeing the coffins lined up, sealed and carted off to be cremated. Baa-chan and I... we had to stay for the questions.

"_Is it true that this attack was done by rogue Psychics?_"

"_Will other civilian parties be attacked?_"

"_Is this because Shimotsuki Setsuka is no longer present to take care of things? Is the current leader unable to match the discipline imposed by the Cold Queen?_"

"We believe that the enemies of the Movement have began this," Baa-chan solemnly replied. "We have faith in the police to find the culprits responsible and deliver justice."

"_The Arcadia Movement has an uncomfortable history of seeking vengeance for its members. Will the leader resort to her mask as the Black Rose once more? Or will the Movement's policy revert to that of revenge, a policy that has been prevalent since the start of the Shimotsuki reign?_"

"Please," Nakamura-san escorted me away from the public foyer and into a waiting room. "You did well, Seika-_ojou_."

"I did nothing," my voice rang hollowly.

"You will," Nakamura-san looked more tired and weary. "You will. In the case where justice cannot be delivered, we will have vengeance. We will."

"Are you alright, Seika?" Yuuko-chan was running up to me, but the security guards held her back. I turned my back and left.

At the meeting later, I just wanted to sleep, but I remained alert, even as the pains screamed at me. The rest of us did not looked better as well, though Ishihara-san and Alexianna-san, as well as Jimmy-san, had appeared.

"The first order of business is getting back to our feet," Kaido, the secretary, began. "I have already assessed the reparations costs and death benefits. Of the five dead, only one had a family, and the rest relationships within the Movement. Only we shall miss them. We still have money, and there is no object, hence I trust that we... will manage."

"Very well," Baa-chan whispered. "Please take over the arrangements, Hazuki. There is one last thing on the agenda; investigation. Right now the NDPD is opening investigation, but the Arcadia Movement's reputation is at stake as well. We must investigate and act fast. Kaido, I would like you to take over the investigation and explain to us your conjectures as you have informed me."

"Yes, Izayoi-sensei," Kaido stood to face us. "For one, the attack could only have been orchestrated by someone inside the Movement, and only new members at that. The attack happened at the time when we had the least staff, but the most experienced staff on hand as well. Such a coincidence of timing could only be from a new member with no idea of the security protocols in place."

_Already we have a few in the Movement who have been infected. I suggest you... cleanse your organisation before reaching into battle against the true enemy. Take practice against the foot soldiers, before you reach the commander._

"So we have a traitor," Jimmy-san looked... wronged. "Which of the new members could have done it?"

"Any of them with access to the guard schedule could plan one," Kaido said. "Either directly or indirectly, because people talk. Thus all the new members, I estimate up to about two months before, should be... interviewed. Under duress, if needed."

* * *

"So... you're... going to read my past?" Ryuusuke looked nervous.

"Yes," Kaido answered. "Like an open book. And just to be safe, Shinamori there is standing by the door and he's going to prevent you from escaping. Likewise, Princeton and Youkai are by the window for the same reason."

"It's thirty storeys up." Ryuusuke looked askance.

"Youkai can fly. It is not so much of a stretch of imagination."

"Okay..." Ryuusuke looked doubtful. "So how do we do this?"

"While Kannazuki has gone to ask the new Yamada and the other guy, we'll be Dueling," Kaido unlocked his DuelDisk, and I knew that now, he was on the warpath. There had never been an attack so close before, and Kaido was getting jumpy. When Kaido was jumpy, people had their innermost secrets spoken aloud.

"Duel!"

Kaido: LP 8000

Ryuusuke: LP 8000

"Draw!" Kaido snapped. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Spellbook Star Hall. Since I have no Spellbook Spells in my graveyard, I activate the Spell, Spellbook Library of the Crescent. Now, I take three different Spellbook Spells from my deck, and you get to pick one to add to my hand, and the rest are shuffled into the deck."

"Erm... I pick Spellbook of Secrets," Ryuusuke picked.

"Ah." Kaido looked pleased. "Already one facet of your future is revealed; you are seeing an illusion, or have seen an illusion in your life. An unrealistic idea... perhaps one that your mother would return?"

"H- How?" Ryuusuke looked uncomfortable.

"I have these eyes," Kaido simply replied. "If it is unrealistic, perhaps it is true, your so-called heritage. The Tarot card this is created after, the Moon, is to do with dreams and nightmares. A happy family is a dream... but it can be a happy one. And the Star, the Spellbook Star Hall. Hope, goodwill and optimism is embodied within it. They share an influence of having light in the middle of darkness, but the stars are ever more hopeful, for the moon waxes and wanes."

While Ryuusuke was distracted, Kaido continued. "Because I activated a Spellbook Spell, it gains one Spell Counter. Now, I activate the Spellbook of Secrets, which shall be the opening path to your secrets by searching for another Spellbook card to add to my hand, another Counter. I choose Spellbook Magician of Prophecy. With that, I summon Spellbook Magician of Prophecy [500/400 → 700/400]. Spellbook Star Hall grants one hundred attack power to all Spellcasters on the field, but I am more concerned with the effect of my Magician."

"Huh?" Ryuusuke blinked.

"The Magician is the card of commencement, meaning that it allows me to search for another Spellbook Spell card from my deck to add to my hand," Kaido explained. "It is so in the Tarot, and it is so in the Duel. I shall choose Spellbook of the Master. I activate the Spell, Spellbook of the Master. With that, since I control a Spellcaster, I reveal Spellbook of Eternity in my hand to choose another Spellbook Spell in the graveyard, and treat the effect of Spellbook of the Master as the same. I choose Spellbook of Secrets, which allows me to add Spellbook of Fate to my hand. One more Counter (3) [700/400 → 800/400] I shall now set two cards and activate the Field Spell, The Grand Spellbook Tower!"

Nothing happened, and then, very slowly, the air around us shimmered. We were not standing in Kaido's admittedly cramped office now. We were in a bloody library, the kind of thing that was bookshelves on bookshelves and was built in a tower, concentrically modelled. Circles surrounded us, jewels set in these circles of silver and steel glimmering in what light there was. And there were a _lot_ of books.

"The disaster, the lightning-struck tower," Kaido said quietly. "You came to us in the wake of disaster. We are in the aftermath of the disaster now. Perhaps... it is fitting."

"You know, usually I'd tell you to speak normally, but I'm being creeped out," Ryuusuke commented. "So I'll summon The Agent of Creation – Venus [1600/0]!"

"Quick-play Spell, Spellbook of Fate!" Kaido rebutted as the Spell activated. "When I control a Spellcaster Type monster, I can banish up to three Spellbook Spells in the graveyard and activate one of three effects. I'll use the most costly effect, to banish Venus! Chain card, Spellbook Judgement Day! And that's two more Counters to Spellbook Star Hall (5) [800/400 → 1000/400]"

"Ugh!" Ryuusuke groaned as the six-winged angel disappeared. "That's one of my best cards!"

"This is a reading, not a Duel," Kaido shrugged. "Spellbook Judgement Day, meaning at its most literal; I will judge you, right here and now. That much is certain. It is still your turn."

"Well... then, I activate Cards from the Sky, banishing a Light-Attribute Fairy from my hand to draw two cards," Ryuusuke declared. "And I don't like what that Star Hall implies, so I activate the Spell, Heavy Storm!"

Youkai and Shinamori and I actually stumbled as the tower shattered and we were back, as if it had been struck by lightning.

"When The Grand Spellbook Tower is destroyed by the effect of an opponent's card, I can special summon from my hand or deck a Spellcaster with a level less than or equal to the number of Spellbook Spells in the graveyard," Kaido called. "There are five, including Spellbook Tower itself, so I special summon Fool of Prophecy [1600/900] to the field!"

"Shit, no wonder," Ryuusuke breathed as the yellow-robed magician appeared on the field, winking.

"And then, Star Hall allows me to add a Spellcaster with a level less than or equal to the number of Spell Counters on it when it was destroyed." Kaido continued. "There are five, so I choose Emperor of Prophecy to add to my hand. Well?"

"I'll set two cards, and then activate the Field Spell, The Sanctuary in the Sky!" Ryuusuke called. "So what's my prediction this time?"

Kaido considered, a little wistful. "The spirit in search of experience. We are all beings who learn throughout our lives, and I think you have begun on that journey. Don't we all?"

"Okay," Ryuusuke nodded. "Turn end."

"At the End Phase, I can add Spellbook Spell card from my deck equal to the number of Spells activated after Spellbook Judgement Day resolves, and then special summon one Spellcaster Type monster from my Deck, whose level is less than or equal to the number of cards I added to my hand this way. There are a total of four activated. Hence I shall not only add four cards, but also special summon Justice of Prophecy [1600/800]."

The dark-robed Spellcaster had sword and scales in hand, and smiled.

"It is still the end phase, hence I shall use the effect of Justice, banishing Justice to add a level five or higher Light or Dark Attribute Spellcaster and a Spellbook Spell from hand to deck," Kaido ordered as the Justice faded. "I choose Spellbook of Wisdom and High Priestess of Prophecy."

"That's a lot of advantage," Ryuusuke cursed.

"It is my turn, draw!" Kaido called. "I equip Wonder Wand to Spellbook Magician, and then tribute him to draw two cards. I then reveal Spellbook of Secrets, Spellbook of Eternity and Spellbook of the Heliosphere in my hand to special summon High Priestess of Prophecy [2500/2100]!"

"Trap card, Miraculous Descent!" Ryuusuke ordered as the card opened. "When activated, this card allows me to special summon Master Hyperion [2700/2100]!"

The brocaded fairy appeared at the same time as the white-robed pink-haired magician magician, who made an alluring pose and nodded to Kaido.

"Hyperion, one of twelve Titans in Greek mythology," Kaido assessed. "The Titan of Light. In comparison, my High Priestess is the learning figure. Unlike others who represent the figure of logic, the High Priestess is something else. An intuitive knowledge. Wisdom, sound judgement, introspection."

"Hyperion is the stronger one," Ryuusuke defended.

"But there are other ways," Kaido looked slightly baffled. "Activate the effect of High Priestess; by banishing the Spellbook of Secrets in the graveyard, I can destroy one card, and I choose Master Hyperion!"

"Counter Trap, Divine Wrath!" Ryuusuke snapped as the card lifted.

Even as he lost his monster, Kaido did not seem to mind... at all. "So quick to punish, just like the work of religion. Just like those who believe themselves better. I might still lose the card, but... I activate Spellbook of Life. By revealing Spellbook of Power in my hand and banishing Spellbook Magician in the graveyard, I can revive High Priestess as a level nine monster."

"Damn." was Ryuusuke's reaction as the High Priestess arose.

"Magic and religion has never gotten along," Kaido shook his head. "Magic is only the start of the scientific arts, the other side of the coin. And both question, which is something that religion has never allowed. Both show the shades of grey in between. I banish The Grand Spellbook Tower, so my High Priestess, continue. Destroy Hyperion!"

The white blast was enough to send Ryuusuke hurtling back, but Kaido wasn't finished.

"Activate Spellbook of Power, to increase her power by one thousand points," Kaido ordered as the High Priestess glowed [2500/2100 → 3500/2100]. "Battle! Fool and the High Priestess, attack him directly!"

The two Spellcasters did a double-team, tagging onto Ryuusuke.

Ryuusuke: LP 8000 → LP 3900

Kaido: LP 8000

"Main phase two, Fool of Prophecy can send one Spellbook Spell from deck to grave, so I choose this Spellbook of Fate," Kaido said. "I shall now set three cards. End Phase, Fool of Prophecy can be tributed to special summon a level five or higher Light or Dark Attribute Spellcaster from my deck. Come, Reaper of Prophecy [2000/1600]!"

The Fool of Prophecy was swathed in dark robes. His staff morphed into a scythe, wickedly sharp. His expression turned harder, lined with pain. He glowed with dark power [2000/1600 → 2600/1600].

"Fool of Prophecy can, at the end phase, be tributed when its effect means that there are five or more Spellbook Spells in my graveyard," Kaido explained. "I have five, so it counts. Reaper of Prophecy has three effects when summoned at all, depending on the number of Spellbook Spells I have in the graveyard. At three or more, it gains six hundred attack power. At four or more, I take a Spellbook Spell from my deck to my hand. At five or more, I special summon a level five or higher Dark Attribute Spellcaster from my deck. So arise, Fortune of Prophecy [2700/1700]!"

The other one had the head of a lion, and held a great spinning wheel that glittered with sigils.

"_La Mort_ and _La Roue de Fortune_," Kaido sighed. "Each are agents of change, and agents of transformation. When Fortune of Prophecy is special summoned by the effect of an originally Spellcaster Type monster, I can choose any number of banished Spellbook Spells, and add them to the deck, while the rest go to the graveyard. I choose Spellbook of Secrets to return, and the rest go to the graveyard. Turn end."

"Shit," Ryuusuke was trembling in the face of Kaido's Spellcasters. "What a swarm... d- draw! I- I play the Spell, Dark Hole!"

"Counter Trap, Solemn Judgement," Kaido still looked placid, but focused, relaxed but wary.

Kaido: LP 8000 → LP 4000

Ryuusuke: LP 3900

"Why fight change?" Kaido questioned.

"This is a Duel, of course I'm going to fight!" Ryuusuke yelled, but he did not look convinced himself.

"You misunderstand me." Kaido patiently explained. "What I meant to ask was why do you fight _change_. It is the only constant. To not change means to die. That is the way of this world. You are faced with two things to change; violent change, and unpredictable change, as the Death card and the Wheel of Fortune embodies. And you are faced with the High Priestess, which is a card of truth. Perhaps I am mixing metaphors. Perhaps not. But it does not change the fact that you are faced with diverging paths, and you have no wish to choose."

"To choose? And why are you speaking in riddles?" Ryuusuke snapped.

"This is a fortune-telling, and I take this seriously," Kaido bemusedly answered. "You seek an answer. What the question is, I do not know, but I shall give you that answer, and nothing else. Because to do any less is not my way. So play your card, Ryuusuke Diamondblade. Play. And decide."

"Okay... I summon The Agent of Creation – Venus [1600/0]," Ryuusuke nodded, already pulling himself together as the angel reappeared. "I pay a total of fifteen hundred life points this turn to special summon three copies of Mystical Shine Ball [500/500] in defence mode. I set two cards and end my turn."

"What does your heart tell you?" Kaido asked. "Very good; with the Sanctuary, I cannot touch your life points. High Priestess, I banish a Spellbook to destroy one card on the field, that is, the Sanctuary!"

"No!" Ryuusuke shouted, but the card had shattered, and now we were back in Kaido's office.

"I activate the effect of Spellbook of Wisdom, to make my High Priestess impervious to all Trap cards this turn." Kaido murmured. "Activate the Spell, Spellbook of Secrets, to pull a Spellbook of Power and use it on High Priestess [2500/2100 → 3500/2100]. Activate the Spell, Diffusion Wave Motion!"

"Shit!" Ryuusuke's eyes widened. "Then... my Mirror Force!"

"And now, for something completely different," Kaido announced. "Trap card, Meteorain! My Priestess has a trampling effect for the turn!"

Ryuusuke blanched as the white-robed magician rose, and cast her magical blasts.

Ryuusuke: LP 3900 → LP 0

Kaido: LP 4000 → LP 3000

"Whatever your past, whatever your future, it is yours. Never let anyone tell you otherwise." Kaido said, pointing. "You're clear, now get out of my office."

Ryuusuke blinked as the brusque change in manner. "You know... I expected something more... scary. Like, you spouting all of my secrets."

"Oh, I decided I wanted a new approach," was the blithe reply. "Let's face it. Now you know I can do that. You've been continually disturbed by what I showed to you the entire Duel. There's no need to frighten someone who's already going to have that thought niggling them, right?"

"Kaido, I'm really awed right now," Youkai answered. "But that doesn't tell us why he's clear."

"No indicator popped up," Kaido shrugged. "And my deck tends to spot betrayers real well. No, other than a severe complex and a nice ability, he's clear."

"You're quite scary," Ryuusuke honestly answered.

"The Movement has to be," Kaido sighed, and I saw that Kaido looked more mature. Older. Haunted. "Princeton might be fearless, but he's an idiot too."

"Hey!" I pouted.

Youkai laughed and gave me a hug. I let him. Damn me.

"Is he really?" Shinamori still did not look convinced.

"Quite," Kaido answered, looking offended. "I really did my best. So, we just need to find the traitors-"

The fire outside was different; for one, instead of the controlled chaos of the usual sort that accompanied what amounted to a giant frat house of Psychic Duelists, there were screams of pain. We were running before you could even say anything.

Satoshi took the hallway at a leaping stride, and the single flight of stairs two at a time. Kaido opted for sliding as we ran.

"That's totally unfair!" I yelled.

"You're an idiot," was his reply as he landed neatly.

In revenge, Youkai bounded, actually skidding on the walls as much as he could. "Catch ya later!"

"Oi!" Kaido screamed in outrage. "The scuff marks!"

"Come on!" Satoshi hauled the sobbing Kaido away.

Another labyrinthe set of corridors, and we appeared at the main dormitory. In the centre space, the Yamada twins were facing off against the third Yamada, who was protecting a shivering Kiyoshi.

"Come on, Kiyoshi," Yuko posed, all reasonable and calm. "We just need Kiyoshi to go through this test with you."

"Kiyoshi isn't a traitor," Yuuki answered, righteous indignation in every decibel. "Are you really going to believe this, Nii-san? I won't let anyone invade our privacy!"

"Kaido is one of us," Yuko posed reasonably. "He won't tell anyone."

"I don't want to," Kiyoshi murmured softly. "I- I'm not prepared. I don't want to... talk about it, please, Yuuki..."

"You don't have to talk about it," Yuko said. "Kaido just needs to see you."

Kiyoshi hid himself behind Yuuki's considerable bulk some more. "What do you think of someone who can see your entire past with his eyes? I won't. I can't. Yuuki, please. Help me."

Kaido tilted his head. "Probably an abuse victim. They tend to get touchy when something gets close to their past."

"Really?" Satoshi looked stunned. "Should we...?"

"Abuse victims are also psychologically weaker." Kaido considered. "I don't want to imagine the state of his mind, otherwise I might actually get a real mind-reader in here. Thing is, if Kiyoshi continues, the rest of the dorm is going to get pissed off at him. We need to lull him into security."

"Say, why don't we do it this way?" Yuko suggested loudly. "Tag team Duel."

"What?" the audience in the form of watching members looked more receptive to the idea.

"Sounds like one," Yuuki nodded slowly, already half-past agreeing. "We win, you drop this whole thing first?"

"For now," Yukio looked disgruntled.

"Of course," Yuko slotted his deck into place. "Each their own separate pool of life points and field, can't block the other without permission, if one goes down so do the rest of us?"

"You're catching on," Yuuki agreed. The air turned positively competitive with his challenge and the excitement.

"Good move," Kaido assessed. "No matter who wins, it's a free show. The dorm will be happy."

_I agree. It is a good distraction. And a standard one, _Rei considered. _It would prove to be... enlightening._

"You mean, something aside from your very one-sided Duel?" Ryuusuke asked.

"It's not one-sided, it's a fortune-telling. Your own damn fault you can't stand the mind games."

"Duel!"

Yukio: LP 8000

Yuko: LP 8000

Yuuki: LP 8000

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

"Draw!" Yukio started off. "I play the Spell, Gishki Aquamirror to tribute the Evigishki Mind Augus in my hand and ritual summon the Evigishki Gustkraken in my hand! Witch of the seas, answer my call, hear my plea, come to my aid! The Ritual Mirror bring you forth!"

The blue mirror appeared, swallowing the shadow of the ogre whole. The smooth glassy surface of the mirror began churning as a figure of shadows rose from it. The suds of the water spray flowed off to reveal long red hair under a green wide-brimmed witch's hat, smirking feminine features which would have been beautiful if not for the tentacles that poked out under the black armour the Monster wore. The female upper body held a staff, the head of which was the same blue sapphire mirror that brought it forth [2400/1000].

"With the summon of Gustkraken I can look at two random cards in hand and shuffle one of your cards into your deck- you!" Yukio pointed to Kiyoshi. "Show them... and shuffle that Evilswarm Kerykeion into your deck."

Kiyoshi's face seemed to flush as he did so, and we watched.

"Huh," Jimmy was standing next to us, his hat pulled low. Beside him was Seika, nervously watching the proceedings. "So they've come to blows about this."

"Dammit, Jimmy!" I swore, jumping. "You're not supposed to sneak up on people!"

"I'll set a monster and end my turn," Yukio declared.

"My turn, draw!" Yuuki called as his frown morphed into a grin. "I'll summon Evoltile Odonto [500/1200] to the field! And when he's summoned, one Evolsaur monster in my hand follows him, so come, Evolsaur Elias [100/2400]! Next I activate the Spell, Evo-Force! By tributing Odonto, I can special summon another Evolsaur, so here's my second Elias! I construct the overlay network between these two monsters! Exceed Summon, Evolzar Solda [2600/1000]!"

The resulting monster was a giant dinosaur, glowing phosphorescently in the field as it spread its wings, claws raised in a gesture of predatory emotions, a lot like a pterodactyl.

"Oh, a Fire Dino deck," Jimmy looked interested. "I run Laggia and Dolkka myself, but Solda isn't bad. It's basically a built in Horn of Heaven or something like that, and while it's got Exceed material you can't destroy it by card effects."

"Yes!" Yuuki looked pleased at the comment. "The master of the Jurrac actually complimented us! Now I set a card and end my turn!"

"Draw!" Yuko snapped. "When I control no monsters, I can special summon Steelswarm Cell [0/0] from my hand!"

"The effect of Solda activates!" Yuuki defended. "When my opponent special summons a monster, that card's destroyed!"

"Think it'd stop me?" Yuko looked amused. "I play the Spell, Double Summon! Now I can normal summon twice, so I'll start with Steelswarm Scout [200/0]!" The insect-like monster chirped. "And I tribute him to summon Steelswarm Girastag [2600/0]!"

The other monster was wide, bulky and also rather horrible.

"When I tribute him using a Steelswarm monster, I get to activate one effect, sending ugly there to the graveyard!" Yuko snapped.

"What?" Yuuki flinched. "But-"

"Sent to the grave by express, not being destroyed!" Yuko cackled as the dinosaur roared and was dragged into a hole in the ground that swallowed it up. "I'll set a card, turn end!"

"Draw," Kiyoshi barely glanced at the field. "Because I control far fewer monsters than any of my opponents, I can special summon from my hand Evilswarm Mandragora [1550/1450] to the field! And then, I can normal summon Evilswarm Ketos [1750/1050]. I construct the overlay network! Come, Evilswarm Ophion [2550/1650]!"

It was with a great thrashing and dimming if shadows that the card was heralded. The monster was a single dragon, with great wings and blue-black scale patterns scored on its body. It resembled something like the surface of a polluted lake: everyday brown on the surface, with evil killers lurking under the surface. A strong sense of wrong came to me, and it was a wonder that I even remained. It roared, something far more than echoes of darkness, because it was a hungry sort of darkness that continued to feed and desire and was _hungry_.

What was odd, even to me, was the positively ravenous look Kiyoshi's features morphed into right as he pointed at Yukio's Gustkraken. "I'll use his effect first to search for an Infestation Spell or Trap, and now, Evilswarm Ophion, attack Evigishki Gustkraken!"

Even as the Duel was raging, I found myself utterly wondering about the hunger in his features, as if... as if there were some flaw in Kiyoshi that he was willing to go to any lengths to hide...

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	18. XVI: Fires of Doomsday

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**The Duel I decided will be posted as an Interlude for 100th review. If you want it to be dedicated, review!**_

* * *

**XVI: Fires of Doomsday**

By all accounts, the tag-team Duel had been narrowly won, and yet I had no idea of the exact result as Chase-nii and I were dragged away.

"Where are we going, Jimmy-san?" I asked the man. James Crocodile Cook II was a very nice man, and devoted to Setsu-chan. Setsu-chan had been lucky in love, if not in life itself. I knew that Jimmy-san could love her, and that love was apparent in his every feature as he led us towards a waiting statue... the statue of Ryuuki and Ayame, twisted in their embrace of granite...

"Well... I can't really explain some of these things," Jimmy shrugged. "I can only tell the two of you, because then it's an equal trade-off sort of thing. Whatever I am going to tell yo now is from... from _her_."

"Shimotsuki?" Chase-nii demanded. "What's so hush-hush?"

Jimmy paused, right before we entered the infirmary. "The statue of Yuuki Ayame and Ryuuki Mutou you saw was stolen. I'll explain inside."

Jii-chan was recovering from the wounds he had. Archibald-san had his arm wrapped in a sling. Austin-san was more shaken than injured, and pacing about. They all paused to stare at us, ignoring the wall-mounted television installed in the place.

"Okay, can we get some answers?" Archibald-san demanded. "What was that... that monster?"

"A Duel Monster Spirit," I answered. "Made real and given form. Not a hologram made solid. But real."

"It talked," Austin-san whispered. "It... it's really one of them, isn't it? Is it hostile?"

"Yes," Jimmy sighed. "About three days ago, we received a vague warning about this in the Neverland convention. It wasn't enough."

"Are you screwing with us?" Archibald-san demanded. "Sir, don't believe them. They're spouting bullshit."

"It's real, Archie," Austin-san looked very tired. "They're real. I knew it... from Judai."

"Yuuki Judai could see Duel Spirits," Jimmy-san answered. "I'm-"

"I can recognise Jim's son when I see him," Austin-san shook his head. "You're with the Movement as well, huh? So, it was... chased away."

"Well... I have a benefactor who can give us some answers," Jimmy-san demurred. "However... I shall need all five of you to believe me. Austin-san, you were part of Industrial Illusions' expedition into dimensional travels, were you? It's not a well-known fact, but Dad told me."

"Yes," Austin-san replied. "Is it relevant to bring up that part of my past?"

"It is," Jimmy-san gravely answered. "For one thing, you know that the spirits can cross dimensions at will, but they're limited here. Yet, they are extremely powerful."

"A nice way of putting it," Austin-san shook his head.

"What if that limitation was removed?"

The reaction was almost immediate as the older O'Brien stood. "H- How?"

"The Duel Spirit was real, and it was theorised that it was employed to... distract my benefactor," Jimmy carefully answered, looking at each of us. "There is a war being fought, and now that the previously equal sides have become unbalanced, there remains only one way for both sides; outright war to _debellatio_."

"Until both sides are killed," Jii-chan nodded. "Ryuusei..."

"Ryuusei would die as well," Jimmy-san confirmed. "And since the Earth would be ground zero, it would be akin to havoc in the natural world, as my benefactor has confirmed. It could very well mean an ice age or the polar caps melting. It would be-"

"The end," Chase-nii caught on. "Quit saying that word, 'benefactor'. We all know you're referring to Shimotsuki Setsuka."

Jimmy-san twitched. "Can I tell you something?"

"Yes?"

"When someone is talking about a supposedly hypothetical scenario, it would mean that the subject theoretically remains outside of reality. Therefore, anything discussed would be attributed as the logical context of a given posed problem, rather than the actual passing of information. Such context is useful when trying to give information that was specifically _forbidden_ to be given directly."

"Oh," Chase-nii sighed. "So Shimotsuki told you, and you're trying to help us, and yet you're not allowed to talk about it. Therefore you're going around it by just... disguising it."

"Why?" Archibald-san looked confused.

"He's not allowed to tell us directly," Chase-nii explained. "Duel Spirits can hold you to your promise by binding your tongues and making sure you don't talk about a given subject. But in a different context, assuming that both sides know what's really going on, then he can blab all he likes as long as we keep up the charade and approach in obliquely. Or, in his case, rather ham-handedly."

"Hey!" Jimmy-san hit him.

Austin-san was looking at Chase-nii. "You can see spirits," he said.

"...Yes." Chase-nii admitted. "But, we're going to have to investigate. I'm going to have to find a few people who're not restricted to tell me things. Jimmy, know anyone?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you," Jimmy innocently replied. "But I can definitely bring you out to town, and if one or two of such people who could tell you happened to be present... well, surely conversation could include questions."

"Thank you, Jimmy-san," I serenely replied, before turning to Jii-chan. "We must investigate this. No one at NDPD would believe us."

"I know," Jii-chan pointed to his injured stomach. "I can't really stop any of you, but... Please, be safe, okay? All of you."

"And, O'Brien-san?" Jimmy continued. "You can tell the military for us to back off, right?"

"No one would believe it," Austin-san resignedly answered. "In fact, it still looks like a small militia compared to the social organisation the Arcadia Movement is supposed to be... no offence."

Jimmy-san crossed his arms, and studied Austin-san for a moment before considering Archibald-san. "Do you really think," he said slowly, "that any military can do what the Arcadia Movement can face?"

Archibald-san shivered as Austin-san looked away. "No. I don't."

"Shh," Jii-chan suddenly said, as he grabbed a remote by the bed and turned up the volume.

"…_a truly unprecedented event has happened: an enormous Arctic blast that came charging through Hokkaido towards the Honshu region. And if that wasn't enough, a tropical hurricane has started, and it's slated to rush through Hawaii from the Pacific region in a sudden wave. They've going to meet right over the Neo Domino area, and we have received several reports of rain and frog storms. Thunderstorm warnings have been issued all through, and a tsunami watch is in progress for the next hour. A flash flood warning has been issued and a travel advisory for the southern half of Japan has been released. This is some beautiful but very violent weather, and we urge you to remain in shelter until this storm has time to…_"

"That isn't a natural storm, is it?" Jii-chan whispered. "This is like Halloween."

"Side effect," Chase-nii answered. "Like the rain of toads."

"What does it mean?" Austin-san asked quietly.

It was Jimmy-san who answered for me. "It means that we're running out of time."

* * *

Of course, I dragged Youkai along after explaining. We stared at each other, nodded, and agreed to shut up until Jimmy led us where we were supposed to go.

I wasn't sure where we were supposed to end up, but the Forgotten City certainly wasn't one of them. It was one of Neo Domino's many watering holes with dancing and music and... well, it was a large, swanky nightclub with ill repute. I guess that's the best way to summarise exactly how the Forgotten City was, the dark side of Neo Domino's night life and social circles. You don't have to look much harder to find all sorts of other clubs in Neo Domino: the kind that Ma and Pa Tourist don't take kids to. The byword was that one way or another, you'd find what you wanted somewhere in Neo Domino's Daimon Area. Which was exactly why the Arcadia Movement planted itself there; because Shimotsuki was just enough of a bitch to go toe-to-toe with all the owners and win.

And then... There's the Forgotten City.

I stood with Jimmy and Seika outside what looked like a fire-exit door at the bottom of a stairway, a story below street level in the side of a downtown building. A red neon oval had been installed on the door, and it glowed with a sullen, lurid heat. The thump of a bass beat vibrated almost sub-audibly through the ground.

"Is this what I think it is?" I asked him.

Jimmy, now dressed in a tight-fitting white shirt and old blue jeans with his hat, glanced at me and arched one dark eyebrow. "Depends on what you think it is."

The Forgotten City is one of those clubs that most people only hear rumours about. It moves around the city from time to time, but it's always as exclusive as a popular nightspot in a metropolis can possibly be. I'd heard of the Forgotten City, but that was it. It was where everything bad for you was located, and when I owned a club that was just as popular in the form of the Royal Flush, why come here? Also, the club owner and I weren't on good terms.

"You know somebody here?" Youkai asked. "Because they aren't going to let us–"

Jimmy popped a key into the lock, turned it, and opened the door for me.

"In," I finished. A wash of heat and smoke heavy with legally questionable substances pushed gently against my chest. I could hear the bass _whump-whump-whump _of techno dance music somewhere behind the red-lit smoke. Seika choked, her eyes wide.

"It's one of those businesses you don't know who's its real owner," Jimmy explained. He put the keys back in his pocket, an odd expression on his face. "I don't like it, but it's useful."

"Yeah, until the NDPD gets a drug bust here," I snarked. "Shit, Shimotsuki owns the place? Is it even legal for minors and Duelists to step inside?"

"I doubt it. Or they wouldn't have chosen to meet us here." Jimmy shrugged.

I didn't say anything. I like to stay cosy with my paranoia, not pass it around to my friends and family.

"We have to go in?" Seika looked nervous.

"After you," Jimmy offered, untucking his shirt. It rode up.

I eyed him. So did Youkai. So did Seika.

"The club has an image they strive to maintain," Jimmy said. He might have been just a little bit smug, the bastard. His abs look like they were added in with CGI. Life on the outback, I guessed.

"Oh," Youkai said. I could see the mild envy on his face. "Do I need to take my shirt off, too?"

"Black is slimming," Jimmy answered. "And fashionable. Chase is wearing a leather coat, and Seika... we'll just make sure you don't see anything. That's wardrobe enough."

"Small favours," I muttered as we went through the door.

We walked down a hallway that got darker, louder, and more illicitly odorous as we went. It ended at a heavy black curtain, and I pushed it aside to reveal a few more feet of hallway, a door, and two politely formidable-looking men in dark suits standing in front of it.

One of them lifted a hand and told me, "I'm sorry, sir, but this is a private–"

Jimmy stepped up next to me and fixed the man with a steady gaze.

He lowered his hand, and when he spoke, it sounded rough, as if his mouth had gone dry. "Excuse me, sir. I didn't realize he was with you."

Jimmy kept staring.

The bouncer turned to the door, unlocked it with a key of its own, and opened the door. "Will you be in need of a table, sir? Drinks?"

Jimmy's unblinking gaze finally shifted from the guard, as if the man had somehow vanished as a matter of any consequence. He strolled in without saying anything at all.

The bouncer gave me a weak smile and said, "Sorry about that, sirs, miss. Enjoy your evening."

"Thanks," I said, and followed the boy from down under in.

There was no white light inside. Most of it was red, punctuated in places with pools of blue and black scattered everywhere so that even where shadows were thickest, colours jumped out in disquieting luminescence. Smoke hung in a pall over the large room, a distance-distorting haze under the black lights.

We had entered on a kind of balcony that overlooked the dance floor below. Music pounded, the bass beat so loud that I could feel it in my lower stomach. Lights flashed and swayed in synchronicity. The dance floor was black marble, with glittering mica set in here and there, and tilted until the blocks had slipped, creating something like a flight of low, treacherously shallow stairs.

There was a bar down by the dance floor, and tables scattered around its outskirts under a thirty-foot-high ceiling. A few cages hung about eight feet over the dance floor, and a few chains followed, dangling from the ceiling. Each cage contained a dancer in provocative clothing. Balconies and private lounges jutted out of the walls overhead, shrouded in light curtains that fluttered out.

And I had to blink. Over the dance floor, on the stairs and dangling from the chains and sliding on the bars of cages and poles, danced a series of Duel Spirits.

A Vampire Lady and Lord were doing a slow, sinuous dance that was attracting the most attention, especially when they wielded the daggers. The Aquarian Alessa by the side was pole-dancing, exchanging with a Gambler of Legend, and they exchanged kicks occasionally. A Shadow Tamer and a Patrician of Darkness were performing something akin to a full flamenco, except more acrobatic. And they were very real, and very present. Even without the subtle aura of power that seemed to accompany them, the way they moved was too much to be humans in costume.

To one side of the room stood a stand, and the DJ was clearly human. He looked normal, which was to say almost deformed in comparison to the dancers he performed for, except compared to maybe the uglier ones. He didn't look upset, though – far from it. He was bent to the music, and he was _good, _jockeying with the timing that you only see from people who've really honed their art.

Beyond the dance floor, on the side of the room opposite me, stood raised tiers of platforms, each one set with a separate little table that could sit three or four at the most, each one with its own dim, green-shaded lamp. The tables all stood at different relative heights to one another, staggered back and forth-until the tiers reached a pinnacle, a single chair made out of what looked like silver, its flaring back carved into a sigil: a snowflake the size of a dinner table. The great chair stood empty.

The last of Beyoncé's 'Run the World' echoed throughout, and the black-clothed girl that I'd realised moved at their head bowed to catcalls and whistles. Not all of the dancers were monsters, I realised. Some of them were disturbingly normal; humans. Duelists, judging from the DuelDisks.

"Well, there they are," Jimmy nodded, leading down a set of stairs to the dance floor. The black-haired, black-clothed girl turned out to be Michiru, now grinning madly.

I stopped. "What the hell happened to you, Tenjouin?"

"Freedom happened," Michiru smiled. The dancing had stopped, dozens of eyes now focused on us. "Daddy dearest isn't going to be interfering with my life anymore."

"Your dad misses you," I informed her.

Her expression turned ugly. "No, he didn't. He doesn't care. He never has."

"He's still searching for you," I answered. "He's still checking the missing people section at Central."

"Hmph, it's just his image," Michiru sniffed dismissively. "Even if I wanted, I can't go home. I don't have any power at home, not with Daddy ruling my life. Setsuka gave me power. Now I can do anything." She lifted her hands. "Including this."

We scattered before the blast of light, brighter than a magnesium flare and just as intimidating.

"He's been searching for two years!" Seika cried out. "Is that the mark of someone who doesn't care?"

"Shut up!" Michiru snarled as she threw another bolt of light. It narrowly hit Seika, but Seika drew her foot away in time. "You don't know what's it like! My mother abandoned me on his front steps! He's too busy mooning over that Chancellor and Aunt Asuka to care!"

"But your father misses you," Seika pointed out.

"I don't care, I'm not going back!" Michiru snarled. "If you're so capable, then prove it!"

"Seika, no!" I shouted, but she ignored me.

"Fine!" Seika glared as she stepped up, nearly tripping on the stair-dance floor combination to stand across Michiru. "If I win, will you go home to see your father?"

"_If_ you win," Michiru licked her lips and breathed, which did interesting things to the tight T-shirt she wore. She fitted a DuelDisk on her arm; it was white, and scaled, and edged in silver. It was very artificially white, if you discounted that the silver parts involved sharp bits.

"Duel!"

Michiru: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"I'll go first, draw!" Michiru laughed. "I summon Fabled Gallabas [1500/800] to the field in attack mode!"

A giant mace-wielding monster appeared on the field, grinning as Seika paled.

"With that, I'll set two cards and end my turn," Michiru smirked. "Your turn, missy."

"Draw!" Seika fiercely called. "I'll activate the Spell, One for One, discarding a monster to special summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200] to the field! Now I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"Weak," Michiru sighed. "Draw!"

"Activate Compulsory Evacuation Device!" Seika called. "By sending Lighty back to my hand, I can trigger her effect to special summon from my deck Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]!"

"How... expected," Michiru decided. "When I control a Fabled monster, I can send Fabled Grimro from my hand to the graveyard to search for a Fabled monster, any Fabled monster, and add it to hand. I choose Fabled Dianaira. I'll tribute Fabled Gallabas for Fabled Dianaira [2800/100] to the field."

"That's a level eight monster!" Seika gasped as the behemoth hit the field.

"How good of you to notice," Michiru remarked. "That makes me sick. Dianaira can be summoned with a single tribute of a Fabled monster. Activate the Trap, Beckoning Light. By throwing my entire hand, for every card discarded this way I can retrieve one Light Attribute monster. Also, because of The Fabled Catsith, when it's discarded one of your face-up cards go boom, so goodbye, Darky!"

Darky screamed as the cat appeared and dragged her down into the ground.

"I discarded three, so I'll take back Grimro, Gallabas and Catsith," Michiru whispered in amusement. "Dianaira, direct attack with the Screech of Betrayal!"

Seika winced as the punch came and threw her back.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 5200

Michiru: LP 8000

"Turn end," Michiru simpered.

"Trap card, Call of the Haunted!" Seika panted. Her hair was a mess, and her lip had been split wide open, but she remained steady. "D- Draw! At my standby phase Darky gains one level [2000/2000 → 2400/2400]. Now I equip her with the Equip Spell, Bound Wand, which increases her attack power by one hundred times her level [2400/2400 → 3000/2400]. Darky, attack Fabled Dianaira!"

"Trap card, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast!" Michiru looked too pleased. "I'll discard Gallabas to return your Darky to the top of your deck. And so, a replay occurs and you have nothing left."

"I... I activate the Spell, Magic Planter!" Seika twitched.

"The effect of Dianaira transforms the effect of the first Spell you activate," Michiru smirked. "It allows me to discard a card instead. So I'll just discard Catsith again, and say goodbye to your Call of the Haunted!"

"Huh... Michiru's improved somewhat," Youkai observed. "She's not pushing for special summons and all of that."

"Yeah, but... this is Seika's first time facing an opponent like Michiru," I assessed. "Michiru was the second wheeler of Team Night Sky for this reason. She nearly managed to win against me."

"You're not invincible."

I scowled. "In one turn."

"Okay..."

"I summon Lighty, and set a card... turn end," Seika despondently murmured.

"Draw!" Michiru called. "Well, I hate this card, but it's useful... I activate Heaven's Lost Property. With each of us drawing three cards and discarding two, it's basically Graceful Charity for both players."

"Eh?" Seika blinked as she drew and discarded.

"I summon Lock Cat [1200/1000]," Michiru indicated as the cat appeared. "When this card is normal summoned, I can special summon a level one Beast Type from my graveyard with its effect negated. I special summon The Fabled Catsith [800/600]."

"Cats?" I blinked as the black cat appeared, purring. "Why?"

"Because, Catsith is a tuner monster," Michiru smirked. "Tuning, level three Lock Cat to level one Catsith! Legends long hidden by the con of man, lead the charge to reveal yourself in light! Synchro Summon! Charge, The Fabled Unicore!"

Hooves clipped onto asphalt as the mythical horse creature [2300/1000] galloped next to its mistress. Its eyes gleamed red under the armoured skull, where the single spiked horn was placed in the very centre of its forehead. The armour it wore was light bronze and ochre, stark against a pure white coat. It was a creature of beauty... and a herald of something more.

_Shit_, I realised. As I was twitching, Youkai looked at me. "What?"

"The Fabled Unicore," I whispered. "Dammit... as long as Michiru holds that, as long as she can make her hand size the same as Seika's, Michiru has the field made."

"Why?"

"And then..." Michiru smirked. "I banish Skill Successor from the graveyard and increase the attack power of Unicore by eight hundred for this turn [2300/1000 → 3100/1000]. Now, my Dianaira, attack that Fortune Lady Lighty!"

"Trap card, Impenetrable Attack!" Seika called.

"Got you!" Michiru called. "When we have the same hand size, the effect of Unicore kicks in; I can negate all Spells, Traps and monster effects of my choice and destroy them! Go, Unicore, destroy it with Illusion Killer!"

The magic was stomped down by the evil armed horse as the fiend roared and finished Lighty off.

Seika: LP 5200 → LP 2400

Michiru: LP 8000

"And then... Unicore!" Michiru delightedly clapped her hands as the beast lowered its horn. "Skewer her! Direct attack!"

The horse charged, and it was a close thing as Seika feinted and just got kicked.

Seika: LP 2400 → LP 0

Michiru: LP 8000

"Bitch," Michiru laughed, and it was an ugly sound. It sounded a lot like a bottle-nose dolphin, and those animals are supposed to be evilly cute. "Weak little thing. How did you turn out to lead the Arcadia Movement I have no idea, but I don't like it." She licked her lips. "Maybe I should go back there. Prune some of the little dears out."

"Are you alright?" Jimmy hissed, cradling Seika close.

Seika's eyelashes fluttered, but she was conscious, at least. "I- I'm fine," she gasped.

"Michiru, _what_ are you doing?" Satsuki emerged from one of the balconies, this time with her outfit heavy on the purple. "You know her order!"

"You got soft, Satsuki," Michiru chuckled. "Why, you don't want to end up like Ayame, eh? You're the Queen's obedient little hunting falcon, bending your knee when she tells you to. All for power, just like I did."

"Ayame? Why?" I asked. "Yuuki Ayame?"

"As Winter's champion is Satsuki Kujaku, Summer's human champion is Yuuki Ayame," Michiru smirked at our stunned expressions.

"She took up the bargain, thinking that she could get her father back... hubris." Satsuki spat down. "Well, see what happened! Now war is coming!"

"So... you guys have a champion," I interpreted. "Summer doesn't. How is this related to the threat?"

"The Courts are closer to the natural world than you can imagine," Michiru shook her head. "There is a balance. If it is disrupted, havoc. Now, we are going to be at war, and most likely everything will be blown to flinders to settle in its state again."

"That's insane!" I protested. "What the hell is Shimotsuki doing?"

"What she must," Michiru simply said.

I pondered that as the two women glanced at me. "What?"

"You are a spirit-seer," Satsuki considered. "You came here for a reason."

"Well, I thought that you could... point me to a direction," I growled. "That was until you injured Seika, obviously."

"She needs to learn her place," Michiru stubbornly replied. "Where can we point you, when you don't even know the right questions?"

"You too?" I groaned.

"We can help," Satsuki replied.

"But the debt is not something you want to have," Michiru pointedly replied.

"Damn, Shimotsuki's rubbing off on you," I muttered.

Michiru snapped her fingers. A pair of Giant Orcs flung an athletic-looking man onto all fours, and she rested her slight weight across his back, crossing her arms. "Your time runs short."

"Let's see... where do I start?" I snarked. "The disappearances?"

"Perhaps," Michiru shrugged.

"Or... the Arcadia Movement was attacked. Why?" I asked. "If you guys aren't attacking the Movement, who is?"

"What do you think?" Satsuki's question was acidic.

"Another, unidentified group, the phantom menace," I continued. "So... the disappearances... they _weren't_ you guys?"

"Some of them. Not all," Michiru answered.

"Okay, that doesn't exactly improve my opinion of you people," I shook my head. "And... the menace?"

"This is directly related to the displacement of Yuuki Ayame," Satsuki explained, clearly and slowly. "I know that the Sorciere de Fleur had a hand. What do you know of it?"

I shook my head. "That she was missing. That it's got to do with the weird shit floating about. That it has to be stopped."

"Did she tell you why?"

I frowned. "Not exactly. We didn't quite ask."

Satsuki nodded and folded her hands in her lap. "Summer readies to go to war against Winter."

My brow furrowed. "You mean it's not just a theoretical possibility anymore. It's real."

"The loss of its champion has forced Summer's hand."

"I'm not sure I follow."

Her brow knit into a soft frown. "The power of the champions are considerable. It carries a sort of weight that only a free will can possess. That power, that influence, is a critical element of the balance between our Courts. Since the rulers traditionally are not allowed to act directly in affairs like such, they employ mortals and vassals to do it. To exercise their will. And therefore, the champions' power may be regarded as an extension of the rulers'."

"Except now Summer's champion is... missing," I chose, the disappearance of Marguerite's epic punishment finally dawning on me. "And with it her power."

"Exactly."

"Which makes Summer weaker."

"Yes."

I nodded. "Then why the _hell_ are they planning an attack?"

"The seasons are changing," was Satsuki's answer. "In a day's time, Midsummer will be upon us. The height of Summer's strength."

She said nothing more, letting me calculate. "They think Winter has taken away their champion," I said at last. "Yuuki Ayame. And if they wait, they're only going to grow more and more weak, while Winter gets stronger. Right?"

"Correct." Satsuki slowly replied. "If Summer is to have any chance of victory, without its monarch and champion, they must strike while at the peak of strength. It will be the only time when the Court might be near equal to Winter's power. Otherwise, the seasons will change, and at Midwinter we will come for them."

"And we _will _destroy them, and with them the balance of the mortal world." Michiru's expression was a parody of sadness. "Winter, Princeton. Endless Winter. Unending and vicious cycles of predator and prey. Such a world would not be kind to humans." Her expression faded to barely concealed humour. "Good."

I shook my head. "Can't you just... not attack?"

"It is not done," Satsuki placidly replied. "She _will_ attack."

I considered further. "That makes no sense. Summer could have caught that. Such as, why would Shimotsuki pull this now? If she waits another couple of days, Shimotsuki could have held all the cards, Summer or not. Why leave enough space to wriggle out? Shouldn't Summer be thinking like that?"

"I cannot pretend to know their minds," was the simple reply. "But I know, for your welfare as well as ours, that neither side must be allowed to destroy the other. For all our sakes."

"So," I ticked off. "Disappearances, people jumping ship. Yuuki Ayame being the champion at the same time as these events. A bit of time, Yuuki Ayame and Ryuuki are... turned into stone?"

"A temporary punishment," Michiru scowled. "Better than the draw-and-quarter usually mandated."

Given the pressure he must have been under, I guessed Ryuusei had gone with the option that protected Ayame the most. "And then... the attack happened. Right before Ayame was due to be de-stoned, Ryuusei was... infected." I fervently prayed for him, despite not having any belief in a God. "And Ayame was disappeared when the Movement was attacked. Permanent loss. So we have havoc in the natural world, both sides throwing down for war, and plenty of chaos in the rush to mobilise."

From the outside looking in, to have this information now was really enough to change my whole perspective.

"So... we have to find Yuuki Ayame," Youkai cottoned on. "Because if we don't, we're going to take it up the ass either way. So, we need to find someone who knew what Yuuki Ayame was. That someone who also knew about Ayame being turned into stone. Who is also a new member of the Movement, as Kaido had concluded. Of those who fit the last criteria, there are only three with regular contact with spirits: Ryuusuke, Dante and Kiyoshi. Boss knew about Dante, we should keep an eye on him."

"Really?" I muttered to myself, eyeing Jimmy, who had taken the injured Seika to an empty table for her to recover from the bruises.

Dante Swartzvauld could be a coward. He was half-spirit. He suckered me into a stupid game for power. But I doubted he had the balls to cross Shimotsuki. And... I doubt that he was all that bad, either.

Ryuusuke had never met Shimotsuki. But he could travel through Field Spells into the Duel Monsters Spirit World. Was it too hard to consider, that he could have made contact with Ayame before? Could he manage it? Marguerite was certainly familiar with him...

Kiyoshi was rather difficult. For one, he seemed too timid, too uncertain, too content to hide. But I'd seen the hungry look in his face, the one that stated that he was quite plainly raring to Duel. That kind of expression was one of a Duelist. He could have managed it through Ophion... but Ophion was part of Winter... right?

I shook my head. "I need more answers. I need to know why would anyone want to start a war. Even if it's just to watch the world burn, they could just try another method. Raising tensions, attack Duel Spirits, each blaming the other for perceived hostile actions. So why start on a method that's almost guaranteed to backfire?"

"We," they said together, "do not know."

Youkai groaned. "Great," he muttered. "So who does?"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	19. XVII: Doomsday Horror

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XVII: Doomsday Horror**

_How did you turn out to lead the Arcadia Movement, I have no idea..._

I was helped back to the Arcadia Movement. I was given painkillers and told to sleep. Chase-nii looked more tired, even as he just discussed with Youkai in a low voice.

"-need to try," he continued. "You know how it works. I can see just fine, but in order to call, I need you too, Youkai."

"It's dangerous," Youkai was saying. "You know that calling on her is like putting your neck on the chopping block and challenging for a swing!"

"There's no choice," Chase-nii argued. "Jimmy, back me up here."

"Sorry," Jimmy-san shook his head. "I'm just going with you guys, just in case."

Even through the sluggish haze of the drugs, none of them asked me, I realised. I was useless. I couldn't fight. I couldn't investigate. Why? Why was I the head?

I fell asleep.

In my dream, there was a war. There was Nii-chan and Setsu-chan facing each other, fire and ice exchanging blows. And it continued throughout the ages, even as by the sidelines Rex-nii, Chase-nii, Youkai, Carly-san, Jack-san, Jii-chan, Baa-chan, everyone aged and died and the two of them remained young. I saw glaciers rise and fall, and storms rage and die, and in the middle was the constant battle of the two of them. There was nothing I could do...

The shadows surrounding them moved. The wars were fought, the armies remained, and something... something shadowed them all. The enemy of old, the darkness and despair... and it wanted in.

"Look out!" I screamed, but there was no noise.

Nii-chan shouted as he fell, followed by Setsu-chan, with their swords raised. Empty eyes glared at me as the enemy laughed, and followed by a warm, soothing _We'll make it all better... again..._

I cried at the being...

Perhaps I awoke, about a few hours later, and Chase-nii was still there. Youkai had commented that Jimmy was downstairs. Chase-nii grunted. Youkai excused himself.

Then a glowing light entered the room. There was a familiar voice, low and directed at Chase-nii. "Oh, you're here. Please... please, help me. I- I don't want to."

"You need to go for the tests, Kiyoshi." was Chase-nii's answer.

"N- No." Kiyoshi's voice was trembling. With fear, I realised. "T- They'll know. He'll know about it."

"About what?"

"That I... that I disappeared once. That I took it up. That I went to the Summer-land where only good things happen."

"What are you talking about?" Chase-nii snarled.

"I took sanctuary with Summer," Kiyoshi confessed, half-crying. "But I ran. I couldn't... I couldn't give my life over. So I ran away, and I didn't look back, and now she's coming for me. She's coming for me."

"Who?" Chase-nii pressed. "Who?"

"She's coming..." Kiyoshi began to cry. "She's coming for me... Marguerite..."

"Chase?" Youkai was back.

There was a moment of awkward silence... "It's really not what it looks like."

"I can tell."

"He's crying."

"I know. I'll tell Yuuki. We need to go... find Boss and talk to her, right?" There was a shuffle of steps, Chase-nii squawking in pain, and then Youkai's cool, calm tone.

Kiyoshi's sniffling died in volume, and a whiff of flowers passed me. They smelt... strongly of a stench of flowers...

When I sat up, Kiyoshi was not here, and I could remember my foreboding at the cry of my dreams.

_Mother..._

* * *

"It's a misunderstanding, honest," I told Youkai. "Kiyoshi just turned up out of nowhere."

"Oh yes," Youkai flippantly answered, his inflections missing from his answer. "I know. It's just that screwing with your head is too fun to pass up."

"Make him stop!" I whined towards Jimmy, who had a smirk plastered on his face as he rode the rather rugged D-Wheel that resembled an ATV. Or a Hummer. It looked like it was built like a tank.

"Why?" Jimmy asked. "This is like my personal soap opera."

"I hate you too!"

Like any city with a good public transport structure, there was a healthy amount of foot traffic in Neo Domino City. So, quite frankly it didn't take long for the three of us to gather and move from the Daimon Area to the Bay.

I took the Carpe Jugulum a ways north of town, keeping to the shore. Rain sheeted down, and lightning made the clouds dance with shadow and flame. Maybe ten miles from the centre of town, the downpour eased up, and the air became noticeably colder – enough so that under my duster I was shivering. I pulled the D-Wheel off the Kaziumi Road a couple miles north of Neo Domino University, towards Heartland, locked it up, and trudged toward the shore of the lake with Jimmy and Youkai.

"What a romantic night," Youkai's voice was bland. "Do you take Kiyoshi to these things? Or were you planning to?"

"I told you, it was a misunderstanding! I don't even know the guy!"

The chatter faded as we approached the shores of the Bay. It was a dark night, but I didn't turn on my flashlight. It took my eyes a while, but I finally managed to start making out shapes in the darkness and found my way through the light woods around the shore, to a long, naked promontory of rock thrusting itself a dozen metres into the water. I walked to the end of the stone and stood there for a moment, listening to the thunder rolling over the lake, the wind stirring the water into waves nearly like those of the sea. The air itself felt restless, charged with violence, and the light rain that still fell was uncomfortably cold.

It seemed to be the perfect place to call out to a queen of the cold and dark.

Rei's presence was a constant, the links of power and knowledge in my head with that of the ancient spirit. Youkai's hand in mine was a reassuring presence. I closed my eyes, where land met sea and sky, and drawing as well from my own determination. I focused it with my thoughts, shaped it, and then opened my eyes.

_Anam Ghairm, _Marguerite had named my gift a long time ago. _The cry of spirits._

_You know what to do_, Rei muttered.

Youkai's grip tightened. I gave a barely perceptible nod, and focused.

The winds howled. Waves crashed, stone trembled. There was much to fear from the tides. There was power in the air now, it tingled so badly even I could feel it. I heard Youkai gasp, and Jimmy swear some distance away.

Spirit-callers. Spirit-seers. We could communicate with Duel Spirits. However, communicate tends to be one of those odd terms that were hardly ever clarified. Aunt Ruka could communicate with Duel Spirits. She could also travel into the Spirit World, given practice and time. My own gift was the same, and the opposite. I never went myself to the spirits. They came to _me._

"Hear me," I whispered, and the winds stole my voice, carrying it out over the raging waves. "Hear me!" I cried, louder, and Rei's power vibrated over the Bay of Neo Domino. "I call out to you, she of the snow flower, she of the frosted moon. She who is Winter, cold and dark and bleak as the season of death. She of the hunger, the darkness, the pain. Queen of Air and Darkness, hear me, and come!"

The echoes of my summoning bounced around the shore over my head a few times, and then...

And then...

…I stood there for a long moment, feeling really stupid, and just shook my head. There went my last chance at answers.

From the waves just beneath my toes, the stone shattered and a long arm, belonging to a body that would have been at least twenty feet tall, shot up and seized my head. Not my face. My entire _head_, like a softball. Or maybe an apple. Claws on the ends of the fingers dug into me, piercing my skin, and I was abruptly jerked down into the freaking stone with so much power that for a second I was terrified my neck had snapped.

I thought it would be broken for certain when I hit the stone, but instead I was drawn _through _it and down into the _mud_, and through _that_, and then I was falling, screaming in sudden, instinctive, blind terror. Then I hit something hard and it _hurt_, and I let out a brief, croaking exhalation. I dangled there, stunned for a moment, with those cold, cruel pointed claws digging into my flesh. Distantly I could hear a slow step, and feel my feet dragging across a surface.

Then I was flung and spun twice on the horizontal, and I crashed into a wall. I bounced off it and landed on what felt like a dirt floor. I lay there, not able to inhale, barely able to move, and either I'd gone blind or I was in complete blackness. The nice part about having your bells rung like that is that mind-numbing horror sort of gets put onto a side burner for a bit. That was pretty much the only nice thing about it. When I finally managed to gasp in a little air, I used it to make a whimpering sound of pure pain.

Two more thumps joined me; Jimmy and Youkai, obviously.

A voice came out of the darkness, a sound that was frozen, cruel clarity. "Me," she said, drawing the word out. "You attempt to summon. Me."

_You have my sincerest apologies,_ I tried to say to her. I think it just came out, _"__Ow__.__"_

"You think I am a servant to be whistled for?" continued the voice. Hate and weariness and dark amusement were all mummified together in it. "You think I am some petty spirit you can command?"

"N- n- nngh, _ow_." I gasped.

"You dare to presume? You dare to speak such names to draw my attention?" she hissed. There was a scrape of metal on stone, and a row of sparks. My imagination treated me to an image of her creeping silently toward me in the blackness, a knife lifted, and I stifled an urge to burst into panicked screams.

"Why at the crossroads of the three great planes?" she asked.

"Seemed appropriate. Demons always appear at crossroads. And you're the one demons should be terrified of." I babbled. Rei just snorted; the crossroads had been his idea.

"_So_," she whispered a moment later. "You have finally come to see what has been before you all this time."

"You aren't going to kill me," I said. "For one, I still need to solve this. You put me up to this through your games."

There was a low, quiet snort. "Not you, per se. Anyone of the fools I once commanded and protected would have done just as well. Perhaps better."

"Well, before that happens, they need training and they have to actually think like I did. And given the odds of survival, it's not going to happen soon. I need answers only you can provide, Shimotsuki."

From the darkness there was a pause, and then there was light.

Shimotsuki stood, resplendent as always. She wore mail over a battle gown of sorts, and a DuelDisk shaped like half a snowflake was on her arm, though it was shaped more as a shield with pointy bits attached. She wore a matching crown on her head, the edges jutted with sharp spikes. On her hip was a slender rapier, and odds to one she knew how to use the damn thing to skewer me. In the hand without the Disk was a freaking two-headed battleaxe.

Gulp.

Her frozen-berry lips lifted in a silent snarl, and the world turned into a curtain of white agony that centred on my eyes. Nothing had _ever_ hurt so much. I fell down, but I wasn't lucky enough to hit my head and knock myself unconscious since it was carpet. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't scream.

"Chase!" Youkai shouted, somewhere above.

Then there was something cold beside me. And something very soft and very cold touched my ear. I recognised the sensation, from the far side of the pain. Lips. Her lips.

The Queen of Air and Darkness placed a gentle row of kisses down the outside ridge of my ear, then sucked the lobe into her mouth and bit down quite gently. I heard her voice speaking in a low, tense, hungry whisper. "Whatever your past, whatever your future, know this: I am the Queen of Winter. Try that again, and I will finish freezing the water in your eyes."

The pain receded to something merely torturous as she let me go, and I clenched my teeth down hard over a scream. I could move again. I flinched away from her, scrambling until my back hit a wall. I covered my eyes with my hands and felt some of my frozen eyelashes snap. I sat there for a minute, struggling to control the pain, and my vision gradually faded from white to a deep red, and then to black. I opened my eyes. I could barely focus them. I felt a wetness on my face, touched it with a finger. There was blood in my tears.

"You know, it's not good to motivate me with this sort of torture." Youkai's pale face and Jimmy's unreadable features were by my side, looking down, each of them stark white as I gave my best reply.

"I did that out of spite," she replied.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is why you do not cross her.

"I found out," I said quietly. "That Kiyoshi sided with Summer, not Winter."

"So you have finally seen."

"Uh, yeah." I gibbered. "I guess. I know there's something there now, at least."

"So very mortal of you. Learning only when it is too late." Rasp. Sparks.

"I need to know who took Yuuki Ayame."

"Very well. It is just as well that you know the purpose. Give me your hand."

"I need my hand," I groaned. "_Both_ of them."

"Place your hand in mine, and the other in Nowaki's. James, take mine. Close your eyes."

I did, not by choice, but because they still hurt.

When my sight had recovered, I opened my eyes.

"Holy shit," Youkai swore.

We stood on a solid surface among grey and drifting mist. The mist covered whatever ground I was on, and though I poked at it with my foot, I couldn't tell if it was earth, wood, or concrete. The landscape around me rolled in hills and shallow valleys, all of it covered in ground fog.

I frowned up at the skies. They were clear. Stars glittered impossibly bright against the velvet curtain of night, sparkling in colours like a rainbow, instead of the usual pale silver, glittering jewels against the blackness of the void. Thunder rumbled again, and the ground shook beneath the mist. Lightning flashed along with it, and the ground all around us lit with a sudden angry blue fire that slowly faded away.

The truth dawned on me slowly. I pushed my foot at the ground again, and then in a circle around me. "We're …" I choked. "We're on… we're on…"

"The clouds," she said, nodding. "Or so it would seem to you. We are no longer in the mortal world."

"The Spirit world?"

She shook her head and spoke, her voice still hushed. "No. This is the world between, the sometimes place, the ancient battlefield of the Different Dimensions. This is the place the rulers call forth when we as a whole desire to spill blood."

_Sargasso, _Rei murmured.

"They call it forth?" I asked in a quiet voice, reverently still. She could probably open a hole beneath me for me to drop to a horrible death of being ripped apart by g-force. "The two of you _create_ it?"

"Well, damn," Youkai whispered.

"Even so," she murmured, her voice similarly low. "We prepare for war."

I turned slowly, taking it in. We stood on a rise of ground in a broad, shallow valley. I could make out what looked like a mist-shrouded shore not far away. Several rivers cut through the cloudscape, one serpentine one surrounding the inside of the battlefield.

"Wait a minute," I said, squinting. "This is … familiar." I started adding in mental images of buildings, streets, lights, cars, people. "This is... Neo Domino."

"A model, crafted from clouds and mist," she answered.

I kept turning and found behind me a stone, grey and enormous, startlingly solid amid all the drifting white. I took a step back from it and saw the shape of it – a table, made of a massive slab of rock, the entirety of it solid rock. It was a circle, or a squat cylinder thing with large stones surrounding it, inscribed with one of the fancy circles we see with Spellbinding Circle or other cards, like the Exodia seal of the Dark Magicians' arcane circles. Writing writhed across the surface of the stone, runes that looked somewhere between Norse runes, Arabic, Hebrew and maybe even Chinese. Some of them looked more like Egyptian. They seemed to take something from several different sources, leaving them unreadable. Lightning flashed again through the ground, and a wave of blue-white light flooded over the table, through the runes, lighting them neon green for a moment.

_Great fates above, _Rei murmured, my wariness heightening in tandem with his own.

"What...is this?" I asked.

"The Table." was her simply reply. "Blood is power. Blood spilled upon that stone forever becomes a part of who holds it."

"So, who holds it?" My boyfriend asks much easier questions.

She nodded, her blue-green eyes luminous. "For half of the year, the Table lies within Winter. For half, within Summer."

"It changes hands," I understood. "Midsummer and Midwinter."

"Yes. Summer holds the Table now. But not for much longer."

I stepped toward the Table and extended a hand. The air around it literally shook, pressing against my fingers, making my skin ripple visibly as though against a strong wind-but I felt nothing. I touched the surface of the Table itself, and could feel the power in it, buzzing through the flowing runes like naked static electricity. The sensation engulfed my hand with sudden heat and violence, and I jerked my fingers back.

They were numb, and the nails of the two that had touched the table were blackened at the edges. Wisps of smoke rose from them.

"Well, shit," I shook my fingers and looked at the Winter Queen. "Let me get this straight. Blood spilled onto the Table turns into power for whoever holds it. Summer now. But Winter, after tomorrow night."

Shimotsuki inclined her head, silent.

"I don't understand what makes that so important."

She frowned at the Table, then began pacing around it, slowly, clockwise, her eyes never leaving me. "The Table is not merely a repository for energy. It is a conduit. Blood spilled upon its surface takes more than merely life with it."

"Power," I said. I frowned and folded my arms, watching her. "So if, for instance, my blood spilled there..."

She smiled. "Great power would come of it. Mortal life, mortal magic, drawn into the hands of whichever monarch ruled the Table."

I swallowed and took a step back. "Oh."

"Would you care to try?"

"No thank you. I have a vested interest in living." I crossed my arms.

"I still don't get why is this table so important." Youkai spoke quietly. I nodded.

_That, my host, you must See. And never let any of them bring you to this Table._

"You are correct, old monster." Shimotsuki considered, and lifted her hand again.

When she gestured, I saw.

It made me stagger as I was hit with a sudden rush of impressions. The cloudy landscape was absolutely seething with power. From one point, wild green and gold light spilled, falling over the landscape like a translucent jungle. Vines of green, golden flowers, flashes of rainbow spread through them, clawing at the gentle ground, anchored here and there at points of light so vibrant and bright that I could not look directly at them.

From the other side, cold blue and purple and dark green power spread like crystals of ice, with the slow and relentless power of a glacier. It pressed ahead in some places, melted back in others, glimmering especially strong around the winding rivers.

The struggle of energies both wound back to the hill-tops, to points of light as bright as stars. Even the shadow of each was an overwhelming presence upon my senses. One was a sense of choking heat so much that I couldn't breathe, that it was roasting me by its very presence. The other was of cold, horrible and absolute, winding glacial limbs around me, stealing away my strength into darkness.

Those powers played against one another – I could sense that, though not the exact nature. Energies wound about one another, subtle pressures of darkness and light, leaving the landscape vaguely lit in squares of cold and warm colour. Red and gold and bright green, stood against blue, purple and pale white. A pattern had formed in them, a structure to the conflict that was not wholly complete. Like a checker board. Only at the centre, at the Table, was the pattern broken, a solid area of green and gold around the Table, while dark, crystalline ice slowly pressed closer, somehow in time with the almost undetectable motion of the stars overhead.

So I saw it.

I got a look at what I was up against, at the naked strength of the two rulers, and it was bigger than me, bigger than Rei. Power that had existed since the dawn of life, and would until its end. It was power that had cowed mortals into contemptible worship and terror before – and I finally understood why. I wasn't a pawn of that kind of strength. I was smaller, tiny and so insignificant compared to the blazing fountains of power. There was a dreadful attraction in seeing that power, something in it that called like to like, and made me want to hurl myself into those flames, into that endless, icy cold.

I tore my eyes away by hiding my face in my arms. I fell to my side on the ground and curled up, trying to shut the Sight, to force those images to stop flooding over me. I shook and tried to say something. I'm not sure what. It came out as stuttering, gibbering sounds. After that, I don't remember much until cold hands started slapping me on the cheek.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the cold, wet ground on the cloud-model of Neo Domino, where I'd first called out. My head was on something soft that turned out to be Youkai's lap, while he slapped me awake. "Chase? Oh, Chase, you fell-"

I sat up and away quickly. My head hurt, and the images the Sight had showed me made me feel particularly small and vulnerable. Tiny. I sat shivering in the rain-clouds for a minute before I glanced back at Shimotsuki Setsuka, the Winter Queen, and I suddenly felt very humbled, like I was before a force of nature. From their shared expressions, I gathered that they saw it as well. What was at stake.

"You should have warned me." I whispered.

Her face showed no remorse, and little concern. "It would have changed nothing. You needed to see." She paused, and then added, "I regret that it was the only way. Do you yet understand?"

"The war," I breathed. "They'll fight for control of the area around the Table. If Summer holds the space, it won't matter if it's Winter's time or not. No one would be able to reach the table, spill blood on it, and add power to Winter." I took a breath. "There was a sense to what this is going. As though it was a ritual. Something you'd done before."

_Of course,_ Rei murmured. _They exist in opposition. Each wields vast power, power to rival perhaps even the Phantom Gods. But each cancel one another flawlessly. And in the end, the board shall be evenly divided. The lesser pieces will emerge and do battle to decide the balance._

I snorted. "But you didn't help me. I needed to find Yuuki Ayame. Find out who was responsible."

"And so you did." Shimotsuki answered. "More truly than if you'd exchanged words with me."

I frowned at her and thought through what I knew, and what I'd learned on my trip to the Table. "You shouldn't be in any hurry. If Summer is missing its champion, Winter has the edge if you wait. There's no _need_ to take the Table."

"Quite."

"But Summer is moving to protect the Table. That means that they think someone in Winter did it. But if you're responding instead of waiting, it means..." I frowned. "It means you're not sure why Summer is moving. You're just checking the advance. And _that _means that you aren't sure who did it, either."

"Simple," Shimotsuki commented. "But accurate enough reasoning." She looked out to the east. "The sun will set in some little time. When once again it sets, the war will begin. With balanced Courts, it would mean, perhaps, little of great consequence to the mortal world. But, that balance is gone. Imagine what might happen were it not restored."

I did. I mean, I'd had an idea what might go wrong before, but now I _knew _the scale of the forces involved. The release of energies from either side would be vast and violent, and sure to inflict horrible consequences on anything nearby – in this case, Neo Domino, Japan, and probably the rest of the world with it. Maybe Russia might survive.

To do that, I needed to talk to the one who imprisoned Ayame. Who made the champion unable to stand as such. Who started this whole mess.

"I need to talk to Ryuusei," I muttered.

"Of course you do." Shimotsuki commented. "Give me your hand. Do not wander, the forest contains beasts."

"I still need my hand."

"I have no use for your hand, save perhaps as a Hand of Glory, and only then after your hanging."

Gulp.

She turned, and we followed quickly.

By taking a single step, we were there, as if the mere act had propelled us to where we were needed. There was something resembling a whole village of tree-houses, hollowed-out trees with doors set into the trunk, and a variety of other jungle-era architecture.

Shimotsuki ignored all of them to approach the giant tree-throne, of a similar kind that I had seen Marguerite on, and glared at it before glancing in.

"I brought them." she said.

The trees shivered. The leaves rustled, as if very aware and watching. Very slowly, the throne rotated.

Fudo Ryuusei had hardly changed in the two years he'd disappeared. He still had the sharp, defined face that contained hardly any expression beyond calm poker faces and barely hidden amusement. He still had mostly black hair, now ridden with highlights of gold, and his red bangs fell to frame his face. His eyes were wide, and blue-green instead of sky-blue. He wore red and black, mostly leather, mostly the Riding suit I had seen him in; red, black and gold, the colours of Team Black Knights.

He looked... not so well. I was distracted. There were... roots or vines or something, growing _into _him. They wrapped around wrists and penetrated the skin there, structures that were plant-like but pale and spongy-looking. I could barely make out some kind of fluid flowing through the tendrils and presumably into his body.

There were other changes, too. His eyes were deeply sunken and burned too bright, as though he had a fever. There was an eerie serenity, as though he felt no discomfort, physical or otherwise, at this imprisonment. He seemed to regard the entire matter with amused tolerance, as though such trivial conditions were hardly worthy of attention from my friend.

"Ryuusei... what the hell happened to you?" I breathed.

His eyes stirred slightly. "Myself."

Youkai just stared. "Are those... IV lines?"

"Restraints," Ryuusei said. "Feeders. Attachments to the land. It is a tough thing, fighting this infection, but I estimate that I shall recover enough by tonight."

"Stay with us," I urged, walking over to him. "You were infected, right?"

"A traitor," Ryuusei's features changed slightly, into a furrowed brow. "I... I welcomed people. Into the forests, where only good things happened. Ayame-san came to me for help, with Ryuuki-san, but... they _lied_ to me. Something went wrong. People were telling me to behead Ayame-san, for trying to release the Herald. I... I tried to save her, I really did. There was only one thing I could do, put her out of their reach until everything blew over."

"You turned her into stone," I nodded. I knew there was a reason.

"And then... and then that _traitor_," his eyes went wider. Fire started around the vines, and tendrils of the black smoke screamed as they escaped, bleached green-gold by the fires where they touched. "He did... _that_! To Anjhel, who was trying to repent! He incited Ayame to attack me!"

I saw it. I felt sick too. I sympathised. "I know, I saw the body. Who was it? Who was it who came to you, who saw you turn Ayame into stone? Who guessed, or knew that the Table would feed power into whoever ruled it when blood was spilled?"

Ryuusei made a sudden choking sound. I frowned at him. His eyes bugged out, and his face contorted with apparent pain. His mouth moved, lips writhing, twisting. A bestial grunt jerked out of his throat every second or two. The fingers of one hand arched into a claw. Then he suddenly sagged, and when he turned his eyes back to me, they were the same again; blue as the sky and clearer than a star sapphire.

"Chase," he said, his voice weak. "I didn't... want to become a monster. But I forgot... I forgot how someone who had been abused his entire life would see Marguerite and my offer as. I forgot that Marguerite... and the others... they are difficult to understand. I'm sorry. I caused... I drove him to do this."

You know, there are things that can only be comprehended in a single second? Well, fibre optics would eat the dust compared to the speed of thought. In a split second, Rei's stream of consciousness uploaded a full plan, complete with thought process, elimination and base knowledge. With the crucial piece that had been under my nose the whole time.

Winter was, in no way, the Wicked Witch to Summer's Glinda.

"No, you didn't," I firmly replied. "Kiyoshi did this himself. With a few contracted spirits, but otherwise he's the one responsible for this."

"Huh?" Youkai looked taken aback. "Kiyoshi?"

Shimotsuki had been leaning on Jimmy for a while, and now she stood right by the tree-throne as Ryuusei took several deep breaths. When they opened their eyes once more, they weren't our friends; they were the rulers of this dimension, at the very least, and they were power. They were the King of Summer and the Queen of Winter.

"Time presses," Summer said.

"That which must not be may be," Winter continued.

"The both of you, we judge, are the ones who may set things a-right once more-"

"-if you are strong enough."

"Or brave enough."

"Whoa, hold your horses," I said. "Can't I just bring this out to Kaido and Seika?"

"Beyond talk now," Winter said. "We go to war, the dragon and the enemy of now. Far too late."

"Stop them," I said. "You two have to be stronger than anything nasty Ophion could invent. Make them shut up and listen to you."

"Not that simple," Winter answered.

Summer nodded. "We have power, but bound within certain limits. We cannot interfere with these affairs. Not even now."

"What _can _you do?" Youkai scoffed.

"I, _Slaugh Ghairm_?" Summer said. "Nothing."

I frowned and looked to Shimotsuki.

Shimotsuki reached for her sleeve, and withdrew a handkerchief. No, not a handkerchief. It was grey wool or cotton, and it was trimmed but not tied. "You know what this is. You know what it may do."

I swallowed, taking it gingerly as if she had just handed me something nuclear. I didn't stop until it was in my pocket, its power a constant cool presence.

"What's that?" Youkai asked. "It isn't tied off."

"It shouldn't be." My voice almost cracked. "Bound within is the power to undo anything. Touch the cloth to what you want to undo, unravel the threads, and the thing is undone. It's an Unravelling. It can unravel the very bonds to life itself." I checked my pocket for trailing threads. "Is this a gift?"

"It is necessary," she tilted her head.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Ryuusei lifted a single brow at his look. "It is yours now. You can do what you like with it. In this, we cannot interfere any longer. And... Chase?"

I paused. "Yeah?"

"It's really good to see you." He looked sad, almost pleading as blue-green returned to blue. "I really want to see you guys again. But not... not until this storm is over. Not until the end of this battle, at least. But... can you tell... my parents... and Seika... I'm going to come home?"

Home.

"Yeah." I nodded sharply, tried to stare at Youkai, and not let the tears fall at the simple sincerity of Ryuusei's pleas.

Youkai and I nodded, and left Jimmy with Shimotsuki as they began discussing. Why those two went off in their own little world when near each other now, I had no idea.

Shimotsuki was tilting her head back at us. "Odd. That shadow wasn't there."

Youkai and I walked off, having already been directed to the gate and directions as to how to get back.

The thought of the Unravelling made me walk faster, excitement skipping through me. The case just got easier...

Of course, I thought sourly, finishing up this case was likely to kill me. I may have gotten some insight and a magic doily, but they sure as hell hadn't given me a freaking clue as to how to resolve this – and, I realised, they hadn't really _said _'Kiyoshi did it'. I knew they had to speak the truth to me, and their statements had led me to that conclusion – but how much of it was this mysterious prohibition from direct involvement, and how much of it had been trickery? Shimotsuki was shirty like that.

"Make haste," I muttered, trying to impersonate her voice. "We have reached the limits, my foot." I quickened my pace, and frowned over that last little comment Shimotsuki had made. She had taken an almost palpable glee in making it, as though it had given her an opening she wouldn't otherwise have had. The shadow that wasn't there.

What shadow?

I gnawed over the question. If it was indeed a statement of importance, not just a passing mutter, then it had to mean something.

"Oh shit," Youkai hissed. "We're in another dimension. And I don't know how to get back."

I stopped, but for a different reason. "Oh shit."

There was a flash of impact, a sensation of falling, and cool earth beneath my cheek.

Then blackness.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	20. XVIII: Darklight

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XVIII: Darklight**

Fire tore open the infirmary right as the alarms went off. I flung myself down, taking cover with Jii-chan, Austin-san and Archibald-san.

"Come on, move!" Satoshi-san urged. We followed him, running down the corridor as fast as we could manage.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Another attack," was the short reply. "Everyone in the infirmary is supposed to move to the dorms which were closed off, but the escort team was ambushed. Duck!"

Satoshi-san made a motion, and golden fire spat from one hand, thinner than thread to snap at the Inpachi. It groaned, going up in flames but did not react otherwise as it staggered back.

"Can you manage?" Satoshi-san asked Jii-chan.

"I'll be fine," a sheen of sweat glittered on his forehead.

We turned, stopping right before a sea of carnage. A Mad Dog of Darkness was trying to bite at Reggie and Glen. Nearby, a Giant Kozaky was firing upon a Mirror Force. A Giga Gagagigo scored the marble as it skidded to roar at us.

Satoshi-san set a burst of flame into its face. It stumbled back as we ran, skidding to face a different monster. It resembled a dark-skinned man, who was dressed in a wrinkled white laboratory coat. A pair of glasses were parched on a large nose, and his grin was eerily wide. Under the coat his shirt hung on an emaciated frame, and the purple tie suspended on his neck resembled a noose.

"Kozaky," Jii-chan identified. "Level one Fiend, Normal monster."

"So the Signer knows my name," it leered. "I am so grateful, that when I came across your research I set it all aflame for my admiration for you. You should never be meddling in matters beyond your understanding in the wrong places, good Signer."

Jii-chan frowned, but he gave no indication of his anger. "That was two years of research."

"Very good of you," Kozaky easily answered. "Come, a scientist as yourself must have observed my creations. What do you think?"

"Giga Gagagigo, Giant Kozaky, the Inpachi series..." Jii-chan shrugged. "I don't. I haven't. I'm a Duelist in my Duels, not a scientist."

Kozaky flushed as he gave an inarticulate noise. "What does that mean? Do you mean that my creations are nothing compared to your mortal sages? And here I was thinking that someone had finally figured out the principle! Did you have any idea how hard it was to trace the world line through ether and the veils between worlds?"

"You did?" Jii-chan asked. "How did you figure it out?"

"Oh, we were given direction," Kozaky gave a smiled as the walls caved in and the Giant Kozaky appeared. "Kill them."

Austin-san and Archibald-san exchanged looks with Satoshi-san. Satoshi-san shook his head. "I got nothing to take care of that."

"Security," Jii-chan muttered as he headed for a nearby panel, ripping the wall out. "Diana's ideas..."

"What are you doing, Signer?" the Kozaky suspiciously answered.

"Nothing in particular- oh, yet," Jii-chan answered. "Satoshi, I need you and O'Brien-san to run interference. Archibald, can your hand move after the emergency treatment?"

"Yes," Archibald-san answered. "The Movement's treatment is really good. We could improve so many lives."

"Right, now protect us while I key in the security features," Jii-chan instructed before turning to me. "Seika, did Diana ever tell you about the Arcadia Movement's features?"

I shook my head. "N- No. Should I have...?"

"Well, it's not an issue," Jii-chan answered as he scrolled out a keyboard. Archibald-san took me to hide behind Jii-chan, dragging a large metal slab as Satoshi-san jumped at the Kozaky and Austin-san took on the Kozaky and its Mad Dog of Darkness. "It could have been something else... on the magic front, I have no idea what Diana did to this whole building. However, I know that she basically installed Solid Vision into the entire building, on most of the floors and along strategic areas to be defended, as she asked me to design. There are interactive panels on every wall and floor of the building. The entire cost was funded by... her. I had no idea where she got the funding to even bring this theoretical concept to life."

"It's a giant DuelDisk." I caught on. "Every Psychic Duelist in the building would have access to their cards and destructive powers."

"Yes," Jii-chan answered. "But, the execution program is locked down, and kept inactive because of the sheer amount of energy required. I need the password which is known traditionally by all heads of the Arcadia Movement from the time of the Madame."

"The... password?" I swallowed.

"We have a hint," Jii-chan blinked and turned the screen to me. Behind, Archibald-san grunted as something heavy hit the slab and it cracked. Austin-san gave a snarl, and there was a howl as something ripped. There were cries and punches and movement, and then Satoshi-san...

"Kaido, hurry up and get your ass down here with those two!"

"Shut the fuck up! Do you know how many arrays there are in this damned building?"

Kozaky gave a howl, and Austin-san gave a shout of pain.

I stared at the word, and felt darkness throbbing at the edge of my mind.

_Mnemosyne._

"Mnemosyne," I found myself speaking. "The goddess of memory. To remember..."

"Seika?" Jii-chan pressed, but I was panicking.

_Remember... remember... remember..._

It was a summer night, and it was dark. Setsu-chan was there, standing there and covered in blood as she came in with Nakamura-san and her first words were "_Mama is dead-_"

"Memory." I recited. "_Omnia causa fiunt._"

The computer whirred. _Initiating, execution program code: Defendarius. Beginning exact sequence. Cannot be terminated. Authorisation from terminal A002653. Loading complete. Initiating Defendarius sequence, stage one: opening Duel Mode on Arcadia Movement. Linking interaction plates to Solid Vision, complete._

The building hummed with power. The walls and floor gleamed. There were cries, and this was followed with joy and shouts of encouragement. The Psychics of the Arcadia Movement were beginning to get together and fight back... and I had unlocked the keys to victory for it.

Jii-chan slumped against the wall. "Good job."

"What?" Kozaky screamed as fire flared and charged with the stench of burning things. "_What_?"

Stab.

"W- Why...?" his eyes locked on the gleaming silver sword, before tracing to the boy with white spiked hair.

Dante smiled. "I killed you."

Kozaky screamed. "Damn you! Damn-" he gurgled as Dante-san twisted the sword and pulled out, his form collapsing.

At the same time, the monsters milling about were beginning to fall under the combined assault. The building rumbled, and if I stood outside I knew that the surface of the Arcadia Movement now was not just rock, but solar panels, designed to store energy... for this purpose, and this alone. To help in the coming time.

_Battle completed, parameters set for victory established, _the terminal read out. _Beginning stealth mode: initiating clearance sequence. Establishing list of possible traitors not sighted in the battle, whether in combative or non-combative capacity._

There was only one entry that I saw and gasped. Jii-chan followed.

Yuuki-san came running over. "Seika-san, did you see Kiyoshi? I couldn't find him anywhere..." he trailed off as we looked at him. "What?"

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

I came to on the ground of that dark wood. Spirit realm or not, I felt cold and started shivering uncontrollably. That made playing possum pretty much impossible, so I sat up and tried to take stock.

I didn't feel any new bruises or breaks, so I hadn't been pounded while I was out. It probably hadn't been long. Shimotsuki's Unravelling was no longer in my pocket. I could still feel my deck and DuelDisk in the form of a BB gun on me, though, which came as something of a surprise. My head throbbed where Shimotsuki had nearly frozen the water in my eyes.

Other than that, I felt more or less whole. Huzzah.

I squinted at my surroundings next, and found just trees, grass, mud and other assorted forest paraphernalia. I struggled, but it felt like a weight on me. Like... gravity itself bound me here.

_Gravity Bind,_ Rei carefully informed me. _Your companion has the power to remove it._

"We're trapped," Youkai informed me. He was there too, lying on a tree and looking slightly apologetic mixed with furious glances at our captors. "Gravity Bind, by the way."

Trapped. Double Huzzah. Only after I'd gotten an idea of my predicament did I shift my head and face my captors.

There were five of them, which seemed less than fair. I recognised the nearest two right away – Kiyoshi, now dressed in Goth leathers with bits of armour and mail, and the dark dragon Ophion, who stood still as a piece of rock. He turned his eyes to me, and regarded me with an expression both sad and resolved.

"Princeton-san," Kiyoshi murmured. "I'm sorry that it has come to this. But you have come too close. Once you had served your purpose, I could not allow you to continue."

I grimaced and looked past, at the hulking Ophion, huge and blue-skinned and silent, at the nearby Invader of Darkness cloaked in shadow grinning at me, and at the Despair of the Dark. It cackled at me, leering but unwilling to even get close to the Gravity Bind.

"What do you intend to do?" I hissed.

"Kill you," Kiyoshi gently confessed. "I regret the necessity. But you're too dangerous to be allowed to live."

I squinted. "Then why haven't you?"

"Excellent question," said the Invader of Darkness.

The gaunt, tense hunger of Ophion's expression hadn't changed. He looked nervous and angry. For a dragon. "If it had been up to me, I'd have you killed when the Despair dropped you."

"Does Yuuki know?" Youkai hissed.

Kiyoshi walked in a circle around me, frowning. "How long have you known?"

I shrugged. "Not long. I started getting it on the way here. Once I knew where to start, it wasn't hard to start adding up the numbers. It helps that Shimotsuki knows where to point me and fire, you know." Not to mention Rei's complete thought process. Sure, the guy couldn't give me power without killing me, but his thought process was way more cynical and jaded and on the money than mine. It was a start.

"We should kill them now," the last of the quintuple growled. It was a giant serpentine thing. It curled like a snake on its hindquarters, but looked perfectly comfortable. Its claws were more... mobile, more human, smaller and sharper than Ophion's heavy claws. Its head was flattened, like some snakes, and its blue-black wings periodically sent a small breeze fanning across my face.

Its aura smelt worse than Ophion, if that were possible; like faeces, like undiluted skunk's spray, like the fizzy poison that could eat through concrete and toxic waste. If I had been forced to name the scent, I'd have called it Evil. Straight. It's evil to even create that kind of scent. If Ophion was the horror of finding a freshly dead body, this one was the sickening disgust of seeing maggots grow in said body. Marguerite's infamous bio-terror stench of her flowers just enhanced it, a parody of contrasting stenches.

"If he figured it out, others may have as well," Kiyoshi explained, his voice patient. "We should know if any other opposition is coming, Bahamut." He turned to me. "How did you piece it together?"

"Go to hell," I snapped.

Kiyoshi turned to Ophion there and asked, "Can he be reasoned with?"

"You've already told him you're going to kill him, little one." Ophion sighed. "He won't cooperate."

Kiyoshi shook his head. "I'm sorry you pushed me to this, Princeton-san." He nodded to the giant serpent.

Its claw moved. Some unseen force jerked my chin up, my eyes to it. They flashed, a ripple of colours, and I felt the force of mind and will glide past my defences and into me. I lost my balance and staggered, leaning helplessly against the invisible solidity of the circle she'd imprisoned me in. I tried to fight it, but it was insidious, nothing for me to focus upon. I was trapped. All I could do was watch the pretty colours.

Then Rei began his retaliation. Greenish blue flame sparked on the grass, setting it aflame with chilling speed. They flared out, and was about to reach Bahamut before it splashed against the Gravity Bind.

"Oi!" Youkai hissed as the flames came perilously close to scorching him. "Not all of us have Duel Spirits protecting us, you know!"

Kiyoshi looked stunned as Bahamut bodily threw himself back, groaning. Ophion and the Fiend and Zombie pair I'd automatically tagged as thugs shifted, ready to leap on me.

Rei's fire was a cold thing, but protective as it flared.

"Why?" Kiyoshi asked. "It would have been simpler had Bahamut been merely able to compel you."

"Fucking hell, boo hoo, cry me a bloody river." I found myself swearing.

"Perhaps the other would be more willing to talk," Ophion suggested.

"Shit," Youkai swore as I hurriedly assessed the danger. Youkai might be a Psychic Duelist, but I doubted that he could take on the shag-nasty, what looked to be a heavy-duty Fiend, two of three bosses of the Evilswarm and still manage to take down Kiyoshi. Yep, we were screwed... unless...

"I'll talk, I'll talk," I wearily hissed. "Just... don't hurt him."

"Chase, this isn't the worst torture I've faced!" Youkai argued.

"Don't be an idiot. We're trapped," I hissed. "You're the Sylph, right?"

Realisation dawned in his eyes. His codename, a reminder that he was a Psychic Duelist and not helpless. That he was going to be finding a way while I distracted those two. Well, considering who had the tendency to dress in black and who had the bigger mouth, our enemies tended to focus on me. I don't even know why. Maybe it's my boyish charm and good looks... or it's the fact that Youkai knew when to keep his mouth shut while mine ran on autopilot.

The Duel Spirits looked like they wanted to disagree, but Kiyoshi nodded. "Now," he said, and his voice was gentle. "What did you learn?"

"You were behind it," I answered. "Yuuki Ayame. You had her trapped."

"How?"

"Marguerite. You manipulated her, and then made Ayame rebel and get caught. You somehow managed to convince Marguerite that it was better for Ryuuki and her to be turned into stone. Then you had them stolen when the Movement was attacked by shag-nasty over there."

Youkai inched closer to me, trying to not attract attention.

"By who?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Bahamut," I said. "He stinks of Marguerite's smell, believe me when anyone who's been in that garden would reek. It was right in front of me. Summer might be nice, but it's in no way limited just to kindness. Even nasties can be part of a nice faction. I was so caught up in the horror, I never bothered to see if the Evilswarm was siding with Summer or Winter. I think Bahamut might have helped you, and then Ophion gave you a cover in night to sneak it out."

"Very good," Kiyoshi said. "What else?"

"You set Anjhel Takumi up." I continued. "He was killed later, but he was the vessel. You used him to grab the chance and infect Ryuusei."

"In what way?" Kiyoshi pressed.

"Anger. Ryuusei doesn't pay attention when he's angry." I said unwillingly. "I forgot, the Lswarm is a part of the Steelswarm and Evilswarm. That's why it's called Verz in Japan."

"Why did I do that?"

"To cover yourself. If Ryuusei was infected, Shimotsuki would be too busy sitting on him to care about you. And the other two Amazons probably had orders to leave you alone after you left the sanctuary offered, and they never noticed otherwise. You bit the hand that fed you, and I don't think Yuuki knew that you were one of those who disappeared. That's why you weren't investigated by NDPD, because no one had noticed that you were gone."

"Yes," Kiyoshi said. "And after that?"

"You set yourself up with the Evilswarm Thanatos to convince Yuko and Yuuki that you were being pursued. Then no one would have reason to doubt why you needed to enter the Movement. You avoided Kaido running that interrogation on you and so blowing your cover. You set up that tag-team Duel in the dorms, where the biggest Duel nuts of the Movement are. You kept the Wonder Twins and their cousin busy enough that Kaido accepted your abstaining for a reason, thinking that you were psychologically unstable. You ambushed me, you thought that you could mislead me. You gave yourself away when you revealed that you had disappeared before."

It was a very cynical, jaded and diabolical plan. Rei must really have believed the worst of Kiyoshi.

"He doesn't _look _all that smart," Bahamut commented.

"Yet he used only reason." Ophion stated. "Plus knowledge doubtless gained from the rulers. He put it together for himself, rather than being told, brother. A spirit-caller with no partner is a sad thing, is he not?"

If only he knew.

"Great," Bahamut shrugged. "Can we kill them now, brother?"

Kiyoshi held up a hand to Bahamut, and asked me, "Do you know my next objective?"

"You knew, or guessed, that if you bound up Ayame, they would provide an Unravelling to free it and restore the balance." I realised. "You waited for her to give it to me. Now you're going to take it and the statue of those two. You're going to take them to the Table during the battle. You'll use the Unravelling, free them from being stone, and kill Ayame on the table after midnight. The power will go to Winter permanently. You want to destroy the balance of power. I don't know why."

Kiyoshi's eyes flashed dangerously. "_Why? _It should be obvious why. You of all people..."

He paced quietly, restlessly back and forth. "The cycle must be broken. Summer and Winter, constantly chasing each other, wounding what the other heals and healing what the other wounds. This war, this senseless contest, waged for no reason other than that it has always been so – and mortals trapped between them, crushed by the struggle, made pawns and toys. Even Summer, who offers us sanctuary, we're treated no better than pets!" He took a shuddering, angry breath. "It must end. And I will end it."

I ground my teeth, shivering. "You'll end it by sending the natural world into chaos?"

"I didn't set the price," Kiyoshi hissed. I caught sight of his eyes out of the corner of my vision and started tracking up to his face. I forced my gaze down again, barely in time as he continued speaking, in a low, impassioned voice. "I hate it. I hate every moment of the things I've had to do – but it should have been done long ago. How many have died or been tormented by Marguerite, and those like her? You yourself have been tortured, nearly enslaved by them. I will not let those who are unnoticed to fall and suffer again. I will never let us be toyed with again."

I swallowed. "That's insane. Harming and endangering humanity to help."

"But it is the only way." Kiyoshi faced me again and asked, his voice cold: "Does the Arcadia Movement know what you have discovered?"

"Bite me, fruitcake."

Youkai gave a short bark of laughter. "They do now."

"Fine," the Invader of Darkness spoke. "They are the last loose ends, then. Kill them, and let us get on with it."

"Dammit," I groaned. "Use your head, man. What do you think you're going to get out of helping him like this?"

The Invader and the Despair gave twin chuckles.

"Power, for one thing." The Fiend commented. "I'll be powerful, twice more than I was before – and then I'm going to settle some accounts with that bitch of a Winter Queen." He licked his lips. "After that, we will decide what to do next."

I let out a harsh bray of laughter. "I hope you got that in writing, dimwit. Do you really think Kiyoshi would let you?" Its eyes became wary, and I pressed him. "Think about it. When did he say that you'd survive to the end? And do you think Shimotsuki wouldn't become stronger, idiot? She's the _Queen_ of Winter."

"Even so, the fighting shall be great, greater than the mere blood-letting allowed since opening negotiations," the Despair of the Dark cackled. "Come, fellow of the dark. The spirit-caller is a trickster, and desperate. He would say anything he thought might save him. Nothing has changed."

I ground my teeth at the meaningless words, but whatever it was, the two monsters were clearly in it for the blood. Either way, they weren't going to listen to me.

I looked around, but Bahamut ignored me as he chatted with Kiyoshi. Shag-nasty kept telling the Invader of Darkness about the fun they would have, and I assumed rightly that the fun was only on their part. That left only one person to talk to, and the thought of it was really awkward.

"Ophion," I said. "This is crazy. Why are you doing this?"

He didn't look at me. "Many things are. In many ways, I precipitated this. When I killed his guardians... his abusive caretakers... it left him with little choice. He sought sanctuary the only way I know how. But... Marguerite, he was terrified of the Witch's behaviour. Even more so when the King of Summer brought in so many more like him. I guess... he found the prospect frightening."

He fell quiet for a moment, then swallowed, his voice forced a little louder, "I didn't know."

"Someone is going to get hurt." I pleaded. Kiyoshi was an abuse victim, Kaido had guessed correctly. What he _hadn't_ mentioned was that for kids like this, their world-view had been shattered and that if given the wrong influence, they would fight back tooth and nail, and in Kiyoshi's case, apocalyptic results. In the end, it was a well-intentioned, if extreme measure.

"Death is a part of life," it answered. "Does it matter who? How? Or why?"

"People are going to _die._"

He glanced down at me, sharp anger clear despite the lack of recognisable facial features. "I do not care."

I faced him, without looking away. "Better them than us, huh?"

He broke first, turning to regard Bahamut and Kiyoshi. "Perhaps. In another life... in another time, perhaps. But there is no turning back. I have betrayed my own tribe with my brother. There remains only one option for us now."

I folded my arms, despite the constant weight of gravity. I went over my options, but they were awfully limited. If Kiyoshi wanted me dead, he would be able to see to it quite handily, and unless the cavalry came riding over the hill, there wasn't anything I could do about it.

Call me a pessimist, but my life has been marked with a notable lack of cavalry.

"A grim business," Kiyoshi commented. "Goodbye, Princeton-san, Misawa-san."

"See if I ever go clubbing with you ever again," Youkai snarled. "What about Yuuki? Yuuki is going to die. That's your best friend!"

Kiyoshi's expressions warred, before covered in a blank face of resolve. "Better than the alternative."

"Mortal time races," Bahamut commented as he scattered a handful of something that resembled a pail of gunk on us. It stank, and Youkai actually gagged. I nearly vomited at the smell of leftovers and other assorted meat products. "Let's hope that Behemoth likes this meal enough to clean everything."

"True." Kiyoshi whispered. "Come."

Bahamut left in a slither of his body, following Kiyoshi without a word. The Invader of Darkness spat at us, and the Despair chuckled but stayed well away as they left. Ophion looked sorrowful, but gave no indication of a change of heart as they left.

After that, they left us there to die.

It's hard not to panic in that kind of situation. I mean, I've been in trouble before, but not in that kind of tick-tock-here-it-comes. The problem in front of me was simple, steady, and inescapable for now. The ground was soft, and the sensation was hardly uncomfortable, warm and not entirely unpleasant. Maybe it could be a brand new type of bath, the luxury kind I bribe Youkai's lawyer cousin with sometimes. But ours would be lethal if we couldn't get out of it, and I could hear sniffling somewhere close.

Youkai's hand was curling into mine now. With that kind of proximity, I'd nearly forgotten his presence. "Well?"

"I've found the Gravity Bind." he started conversationally. "The Remove Trap card is in my wrist-band."

I fumbled, reaching for it and searching for the grooves by touch. "Nice idea. Why did you hide cards into your bands?"

"Considering the number of times we've somehow managed to get kidnapped together, Tsu-nii taught me to."

"It was only the once-" I shut up as the huge pink monster named Behemoth the King of All Animals came pawing near us, showing all of its sharp, sharp teeth. Gulp.

Right then, it started drizzling. In the spirit world. Oh, for crying out loud.

It wasn't enough to dissuade the Behemoth, as it came closer. Its paws looked like one slap could break my whole rib cage. And most of the blood and animal remains the evil Bahamut had tossed was on my person. Crap.

I fumbled, tearing open the compartment on the cuff. The card slid out, protected by its plastic, and went skidding down. Youkai's fingers scrabbled, scratching the ground as the Behemoth stared me in the face and I stifled the urge to scream.

It bared its teeth.

No, it was a manly yell, not a scream. It still had the same result; the Behemoth roared, something that nearly burst my eardrums, and then rose up on its hind legs, its forepaws down and prepared to impale me.

"Remove Trap!" The Gravity Bind shattered, right as the Behemoth was falling and I felt the Gravity Bind snap. It was too late to move, for me-

"Smashing Ground!"

-and a hand came down from the heavens, smashing down on the hapless Behemoth. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect of making us bounce for some odd reason, and then Youkai spoke some more. I have no idea what he said, but it sounded like we were in a storm.

I had a wild impression of mist and dreary ground and then a tree, and then it was replaced with a teeth-rattling impact around my middle.

By the time I'd coughed out a mouthful of rain-water that was surprisingly sweet, and choked air back into my lungs, I had the presence of mind to wipe it out of my eyes. I found myself twenty feet off the ground, dangling from the branches of one of the skeletal trees. My arms and legs hung loosely beneath me, and my jeans felt tight at the waist. I tried to see how I'd gotten hung up that way, but I couldn't. I could possibly get a hand and a foot on different branches, but I could barely wiggle, and I couldn't get loose.

"You foil a psychopath," I panted to myself. "Get away from certain death. And get stuck up a freaking tree." I struggled some more, just as uselessly. One wet boot fell off and hit the ground with a soggy plop. "Dear _kami_, I hope no one sees you like this."

The sound of footsteps drifted out of the mist, coming closer.

I pushed the heel of my hand against my right eyebrow. Some days you just can't win.

"Chase?" Youkai's cerise eyes were glittering up at me from the foot of the tree. "Are you... stuck?"

"When people ask me what I see in you, I am going to make up lies about your sexual prowess, because it's certainly not for your brilliant deduction," I groaned.

"It's not a lie when it's true." Youkai rebutted.

"I did _not_ need to hear that," came the groan behind us. Youkai whirled around, to see Ryuusuke and Dante, both soaked to the bone and carrying a few bruises. "Can I get some brain bleach?" Ryuusuke added.

"Shut up," Dante snorted.

"Hi," I replied wittily.

Dante made a sound like he needed to swallow his laughter. "There's a broken branch through your belt. Get your right foot on the branch below you, your left hand on the one above you, and loosen your belt. You should be able to climb down."

I did as he said and got my wet self down from the tree and to earth. "Thank you," I said. I privately thought to myself that I'd have been a hell of a lot more grateful about five minutes earlier. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for you," he said. "Ryuusuke used his ability and everything as I followed my instincts."

"Your... instincts," Youkai blankly replied.

Dante shrugged. "Family trick."

"You've been watching?" I interrupted.

He shook his head. "No, but the Kozaky that attacked the Arcadia Movement about ten minutes ago was doing the whole Bond villain thing. Well... not any longer," he added vindictively.

"If I asked you to find the Table, can you?" I asked.

"Maybe," Dante looked pained, more... demonic, with his voice deeper. "No, make that yes. All changelings can feel the rulers calling."

"Really?" Ryuusuke tilted his head. "I thought it was a headache brought on by stress."

"We _are_ running out of time," Youkai glared at the two of them.

Chagrined, Ryuusuke waved a hand, which was holding a card. We weren't in the forests of the Spirit world any longer in one moment, instead standing outside the Arcadia Movement's ruined façade. The building itself remained firm and unyielding, another battle weathered. Sparks flew from some of the black panels; solar panels. Figured that solar power was involved somewhere. Hot summer air hit my face, steamy and crackling with tension. Rain sleeted down, and thunder shook the ground. The light was already fading and dark was coming on.

I ignored them all and headed for the Movement with Youkai's reassuring grip in hand and the two changelings flanking us. I had calls to make, and I wanted to change into dry clothes. I still had to wonder...

What does one wear to a war?

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	21. XIX: Natural Disaster

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XIX: Natural Disaster**

"And I'm all out of bubblegum!" Chase-nii shouted as he came charging in.

Rex-nii paused in the midst of strangling one of the straggler Mad Dogs of Darkness. "Oh, welcome back." The dog gave a piteous whine as Rex-nii finally managed to release it and made it run away. Around was the scene of carnage once more.

"You know, we really should get our reputation back on line," Kaido commented, slumped next to Satoshi-san. "Hey, chibi-Boss, can we go hang some enemies in public?"

"Bad weather now," I pointed. I did not comment on the hanging enemies comment as I stood. "Chase-nii, you're back."

Chase-nii shook his head. Holding hands with Youkai, the two of them looked miserably wet. "We need a shower, food, and then I need a team of every available Psychic to go charging with me into a battlefield to stop the coming war. I saw Ryuusei, by the way."

"Good for you," Rodriguez-san was in the midst of side-stepping a feebly struggling Inpachi as he came to us.

"You never told me that he was stuck to a freaking plant IV." Chase-nii rounded on him.

"He wasn't. Not when I was around anyway. Guess it's new."

"I'm still blaming you." Chase-nii turned to survey the debris. "Well... compared to the Despair of the Dark, it's really... a huge improvement."

"We had to unlock one of our defence programs, I don't call that an improvement," Kaido snarled. "I'll make the arrangements. Princeton, Misawa, a bath. I'll brief everyone we can spare."

"I'll go too," I quickly volunteered.

"You are the head of the Arcadia Movement," Kaido hotly replied as Nakamura-san suddenly came in, casually stomping one of the fallen Inpachi to bits on his way. "You are needed here."

"I need to know what we are facing as well," I replied. "Kaido-san, this is an order. I need you to supervise and monitor with Nakamura-san while I am gone with Chase-nii and anyone else he's bringing along."

"Very good, Seika-ojou," Nakamura-san cut in as he looped an arm around a sputtering Kaido. His look towards the rest of the group ensured no arguments. "I shall see that codename Spirit of the Books is deployed to the best of his abilities. Will the missy require anything else?"

I looked down, at the slightly messed-up uniform I wearing. "A change of clothing."

* * *

I went with basic black.

I made my calls, got a quick shower, and dressed in black. A pair of black military-style boots, black jeans (mostly clean), a black v-neck sweater, and on top of everything my duster, complete with a mantle that falls to my elbows and an extra large portion of billow. The weather was stormy enough, both figuratively and literally, to make me want the reassurance of the heavy coat.

I loaded up on the gear, and I caught sight of Youkai checking his portable DuelDisk as well as Death-match Duel Rope, knives and some of his heavier clothings, tough as denim and probably with plates as well. He checked his movements, nodded, laced up his boots, and then put on the vest and glared at me.

Hate to see him leave, love to watch him go. I squashed that sentiment down very hard. "I hate this sometimes, you know."

Youkai slowly nodded. "I know. At the rate I keep getting into fights in the Movement... it's almost enough to consider getting out. But... it's fun. I like this."

"Good, so do I." I paused. "I'm getting maudlin. Next time we'll just have a beer."

"Right..." Youkai looked doubtful. "We need to do this, don't we? Even though we have nothing to do with it."

"Self-preservation is always the best thing to do," I shrugged. "Besides, it's not like we're charging in with a bunch of uninformed people. The Movement has been doing this for two years and some of us already know that Duel Spirits exist."

"Yes, but..." Youkai's expression tightened. "They always keep score. And they always settle the score."

Nakamura-san had pulled out the minivan, Satoshi driving and Dante riding shotgun. A pale-faced Seika, decked in funereal black whom I did not have the presence of mind to argue with, Rex in grey and black, Adrian Rodriguez, the Wonder Twins and their cousin – I internally winced at what I was going to have to do – and Ryuusuke rode behind with us.

Dante drew the most attention, but as he righted the tie and smoothed the lapels of the purple suit-jacket and corrected his fedora, it was fairly obvious that he did not care a whit for our opinion. "Down the rabbit hole we go...!" he sang.

"Can you brief us, Chase-nii?" Seika quietly asked as the van trundled through the storm.

"Well-intentioned But Dangerously Insane Bad Guys are ahead coming down the stretch," I said, pointing up to the stormy cloud cover. "The Courts are duking it out up there, and it's probably going to be very hairy. Kiyoshi is our baddie, and the Evilswarm Ophion is his bitch. He has a magic hanky. He's going to use it to change a statue into a girl, and kill her on a big ritual table at midnight."

"_Kiyoshi_?" was Yuko's and Yuuki's automatic reaction.

There were a couple of grunts from Yukio. "A girl?"

"Ayame-san?" Seika guessed.

I glanced back to Seika and nodded. "We have to find Kiyoshi and stop him. Save the girl."

"Or what happens?" Ryuusuke asked.

"Bad."

"Kaboom bad?"

I shook my head. "Mostly longer term than that. How do you feel about ice ages?"

Ryuusuke whistled. "Uh. Do you mind if I ask a few questions?"

I kept my eyes on road as Satoshi flagrantly disregarded all traffic laws in the face of bad weather. We were heading for the Bay again. "Go ahead."

"Right. As I understand it, Kiyoshi is trying to tear apart _both _of the Courts, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why? I mean, why not shoot for just those who traumatised him?"

"Because he can't," I said. "Ryuusei is a big softie. He's still a Duelist, but he's primarily the big softie. Kiyoshi took advantage of that, but Ryuusei tends to learn fast. And against the infamously cold-hearted Shimotsuki Setsuka, he knows he doesn't have the strength it would take to force things. Shimotsuki could slap him down easily. So he's using the only method and opportunity open."

"Screwing up the balance of power," Rex nodded. "But he's doing it by giving a bunch of mojo to Winter?"

"Limits," I said. "He's an opportunist. He took the opportunity. My guess is that he contracted the Despair of the Dark to attack the Movement while he went to... steal her."

"Ayame," growled Rex. I glanced over my shoulder and nodded.

"I don't believe it," Yuuki numbly murmured. "I don't believe that Kiyoshi could do such a thing."

"He did. I nearly got mauled by a Behemoth, and it was his fault." I softly whispered. Knowing that your friend was out to destroy the world was really screwing with his world-view.

"So why did the girl turn to stone?" Ryuusuke asked.

"A cover," I said. "I think the rulers could have found an active champion. Once Ayame was turned to stone, her power was stuck in limbo. Everyone would suspect Shimotsuki of doing something clever and Ryuusei would be forced to prepare to fight. Shimotsuki would have to move in response, and the pair of them would create the battleground around the Table."

"What's this Table for?" Yukio sniffed.

"Pouring power into one of the Courts," I said. "Like Ancient Ritual Art. It belongs to Summer until midnight tonight. After that, any power that gets poured in goes to Winter."

"Which is where we're going now," Rex said.

"Uh-huh," I said.

Ryuusuke nodded. "So, Kiyoshi steals the power and hides it, which forces the rulers to bring out the battleground with the special Table."

"You can get it when you put your mind to it," I depreciatingly answered. "Right. Now Kiyoshi plans to take Ayame there, and use the magic hanky to free her of the stone curse she's under. Then he kills her and touches off Armageddon. He's got to get to the table after midnight, but before Shimotsuki's forces actually take the ground around it. That means he's only got a small window of opportunity, and we need to stop him from using it."

"I still don't get it," Ryuusuke shook his head. "What the hell is he hoping to accomplish?"

_I will never let us be abused again..._ "Probably thinks he can ride out the big war." I shrugged. "Then he'll put it all together again from the ashes, just the way he wants it."

"_Dios_, he's not too arrogant or anything," Adrian muttered sardonically. "It seems to me that Shimotsuki Setsuka is going to be handed a huge advantage in this. Why didn't Kiyoshi just work together with her?"

The Wonder Twins gave identical snorts. Satoshi nearly ran us off, choking with laughter. Rex's eyes widened.

I took pity on Adrian's woebegone expression. "It probably never occurred to him to try it that way. She's Winter. Kiyoshi is an anarchist in waiting. The two don't work together." And Kiyoshi was probably not stupid enough to work together with her on anything that she could back-stab him with.

"Small favours," Dante commented after telling Satoshi to drive to the right. "So what do we do to help?"

"We, as in Youkai and I, are going to have to move around through a battleground." I clarified. "I need muscle to do it. I don't want to stop to fight. We just keep moving until I can get to the Table and stop Kiyoshi. And I want all of us disguised in some way before we go up there. Duel Spirits can be vindictive as hell and you're going to piss some of them off. Better if they never get to see your faces."

"Right..." Ryuusuke glanced up. "How many are we talking about?"

I squinted up at a particularly violent burst of lightning. "Knowing our odds? All of them."

Dante led us to the waterfront along Neo Domino Harbour. Satoshi parked the van on the street outside wharves that had been the lifeblood of the city and that still received an enormous amount of shipping every year. Halogen floodlights every couple of hundred feet made the docks into a silent still life behind a grid of chain-link fence.

As we crawled out, it occurred to me that a lot of them were wearing heavy jackets and other things that could qualify as armour.

"No chain mail?" I asked.

"Hell no. But leather to stop claws," Rex motioned to his jacket. "Best I could do on short notice, knowing what we're likely to meet."

Satoshi had locked the van, and was now looking at the lightning-struck tower emblazoned on the side. "The van should be fine. Where to?"

Dante had a look of concentration and he pointed at the lake. "We move forward. If there's something out there, everyone let us know."

"Are you sure?" Youkai frowned.

"Yuuki, stay if you want to," Yukio shrugged, pulling on his jacket. "How are we going to go that way, Princeton? There's a fence. Harbour security, too."

I had no idea, but I didn't want to say that. I headed for the nearest gate instead. "Come on."

We got to the gate and found it open. A broken chain dangled from one edge. Part of the shattered link lay on the ground nearby. The ends had been twisted, not cut, and steam curled up from them in a little hissing cloud where raindrops touched.

"Broken," Satoshi commented. "And not long ago. This rain would cool the metal down fast."

"True," Adrian nodded. "Silly though. A cheap set of bolt cutters would have been better than just breaking a perfectly good chain."

"Yeah, monsters can be irrational that way," I shrugged.

Dante continued to glance out, toward the end of one of the long wharves thrusting into the lake. "Out that way."

We went through the gate, and had gone maybe twenty feet before the halogen floodlights went out, leaving us in storm-drenched blackness. Then, it lit up again, and there was someone standing on the wharf.

Satoshi and Adrian choked. I just shrugged and began sauntering. After a moment, Youkai followed, as did the rest. We didn't stop until I met the guys standing there.

Takeshi Ishihara was there, very well and good. Alexianna LeRouge, even better. The third man...

He had barely aged in the time since I last saw him. His brown hair was sectioned in two layers, and rather reminiscent of a Kuriboh, with brown eyes positioned directly beneath the bangs of the layer closest to his face. His outfit consisted of the standard Osiris Red uniform, unbuttoned, and a black shirt underneath. A deck box was strapped above his waistline, largely hidden beneath the lower rim of his jacket. He carried an Academy-issued Duel Disk on his left arm.

Other than the slight wear and tear, Yuuki Judai had not been touched by time _at all_.

"You're here," he commented. His eyes seemed to glitter gold as they scanned us, all of us. "Dante Swartzvauld. You feel it. You hear her Calling. You feel it, just like I do. The Queen Calls. All of Winter's blood."

"She calls," Dante shook his head, his voice lower, rougher. "I'm not answering."

"I know," Judai glanced up, undisturbed by the weather or the storm. "Damn, it's just not fun and games anymore. Not here. You shouldn't be here, Kannazuki Seika."

"I..." Seika glanced down, before she met his gaze evenly. "I'm the head of the Arcadia Movement."

"Only for a while," Judai commented. "Only until a member of the Hunter family comes. Do you think you can keep it then?"

"I don't care," Seika answered.

Judai smirked. "Good."

Dante caught his sight and followed it down the wharf to the last pier, then down to the end, empty of any ships or boats. Nothing but the cold waters of the Bay and a rolling thunderstorm surrounded us here at the end of the pier.

"So... where?" Satoshi asked.

I pointed up to the rolling clouds. "Up there."

Satoshi glanced at it. "I how you know some roads I don't."

"Don't be ridiculous." Judai commented. "You might as well glue feathers to your arms and flap them if you're thinking of using Psychic powers. The wind velocity would just mean that you're being pushed off course, not to mention not having enough air."

I scowled. "So what are you here for?"

Judai smirked. "Just like Manjoume, really. I am going to help you."

"That's where I come in," Takeshi scowled at Judai, but unlocked his DuelDisk. "I'm going to be your bridge. Judai-san is providing the power. Alexianna will be guarding us here. Any problems?"

"Yeah," I said. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

Judai studied me. "If I know anything about the Manjoume family, is that its members tend to be the avatars of 'things go wrong'. I think it is to the benefit of everyone that you get up there."

"I'm not that bad!"

"Of course," Judai smirked. "I am doing this for my family, and I trust that you will do what I cannot. Get your game on, and be ready."

"For what?" I squawked.

Youkai elbowed me as Judai placed his hand on Takeshi's shoulder. "Be polite."

Takeshi lifted the card, playing it almost reverently. "The bridge of heroes, come once more, _Bifrost!_"

Brilliant light flickering through opalescent shades rose up in front of me, as bright as the full moon and as solid as ice. The light resolved itself into the starry outline of stairs, stairs that began at the end of the pier and climbed into the storm above.

I stepped forward and put one foot on the lowest step. It bore my weight, leaving me standing on a block of translucent moonlight over the wind-tossed waters of the Neo Domino Bay.

"Wow," Rex breathed.

"We go up that?" Satoshi asked.

"_Si, si,_" Adrian snickered.

"While we're young," I sighed, and took the next step. "Come on."

Sometimes the most remarkable things seem commonplace.

I mean, when you think about it, jet travel is pretty freaking remarkable. You get in a plane, it defies the gravity of an entire planet by exploiting a loophole of air pressure, and it flies across distances that would take months or years to cross by any means of travel significant for more than a century or three. You hurtle above the earth at enough speed to kill you instantly, and you can only breathe because someone built a really good tin can that has seams tight enough to hold in a decent amount of air. Hundreds of millions of man-hours of work and struggle and research, blood, sweat, tears, and lives, have gone into the history of air travel, and it has totally revolutionised societies.

Get on any flight in the country, and I promise you that you will find someone who, in the face of all that incredible achievement, will be willing to complain about the drinks. _Really_.

That was me on the staircase. Yes, I was standing on nothing but congealed starlight. Yes, I was walking up through a savage storm, the wind threatening to tear me off and throw me into the freezing waters of the Neo Domino Bay far below. Yes, I was using a legendary and enchanted means of travel to transcend the border between one dimension and the next, and on my way to an epic struggle between elemental forces.

All I could think to say, between panting breaths, was, "Sure. They couldn't possibly have made this an _elevator._"

Long story short: we climbed about a kilometre or more of stairs (not fun at all) and came out standing on the storm clouds over the city.

It didn't look like it had before the opening curtain. What had once been rolling and silent terrain sculpted of cloud had now been filled with sound, colour, and violence. The storm below that battlefield was a pale reflection of the one raging upon it.

We emerged on one of the hills, looking down into the valley. The hillside around us, lit with flashes of lightning in the clouds beneath, was covered in Duel Monsters of all sizes and descriptions.

Sounds rang through the air – the crackling _snap_ of lightning and the _roar_ of thunder following in concert. Trumpets blared in symphony. Drums to a dozen different beats that both clashed and rumbled in time with one another. Shouts and cries rang out, shrieks that might have come from human throats, together with bellows and roars that could not have. It was its own wild storm of music, huge, teeth-rattling, overwhelming, and charged. A lot like Beethoven in his later life; ridiculously _loud_.

A few metres away stood a crowd of short, brown-skinned, brown-haired guys, their hands and feet rough and large and head wearing helmets made out of what looked like some kind of leather. Their eyes widened as I came up out of the clouds in my billowing black duster, leather slick with rain. Youkai and the others surrounded Seika and I in a loose ring as they emerged, and I could feel Satoshi and Adrian pressed up close behind me, watching our collective backs from the Exiled Force.

On the other side of us, stood a Lava Battleguard and a Swamp Battleguard, their skins upholstered in knobby warts, lank hair hanging greasily past massive shoulders, tiny red eyes glaring from beneath single craggy brows. Nostrils flared out and they turned toward me, drool dribbling from its lips, but Satoshi glared at it. The duo blinked for a long moment while it processed a thought, and then turned away as though disinterested.

More creatures stood within a long stone's throw, including a group of knights, completely encased in armour and mounted on long-legged warhorses of black. A wounded Dancing Fairy crouched nearby and would have looked like a lovely, winged girl from a distance away – but from there I could see her bloodied claws and the glittering razor edge of her wings.

I couldn't see the whole of the valley below. Some kind of mist lay over it, and only gave me the occasional glimpse of whirling masses of troops and beings, ranks of somewhat human things massed together against one another, while other beings, some of which could only be called monsters, rose up above the rest, slamming together in titanic conflicts that crushed those around them as mere circumstantial casualties. More important, I couldn't see the Table, and I couldn't even make a decent guess as to where I was standing in relation to where it should have been. Dante was glancing in one direction, but that led straight down into the madness below us.

"What next?" Rex yelled at me. He had to shout, though he was only a few feet away-and we were standing above the real fury of the battle below.

I shook my head and started to answer, but Youkai tugged on my sleeve and piped something that got swallowed by the sounds of battle. I looked to where he was pointing, and saw one of the mounted knights leave the others and come riding toward us. His Nightmare Horse pawed the ground. The Chinese-looking man in deep blue nodded and lifted a hand, and abruptly the sounds of battle cut off.

"Greetings," the man in the hexagonal hat nodded. "I see that thou art misplaced. Pray tell of your purpose upon this battlefield this day."

"Er, hi," I wittily answered. "I gotta speak to Shimotsuki. I mean, the Winter Queen."

_Fool, _Rei hissed. _That is the General Raiho, one of three to serve the Queen directly._

He nodded. "I shall guide thee. Follow. And bid thy companions to put away their weapons ere we approach Her Majesty."

We followed the knight up the slope of the hill to its top, where the air grew cold enough to sting. I gathered my coat a little closer around me and could almost see the crystals of ice forming on my eyelashes. I just had to hope that my hair wouldn't freeze and break off.

Shimotsuki was astride a horse, and I say a horse in the loosest sense that the lightning-shooting monstrosity was one. Her lips and eyelashes were blue, her eyes white as moonlight. The sheer, cold, cruel beauty made my heart falter and my stomach flutter nervously. The air around her vibrated with power, and shone with cold white and blue light.

The Queen turned her regard to me as I approached, away from the battlefield. "You are here."

I shrugged. "Kiyoshi jumped me. He took the Unravelling."

"What does your logic tell you?"

"I must reach the Table before midnight," I groaned. "What can you do to get me there?"

Her eyes flickered to the stars above, and I thought I saw a flash of worry through there. "It is racing this night. Time himself runs against you."

One entire swath of the battlefield flooded with a sudden golden radiance. She lifted her hand, and the aura around her flashed with a cerulean fire, the air thickening. That flame lashed out against the gold, and the two clashed in a shower of emerald energy, cancelling one another out. "No matter. The direct route would place you in the path of battle enough to destroy any mortal. I can suggest another way."

"Go on," I put my hands to my ears. "These are my listening ears. I'm listening."

"Let me know if you experience any discomfort." She looked up again. "Queen of the Air I may be, but these skies remain contested. Ryuusei is at the height of his powers and I at the ebb of mine." She pointed to the field, all weirdly lighted mist in gold and blue, green mist swirling with violence where they met. "And Summer gains ground."

"Yes," I said. I might not know, but if she said it...

She lifted her hand again, a signal, and scores of bats swarmed up from somewhere behind her, launching themselves in a web-winged cloud into the skies above. "We yet hold the river, though we lose ground on both sides. My champions have concentrated upon it. Reach the river, and it will take you through the battle to the hill of the Stone Table."

"Get to the river," I said. "Right."

"Those who are mine know of you," she commented. "Give them no cause and they will not hamper your mission." She turned away from me, her attention back upon the battle, and the sound of it came crashing back in.

I turned from her and went back to the waiting Duelists. "We get to the river," I shouted to them. "Try to stay in the blue mist, and don't start a fight with anything."

I started downhill, which as far as I know is the easiest way to find water. We passed through hundreds more troops, most of them units evidently recovering from the first shock of battle: scarlet- and blue-skinned Ogres towered over me, their blood almost dull compared to their skin and armour. Another unit of Injection Fairies Lily tended to wounded with bandages. A group of Harpies crouched over a mound of bloody, stinking carrion, squabbling like vultures, blood all over their faces, breasts, and wings (I am _never_ going to look at them the same way ever again). Another troop of battered, lantern-jawed, burly green-skinned humanoids with wide, bat-like ears, Goblins, dragged their dead and some of their wounded over to the Harpies, tossing them onto the carrion pile with businesslike efficiency despite their fellows' feeble screeches and yowls.

My stomach heaved. I fought down both fear and revulsion, and struggled to block out the images of nightmarish carnage around me. Ahead of us, bluish mist gave way to murky green, steel chimed and rasped on steel, and I could hear water amidst the louder shrieks and cries. The river.

"Okay, run!" Satoshi called, having also heard. "Don't stop until you're standing in water or your legs are ripped off!"

Seika gave a muffled sob, or a cry. I chanced a bit. She was bright-eyed, sad but resolved, clawing as she leapt and nimbly dashed. A splash of water, and she was in the clear.

A bunch of Bladeflies were headed towards up, their wings humming like shop class. "Blustering Winds," Youkai whispered, before he sent out a flurry of his own monsters. I saw the Mist Valley bird take them on with extreme prejudice; _ow_.

"Wow!" Rex cried out.

We ran, and ran.

About three metres from shore, I heard a stampede from the far end, and turned to see horses and dragons flying overhead to land and roar and blast with extreme prejudice. On the lead horse was the Invader of Darkness, spattered in liquids that, being here, could only be blood. As he landed, the nearby Goblin Attack Force mounted a charge.

It turned toward them, a Sword of Dark Destruction in hand, and cut through one as if the other were butter and he was holding a light-sabre. The goblin's head toppled from its shoulders, which spouted greenish blood for a few seconds before the body fell beside the head on the misty ground. The remaining goblins retreated, and the Invader whirled his steed around to face me.

"Spirit-caller!" he shouted, laughing.

More monsters leapt the river, warriors touching down behind it in helmets and mail in a riot of cold colours. One of them was Bahamut, his wings outspread, also stained with blood in so many colours of liquid that it looked as if it had been puked on by a baby rainbow. Ophion landed as well, with Kiyoshi astride him, and them, with a beat of something heavier, the Despair of the Dark landed, digging clawed feet into soft mud.

Strapped onto the Duel Monster's shoulders was the stone statue of the two entwined – Mutou Ryuuki, grandson of the former King of Games, and Yuuki Ayame, the Summer champion.

Ophion drew up short, and Kiyoshi's brown eyes widened. "_You_," he half-whispered. To abuse the metaphor, as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Give me the Unravelling and let Ayame go, Kiyoshi." I demanded. "It's over."

His eyes glittered, too bright. He looked up at the stars, and then back to me with that same, too-intense pressure to his gaze. Bad enough that he was abused, first by his own foster family, and then by Duel Spirits as loopy as Marguerite, and then being so lonely and hurting with no one except a friend who was unable to notice it.

He was also mad.

"The hour is here," he shot back. "The end of this pointless cycle. Over!"

"Shimotsuki knows!" I yelled. "Ryuusei knows. There's no point to this anymore."

"Kiyoshi?" Yuuki called. "Please, stop this. What are you doing?"

Something flickered in Kiyoshi's expression, and I felt a stab of hope before it smoothed over. Kiyoshi let his head fall back as he laughed, the sound piercingly sweet. It set my nerves to jangling, and I had to push it back from my thoughts with an effort of will.

"They cannot stop me," Kiyoshi chuckled, that mad laughter still bubbling through. "And neither can you." His eyes blazed, and he pointed a finger at me. "Despair, with me. The rest of you. Kill him. Kill them all."

He turned his back on a crestfallen Yuuki, and the Despair followed him down the river with the statue.

The monsters, a score of them, drew swords or lifted long spears in their hands. Bahamut flexed its claws, focused on me with deadly feline intensity. The Invader of Darkness let out another laugh, spinning his sword arrogantly in his hand.

Around me, I heard the Psychic Duelists and Satoshi and Adrian crouch down, growls bubbling up in their throats. Weapons, Equip Spells or fireballs, or just knives, were in hand.

I put Seika behind me, considered my weapons in hand, and palmed a knife. It might not do much, but the weight was reassuring. "Seika."

"Yes?"

"When we charge, run downstream. Get to the Table. Trap Kiyoshi with that Death-match Duel Rope you have. Slow him down. Got it?"

Seika quickly nodded. "And Chase-nii? Rex-nii?"

The Invader levelled his sword and let out a cry, taking the panicked mount from a frightened rear to a full frontal charge. Around him, the monsters of the Duel charged, the light of stars and moon glittering on their... things, surging toward us like a deadly tide.

There was a full-throated howl, eerie and savage. Youkai screamed, wild and loud as he took to the air, and even Ryuusuke let out a battle shriek.

The noise was deafening, and no one could have heard me anyway as I let out my battle cry, which I figured was worth a shot even if it meant paying the copyright fee. What the hell.

"Get your game on!"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	22. XX: Infestation Infection

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XX: Infestation Infection**

_Little girl... help me..._

As a rule, Duelists do not make very good soldiers. Each deck being individual meant that there was almost no way to make a uniform strategy that could benefit all. In a war, that was readily apparent. Any advantage we had was going to be the element of surprise.

So, perhaps it was unsurprising that Youkai aimed to kick down the right-most horse. The horses and quadrupedal monsters tumbled from the sheer force, and Youkai landed on one horse that remained standing, a shining Phantom Beast Thunder Pegasus, gripping the reins tightly as Chase-nii mounted behind him and they trotted off quickly.

"Great idea!" Satoshi-san took a Firewing Pegasus, and Yamada-san pushed a dazed Yuuki-san to him.

Rodriguez-san remained on the water, one hand down. As a monster approached, he raised a hand. "Meet my guardian."

The serpent goddess Vennominaga appeared, fangs drawn. The monster quickly turned around and fled.

Ryuusuke kicked heads in, and seized the large Dark Zebra. "Get on!" Yamada-san followed him, and they turned and galloped off after Kiyoshi-san.

Dante drew a shining sword, grinning as an amulet glimmered from around his neck and he charged the Invader of Darkness. The Fiend lashed out, catching on his shoulder, but the lance Dante held cut through the heart at the same time a hand of claws cut on his.

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time," Dante laughed weakly as the Invader fell to his knees. He followed later, coughing violently as he fell.

Rex fell in line behind Satoshi, who moved and soon the Firewing Pegasus was soaring up. Yuko followed me as we ran down the river, and were surrounded by forces.

"From the skies!" Yuko shouted.

A whole swarm of legendary beasts dived down, along with a white-coated unicorn set with its own armour. The monsters turned to fight, but the beasts were armed and attacking from behind. Cold power radiated from an icy-looking warrior astride it as the familiar unicorn touched down.

The leader of the Winter attack, the one on The Fabled Unicore cut down one warrior, then turned to another, hand spinning through a series of gestures. Cold power surged around that gesture, and one of the warriors simply stopped moving, the crackling in the air around him growing louder as crystals of ice seemed simply to erupt from the surface of his body and armour, frozen from the inside out. In seconds, he was nothing but a slowly growing block of ice, and the rider almost negligently nudged the Unicore into a solid kick. Ice shattered and fell to pieces in a solid pile.

The pale rider took off her helmet and flashed me a brilliant, girlish smile. It was Michiru, her eyes bright with bloodlust, hair bound close to her head. She almost idly licked blood from her sword, as a Marauding Captain fell to one knee, his back to the water, sword raised desperately against the ambush.

The waters surged again, and tentacles reached out, wrapping around his throat from behind. I caught a glimpse of golden eyes and a toothed smile and red hair, and then the warrior's scream was cut off as he was dragged under the surface.

The retreat after that was swift and in concert. The rest of the Winter warriors set out in pursuit.

Michiru called to me. "I'd have acted sooner, but it would have been a fair fight, and I avoid them."

"I need to get to the Table," I called to her.

"So I have been told," Michiru shrugged. "Our riders are attacking further down the river, drawing Summer forces that way. You should be able to run upstream."

"Seika-chan!" Yuko called, as he grabbed hold of the Sunlight Unicorn and threw Dante's form along it. The Unicorn did not seem as strong, but it bore us, and it set off at a jog along the river.

I didn't know how far we had to go. Everything around us was chaos and confusion. Once a cloud of Sunny Pixies flew past us, and I found another stretch over the river where spiders larger than footballs had spun webs, trapping dozens of pixies in their strands. A group of hounds, red and savage, went past hot on the heels of a panther likely being headed for the water. Arrows whistled past, and everywhere lay the dead and dying.

Finally, I felt the ground begin to rise, and looked up to see a hill before us, with a giant Table. I could even see the Despair and its hulking form at the top, as the centaur backed away from the stone figure of Ayame-san, evidently just set upon the table. Kiyoshi was a slender form, looking down upon us with anger.

"Damn," Dante suddenly said as he collapsed off, his voice had gone thready. I whirled to look at him, alarmed, and Dante dropped to one knee, his thin face twisting in pain. "Get her. Save her and get her home." He looked around, focusing on me. "This is repentance."

"You've done enough." I nodded. "Rest, try not to die."

He shook his head. "One thing more." But he settled down on the ground, hand pressed to the wounded area, panting.

Kiyoshi said something sharp, and the Despair came down the hill toward us.

"I'll take him, you guys move!" Satoshi-san landed heavily, and Rex dismounted swiftly.

Yuko and I nodded and ran towards the Table, where Ophion loomed towards us, groaning. At the same time, Kiyoshi was standing over the statue of Ayame. He held something in his hands, and he was beginning to pull it to pieces. There was something as he did so, a kind of dark gravity that was as heavy as water pressure magnified. It began to tear apart.

"Now!" Youkai shouted. The wind picked up, tearing the cloth from Kiyoshi's fingers and sent it towards them. Chase-nii reached out, caught it and stuck his tongue out as I aimed and threw.

_We have... the same aim._

* * *

I ran.

The wind almost blinded me, and I had to run crouched down, hoping that none of my exposed skin would be targeted for revenge. I felt one sharp tug along my jacket, but it didn't pierce the leather.

"Damn you!" Kiyoshi yelled, and sent a blast of shadow – what the effing _hell_ – from one hand towards me. It nearly hit, and the resulting explosion sent me skidding across damp ground. I struggled to get up, but some psychic hit must have happened, for I didn't.

The Unravelling floated into his waiting hand, and Kiyoshi took it and hot-footed it to the Table.

The Table stood where it had been before, but the runes and sigils scrawled over its surface now blazed with golden light. Kiyoshi stood at the Table, fingers flying over the Unravelling, its threads pressed against the statue of the two, still upon the table.

Struggling back up, I circled a bit to one side to stay out of his peripheral vision and ran drunkenly. When I was only a few feet away, the Unravelling exploded in a wash of cold white light. The light washed over the statue in a wave, and as it passed, cold white marble warmed into flesh, stone waves of hair becoming dark brown and black. Ryuuki gasped, and Ayame opened her eyes and let out a gasp, looking around dazedly.

Kiyoshi took her by the throat, drove the champion of Summer down to the surface of the Table and away from a dazed Ryuuki with one hand, and drew a knife from his belt.

It wasn't all that gentlemanly, but I slugged him in the back of the head with a two-handed swing. As I did, the stars evidently reached the right position, and we reached midnight, the end of the height of summer, and the glowing runes on the Table flared from golden to cold, cold blue.

The blow jarred the knife from Kiyoshi's hand, and it fell to the surface of the table with a sharp clatter. Ayame let out a scream and got out from under his hand, rolling across the table's surface and away from us.

Kiyoshi turned to me, leaning back on the Table and planting both feet against my chest. He kicked hard and drove me back, and before I was done rolling he had called a gout of fire and sent it roaring toward me. I rolled some more and got out of the way, right into the waiting trap.

_You will not, _Rei rumbled, and the otherwise debilitating psychic attack fell before his own protection.

A bellow shook the hill-top, and froze even Kiyoshi for a second. The forest shook and quivered, and something tore through it, into the open. The be-suited Fiend was fast, and hideous but somewhat suave as well. It wielded an axe – specifically, an Axe of Despair – in one hand like a plastic picnic knife and was covered in swelling welts, poisoned wounds, and its own blood. It had a horrible wound in its side, ichor flowing openly from it. It was dragging itself along despite the wounds, but it was dying. I recognised the shock of white hair.

It was Dante. He had Chosen.

I could only stare as I recognised it, inside the insane fury of the dying thin face. The Despair of the Dark whirled, taking off one hand, but there was something bright around its neck. Dante got the other on the leg, though, and dragged a claw through the throat even as the son of the Witty Phantom was dragged beneath the Despair as it fell, crushed to the ground with a choked, gurgling cry of rage and triumph.

I looked back, to see Kiyoshi catch Ayame by a brown lock, and drag her back toward the Table by the hair and kick Ryuuki hard. I ran to it, and beat him to the knife of gleaming steel, dragging it across the Table and to me.

Kiyoshi hissed. "I will tear out her throat with my bare hands."

I threw the knife away. "No, you won't."

"And why not?"

A loop flew through the air as Ophion gave a raging bellow. Kiyoshi's hand was trapped in it, and I was defenceless.

"_Kiyoshi_!" Yuuki's cry echoed across the hill.

Or maybe not.

"This is Death-match Duel Rope," Seika panted, having snared Kiyoshi with it. From how she threw the damn things, Ryuusei must have taught her. "Now, we must enter a Duel. Otherwise, the part of the rope made of Det-cord will go off."

That gave me pause. Det-cord could explode at about six point four kilometres per second (useless trivia turned not-so-useless when Youkai was involved) and so pretty much instantaneously for any length. At that distance, Seika and Kiyoshi were well within the blast radius to be well rid of a limb. Seika had done it; trapped Kiyoshi and begun to distract him.

"Youkai, get them away!" I shouted to my boyfriend. Youkai nodded, already moving to the pair who had been dodging enemy skirmishes and taking them to the Thunder Pegasus.

"Why?" Kiyoshi was shouting, tugging ineffectually at the Death-match Duel Rope. Of course, I knew there was no Det-cord in the damn thing, but there was no way to force Kiyoshi to give up except coerce him into a Duel now. "_Why_?"

"Because," Seika held down, attaching the cord to her DuelDisk with expert practice. "You will kill us all first."

"Duel!"

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"Draw!" Kiyoshi called. "I summon Rescue Rabbit [300/100] to the field!"

There was a collective pause as the cute bunny rabbit appeared. Rather than cooing, Seika paled. "Oh no..."

"Then, I'll activate the Field Spell, Chaos Zone!" Kiyoshi called as around us, the hill-side was replaced by swirly space and empty wormholes opening and closing. "I banish Rescue Rabbit to special summon from my deck two normal monsters with the same name, such as Evilswarm Heliotrope [1950/650]!"

Two knights appeared, identically rust-green and groaning.

"I construct the overlay network with both monsters!" Kiyoshi called. "Exceed summon! Come, Evilswarm Ophion [2550/1650]!"

"Kiyoshi!" Yuuki came running up as the dark dragon appeared. "W- What's going on? Why? _Why_?"

"Obviously, he's gone bad," I frowned.

The giant dragon sniffed, and raised its head to point at me. "When I am done, I will come for you."

"Now, because a monster is banished, Chaos Zone will gain one Chaos Counter," Kiyoshi indicated as a light glowed overhead (1). "I use the effect of Ophion, removing one Exceed Material to search for an Infestation Spell or Trap, so I shall search for Infestation Pandemic. I set two cards, turn end."

"Draw!" Seika called. "I'll play the Continuous Spell, Arcane Barrier! With that, I'll set a monster and a card. Turn end."

"Draw!" Kiyoshi chuckled. "I use the effect of Ophion to search for another Infestation Spell or Trap. Now, I summon Evilswarm Kerykeion [1600/1550]. By banishing one of the two Evilswarm Heliotrope in my graveyard, I can add the other Heliotrope to my hand by the effect of Kerykeion. And that's another Chaos Counter (2). Since I used this effect, I can summon Evilswarm Thunderbird [1650/1050] to the field. Thunderbird, attack that set card!"

"When Apprentice Magician [400/800] is summoned, I add a Spell Counter to Arcane Barrier." Seika declared as the magician with short cropped blonde hair shattered. "And then, when destroyed by battle, I can special summon another set level two or lower Spellcaster. Because a Spellcaster Type monster was destroyed, one Spell Counter is added to Arcane Barrier."

"Fine..." Kiyoshi frowned. "Then, I'll call Ophion to attack."

Seika just indicated as another Apprentice was destroyed, and she set another monster.

"Kerykeion, attack!" Kiyoshi called.

"Flip summon, Old Vindictive Magician," Seika called. "By the effect of Old Vindictive Magician, Evilswarm Ophion is destroyed."

Kiyoshi's hands tightened into fists, but he gave nothing away as Ophion imploded with a shriek of pain. "I set a card. Turn end."

"Draw!" Seika called.

"Trap card, Xyz Reborn," Kiyoshi indicated as Ophion arose, with one more material. "Ophion is special summoned and the card itself attaches as Exceed Material. You still can't special summon level five or higher monsters. Chain, during either player's turn when a card or effect is activated, Evilswarm Thunderbird is banished from the field. That's three Counters. (3)"

"Then I shall have to find another way," Seika answered. "I summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200]!"

"Yes!" I hissed as the yellow Fortune Lady hit the field. "Now she's got it!"

"Trap card, Torrential Tribute!" Seika called.

"Chain quick-play, Infestation Pandemic!" Kiyoshi quickly defended as a dark shadow passed over all his monsters. "This turn, all Lswarm monsters I control are immune to other Spells and Traps!"

"Very well," Seika inclined her head. "I special summon Fortune Lady Fiery [?/? → 400/400]. My Fortune Ladies have variable attributes and levels, as well as effects. The effect of Fiery: when special summoned by the effect of a Fortune Lady monster, she destroys one monster you control and deals damage equal to that monster's attack to you! And this is a monster effect, so Infestation Pandemic doesn't work! Flames of Fate!"

"What?" Kiyoshi froze as Ophion was blown up and the flames scorched him.

Kiyoshi: LP 8000 → LP 5450

Seika: LP 8000

"First blood goes to Seika," I hissed.

"But I know how Kiyoshi plays," Yuuki whispered. "He'll find a way to get Ophion back."

"I send Arcane Barrier to the graveyard with Fiery, and draw four cards," Seika called. "With that, I shall set four cards and end my turn."

"Draw!" Kiyoshi really looked pissed off now. "At my standby phase, Evilswarm Thunderbird is special summoned back to the field with three hundred more attack power [1650/1050 → 1950/1050]. Thunderbird, direct attack!"

"Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted." Seika defended as Lighty reappeared on the field. "Fortune Lady Lighty returns to my field."

"Don't care!" Kiyoshi encouraged, as the bird flew at Lighty.

"Trap card, Slip of Fortune!" Seika cried. "The attack of Thunderbird is negated, and Lighty is removed from play until my standby phase. So since Lighty was removed from the field, come, Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]!"

Kiyoshi glared at the card, until a small twitch appeared on his lips at the sight of the dark Fortune Lady appearing on the field. "Then, Chaos Zone shall gain one more Counter (4). Main phase two. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters. Arise, Evilswarm Bahamut [2350/1350]!"

I frowned as the youngest of the Evilswarm dragons creeped up. "But, next standby phase Darky would be stronger..."

"And I use this effect," Kiyoshi announced. "By detaching one Exceed material from Bahamut and discarding an Evilswarm monster from my hand, I shall take control of one monster of choice with his effect, Malevolent Puppetry. So come, Fortune Lady Darky!"

"Darky!" Seika cried out as the Fortune Lady twitched, moaned, before shuffling over to Kiyoshi's field.

"I will set a card, and end my turn." Kiyoshi sincerely murmured.

"D- Draw!" Seika called. "At my standby phase, Lighty returns to my field!"

Lighty appeared, by then stared across to the hypnotised Darky and made a little moan of despair.

"Trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Device!" Seika announced. "I return Lighty to my hand to special summon from my deck Fortune Lady Earthy [?/? → 2400/2400]!"

The oldest of the Fortune Ladies glared at the other, tapping her foot in disapproval palpable even behind her round glasses.

"Next, I summon Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate [1800/0]. Earthy, attack Bahamut!" Seika declared. "Since a Spellcaster declared an attack, I can activate Magician's Circle! Both of us can special summon a Spellcaster with two thousand or less attack power to the field in attack mode."

"Then, I'll summon Effect Veiler [0/0]," Kiyoshi responded as the shroud-wearing teal-haired monster appeared.

"But when my opponent special summons a monster, Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate's special ability activates. I can banish one monster with a questionable attack power [?/?] as all my Ladies share, such as Fortune Lady Fiery, and destroy it!" Seika called as a fifth light appeared overhead from Chaos Zone and she pocketed a card (5). "I choose the tuner monster, Night's End Sorcerer [1300/400]! When he's special summoned by any way, I can banish up to two cards in my opponent's graveyard. I choose Evilswarm Ophion and the material sent, your Evilswarm Kerykeion!" (7)

"Yes!" I shouted at Kiyoshi's clear irritation as Night's End Sorcerer swung its sword.

"Earthy, finish Bahamut!" Seika called as the Spellcaster spun her staff and spikes impaled it. "Cursed Skewer!"

"My Bahamut..." Kiyoshi's eyes were wide. "Like I'd let you! Continuous Trap card, Infestation Infection! Now, I return Evilswarm Bahamut to the deck, and add an Evilswarm monster from deck to hand. Replay occurs."

"The last trap, Urgent Tuning," Seika hurriedly called as her Spellcasters gathered, rings appearing about them. "Tuning, level six Earthy to level two Night's End Sorcerer. Clustering wishes become a new shining star, become the path its light shines upon! Synchro summon!"

There might have been the climatic rise of trumpets as the storm raged beneath our feet in the midst of a fucked-up battlefield, but this time, Seika seemed to be controlling the storm as she yelled the final words, "_Take flight, Stardust Dragon!_"

Wings spread, bearing itself aloft, the storm raged, and stardust scattered in the wake of this majestic dragon, the very star of salvation itself. White wings like sails were spread wide, its blue-green scales glittering under starlight and moonlight, and the surrounding battlefield actually ceased its noise before the very presence of it [2500/2000].

"Stardust Dragon, attack Fortune Lady Darky with Shooting Sonic!" Seika ordered as the monster charged up and spat a blast to cut at it.

Kiyoshi: LP 5450 → LP 4950

Seika: LP 8000

"Main phase two, I activate the Spell, Fortune's Future, to return Fiery to my graveyard and draw two cards." Seika called. "I set two cards, turn end."

"You... you're ruined them..." Kiyoshi growled. "Draw! I flip summon Evilswarm Azzathoth [750/1950]! Now, I can target one special summoned monster on the field and shuffle it back to the deck, and last I checked, a Synchro summon is also a special summon! Goodbye, Stardust Dragon!"

"My Stardust!" Seika exclaimed.

"Quick-play, Burial from a Different Dimension allows me to return three banished monsters to the graveyard, such as Rescue Rabbit, Ophion and Kerykeion," Kiyoshi nodded. "I play the Spell, Pot of Avarice, to shuffle Ophion, Kerykeion, Heliotrope, Thunderbird and Rescue Rabbit to my deck and draw two cards. Now, I use Infestation Infection to shuffle an Evilswarm monster in my hand and search another Evilswarm to add to my hand. When I control less cards than my opponent, I can special summon Evilswarm Mandragora [1550/1450]. Construct the overlay network, appear once more, Evilswarm Ophion!"

The dragon appeared, darker than ever.

"I detach one material to add another Infestation Pandemic to my hand. Now, I summon Evilswarm Kerykeion [1600/1550] and use him to banish one Heliotrope in the graveyard, the one I discarded for Bahamut, and then add Mandragora to my hand once more," Kiyoshi declared. "With this effect, I can normal summon again this turn. However, I shall special summon Evilswarm Mandragora first while I have less cards to control. I summon Evilswarm Zahak [1850/850]. Constructing the Overlay network, Exceed Summon! Evilswarm Bahamut!"

Seika winced as the monster reappeared on the field, smelling like skunk scent.

"I detach one material from Bahamut and discard Evilswarm Salamandra to take control of Catoblepas," Kiyoshi called. "Evilswarm Ophion, Evilswarm Bahamut, Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate! All three monsters, direct attack!"

The witch raised her staff unwillingly, but Ophion and Bahamut charged in triumph, their blasts tearing up the landscape as it reached Seika.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 1300

Kiyoshi: LP 4950

"Seika!" Yuko, Yuuki and I shouted as we ran towards her, but dark cerulean fire erupted, sealing the field and all interruptions off, and leaving us outside. "Shimotsuki!" I shouted as I realised that the fire was cold. "What the hell?"

"Oh, so naughty, _Anam Ghairm_," Marguerite appeared in a shift of cloud and intense flowery scents.

"Marguerite... what are you intending?" I demanded.

"This is a Dark Game, a sacred Duel to determine the fates. Should either triumph, it would mean a multitude of different things." Marguerite's fingers clicked. "Now that girl is playing with the fates herself. Shall we see... who shall triumph?"

"Uhh..." Seika climbed slowly, wobbling on the other side of the literal firewall. "That... hurts. It hurts. It hurts."

"Yes, it hurts," Kiyoshi whispered. "Don't you see? The only way to be rid of this pain forever is to banish it all. If I finish this... there would be no pain any longer. See? Turn end."

"No..." Seika was slowly getting to her feet. "For a long time, I was wondering... why am I the head of the Arcadia Movement. A normal girl without power should not be able to lead the Movement, and yet Setsu-chan left me in this position, and everyone accepted me as the leader. I was wondering... how do I stand with the rest of the Movement? How do I help those Psychic Duelists who have clawed their way out of the darkness, and still continue to fight for their very lives despite all? For a girl who has never experienced pain, I don't know what I'm doing. But... but... now I know pain. Now I know loss. Now I know what it meant to be a part of the Movement."

Her eyes seemed to blaze, and they were fiery with anger. "Arcadia is the Summer-land where only good things happen, where everyone is supposed to be happy. The Movement is supposed to be sanctuary, a place to belong and be happy. You have injured twenty people, killed five Psychics, and cost us our safety. _I will not forgive you._"

Her hand flew to her deck. "_Draw_!"

The Chaos Zone fairly vibrated in anticipation as it appeared.

"I will activate the Spell, Magic Planter, on Call of the Haunted and draw two cards." Seika called. "Activate Monster Reborn, revive Fiery [?/? → 400/400]."

Fortune Lady Fiery twirled her staff, glaring at all the monsters in distaste.

Seika froze. Her eyes widened, as if she were listening to some other piece of advice. She shook her head slowly. "I see... Activate Trap card, Ultimate Offering. I summon Summoner Monk [800/1600] to the field, and discard a Spell card to special summon another Watery from my deck. I draw two cards. With that, I activate the Field Spell, Future Visions."

Seika declared as the field shattered to give way to her signature door-riddled field. "I summon Lighty, who is removed from play to give way to Fortune Lady Watery [?/? → 1200/1200]. I draw two more cards due to the effect of Watery. Overlay, three level four monsters."

"Three level four- wait, Seika doesn't have one!" I shouted.

"What? Then..." Yuko cut off as a dark light gathered in one hand.

"I construct the overlay network with these three monsters!" Seika called as a literal storm brewed up on her field. "Exceed summon! Arise, Evilswarm Ouroboros [2750/1950]!"

Claws dug into the earth, the clouds shaking like solid earth from the very impact. Three heads hung ponderously, all attached to the same scaly body. Leathery wings black as night spread wide, as the middle head rose, golden eyes gleaming. It gave a great roar, to which Bahamut and Ophion returned in equal favour, and yet... and yet, it was greater than them. It was more powerful than they, and it was definitely dark.

Its aura... its aura was dark, but natural; as natural as the cold over the grave, as natural as a mist shrouding the darkness, as natural as the skeletons that remains of the dead, grinning macabrely at those who came to see them. It was darkness, full-blooded, _more_ than the warped versions that were Ophion and Bahamut.

"Ouroboros of the Evilswarm," Kiyoshi's eyes widened.

"Brothers," it rumbled, its voice deep and inhuman but a lot like the slash dragon of Merlin. "I see that we stand across each other on the same field. Pray tell, how did events come out like this?"

The two dragons actually looked away. From all three heads. I swear, it felt awkwardly like the large dragon was _chiding_ them. Like elementary school-children.

"Why? It should be obvious, why?" Bahamut finally snapped. It sounded petulant, a child compared to Ophion's snaky voice or Ouroboros's deep one. "Each of us, fighting this war for aeons. When has it ended? Why hasn't it ended with our victory? We are clearly the superior force, and yet they continue to oppose us! You are old, Ouroboros, and weak. You hold us back from the purpose of remaking this world as we like. Ask yourself that same question!"

"I am tired," Ophion hissed. "I can no longer struggle. I wish for this to be over, one way or another. Forgive us, Eldest Brother, for invoking your name. Yet Brother Bahamut is right; we of the Evilswarm have a purpose, and many times we have stopped short under your leadership."

Ouroboros rumbled. "You would not understand. It appears that even brothers must take up arms against each other." The right-most head turned to face Seika. "Duelist, it appears that our purposes are joined this day. I hereby request your assistance in this matter. Should you allow I to... handle my brothers, I believe that we can reach an agreement."

Seika blinked. "Er... okay...?" She considered the field. "I activate the effect of Evilswarm Ouroboros. By detaching one Exceed material, I can activate one of three effects which can only be activated once while on the field. I activate one effect, that one card on the field may be returned to the hand. I choose Evilswarm Ophion!"

"What?" Duelist and monster shouted as Ophion was swallowed in dark mist that spewed from the left-most head.

"Now, I activate the Spell card, Bond of Fate!" Seika called. "By tributing a Fortune Lady, I can special summon one Fortune Lady of a different Attribute from the tributed one! I tribute Fiery to revive Fortune Lady Darky!"

Fiery erupted, and in her place stood a smirking Darky.

"Now, when I control a Fortune Lady Darky, I can return Bond of Fate to my hand and Darky gains one hundred times her current level in attack power [2000/2000 → 2500/2000]," Seika fiercely called as Darky glowed with strength. "Activate the Spell, Oni-Gami Combo! By detaching all Exceed materials from Ouroboros, Ouroboros can attack twice this battle phase!"

"Say what?" Kiyoshi gulped.

"Ouroboros, attack Bahamut!" Seika called as the dragon bellowed and blasted at the other, who cringed and screamed in pain as it shattered.

Kiyoshi: LP 4950 → LP 4550

Seika: LP 1300 → LP 800

"Darky, attack Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate!" Seika called. "Dark Fate!"

Kiyoshi: LP 4550 → LP 3850

"Darky can now revive Earthy [?/? → 2400/2400] with her Bond of Fate!" Seika called as Earthy reappeared on the field. "Earthy, direct attack with Cursed Skewer!"

Kiyoshi: LP 3850 → LP 1450

Seika: LP 800

Kiyoshi had already tumbled back, and was now resting not far from the Table. "No..."

"The lightning strikes!" Seika called. "Ouroboros, direct attack with Triple Circle!"

All three heads oriented on Kiyoshi, and there was a collection of miasma that flooded at Kiyoshi, and the other Duelist screamed as his life points dropped to zero.

Kiyoshi: LP 1850 → LP 0

Seika: LP 800

"No..." Kiyoshi whimpered, gazing up as Ouroboros crunched on the body of its fallen brother. "W- Why...?"

"I know something you don't," Ouroboros rumbled, his form still solid.

Kiyoshi laughed, the sound ugly. "What? What could you possibly know that matters now?"

"What is coming," Ouroboros rumbled. "For you."

"No. No!" Kiyoshi turned and ran, right as he was blasted and hit in the back. Blood flowed from cutting wounds and burns as he screamed, and it wasn't pretty. The leather-lined mail gave no protection against the black fire, burning through it in moments. I saw eyes open, burning brightly, even as fiery death approached. He hauled himself toward the Table.

If he died there, bled to death on the Table, he would accomplish his goal. Power, hurled to the Winter Court, and the balance destroyed. I threw myself up onto the Table and on him, bearing him back down and to the ground.

He screamed in frustration and struggled against me – but he didn't have any strength. We rolled down the hill a few times, and then wound up on the ground, me pinning him down.

"W- Wait," his eyes were unfocused, voice weak and somehow very young. He didn't look mad now. He looked like a frightened young boy, albeit a feminine-looking one. "Wait. You don't understand... I just wanted it to stop. Wanted the hurting to stop."

I smoothed a bloodied lock of hair, and felt very tired. "The only people who never hurt are dead."

The light died out of his eyes, breath slowing. He whispered, barely audible, "I don't understand."

"It's fine."

A tear slid from one eye and mixed with the blood and rain.

* * *

_**Bond of Fate**__**  
**__**Type: Normal Spell**__**  
Effect: Tribute one Fortune Lady monster; Special summon a Fortune Lady monster with a different Attribute from your Graveyard. If you control a 'Fortune Lady Light' while this card is in the Graveyard: return this card to your hand, then remove from play one 'Fortune Lady Light' you control. If you control a 'Fortune Lady Dark' while this card is in the Graveyard: return this card to your hand, then increase the ATK of a 'Fortune Lady' monster or 'Solitaire Magician' you control by x100 its Level.**_

_**Please review!**_


	23. XXI: After The Storm&Interlude

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Followed by Interlude**_

* * *

**XXI: After the Storm**

We had done it. We saved Ayame-san, stopped K- Kiyoshi, and lived.

I lay there on soft, barely grassy cloud, too tired to move. I was only dimly aware of radiant light of gold and blue meeting over me. Gold light gathered over me, and I felt the warm presence of Nii-chan. Cold and tired on the ground, I was lifted up into a princess hold, the hands on the backs of my knees and behind my back warm and comforting.

"Good job, Seika," Nii-chan spoke. "I'm sorry... that you had to see that."

"Nii-chan..." I sniffed.

A moment later, I felt fingers touch my head, and she murmured, "I am very pleased with you, Seika."

"Setsu-chan..." My voice was tired. "I just want to sleep."

She laughed. It was cold, but comforting. "No. You must now depart, and the others with you. You and your companions."

"What about... the others?" I asked.

"Do not worry. There was only one casualty, and he chose his path. Do not fear, the body of Dante Swartzvauld will be buried with the knowledge that his revenge is met."

I was too tired, too drained to feel anything, and I said as much. Nii-chan chuckled, the voice quiet and gentle, and then there was golden light.

I woke up in bed. The sheets were clean, and smelt faintly like pine. The room was brighter, having had its drapes pulled back. Summer sunlight shone full-blast into the room, lighting up the shag carpet, the solid pillar of the bed, and the off-white colour scheme.

I got out of Setsu-chan's bed, and struggled for a robe. Wrapping myself in it, I peeked out to see Yuko-kun with a tray and a wide-eyed expression. "Oh... erm, don't mind if we crash the place?"

Satoshi-san and Rodriguez-san and Rex-nii were at the dining table, staring at their mugs. Rex-nii glanced up from his. "Oh... Seika."

"Rex-nii," I nodded, wincing as I felt the wounds on my chest. They hurt less, which meant that they were healed, if a bit tender. "Did everyone...?"

"Dante... didn't survive," Satoshi-san gently answered. "But... he told Yuko, who told us that he'd made his choice. Did you know that half-spirit children can choose whether to become a Duel Monster Spirit or to remain human?"

I shook my head, feeling slightly ill. "O- Ouroboros... Ouroboros killed him. K- Kiyoshi."

"Not the first one, either," Adrian snorted. "He killed the Evilswarm Ophion as well. Then he buried them."

"He said that he left a card for you." Rodriguez-san nodded to my deck.

I took it out, slowly pulling out the cards. I reached a black card I had never seen before, of a winged warrior charging with sword drawn, along with a note in Setsu-chan's spidery writing.

_The Winter Queen assisted me in passing this message. As thanks, please accept a small token. Although I cannot make up the loss of life incurred in this struggle, I hope that this power will assist you in granting the wishes of those you wish to protect, as you helped me in my wish to grant my brothers closure.  
Sincerely._

There was no signature, but I looked at the card again. Its name gleamed:

_Number 39: King of Wishes, Hope_

"Hope... hope..." I murmured.

* * *

There was a pause of dark light, that gathered over the burnt cooked flesh and took it away. Satoshi's voice was clear as he moved, and so was Rex's comments and a few in Spanish, no doubt from Adrian. Ryuusuke muttered at me, but I couldn't move.

"Chase?" Youkai murmured.

"Go away."

"I see that you have managed to overcome your problem with only a minimal amount of discomfort to your person," the female voice was obvious.

"Go away, Shimotsuki."

"Hardly. You should leave now."

"Was that the only guy who was infected?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not."

I looked up at her. "Be serious."

"I am perfectly serious. Treat it as a challenge. You thrive on them."

"Not that," I groaned. "What about Yuuki?"

"He will live. He will curse fate, he will be moody, he will lash out. But he will live." Shimotsuki tilted her head. "It is a far better fate than the alternative. You have found your friend, and he is coming for you after escorting the rest back. After that... he will no longer be part of your life. He cannot."

"Not just no," I muttered. "Hell, no. Ryuusei's a friend who's coming back with us."

Shimotsuki's eyes glittered. "Let me make you an offer, then."

She gestured, and the mists parted. Michiru stood there in white armour, and behind her was Satsuki. Ouroboros was a large figure behind them, all three heads hung low. Five pairs of eyes stared at me, and at their feet was... Kiyoshi.

"There was a traitor," Shimotsuki purred. "And he, and those who worked with he, will be dealt with accordingly. After which, there will be an opening amongst the forces."

She watched me. "I would have someone worthy of more trust as his successor. Accept that power, and then your friend would remain part of your life."

"When Hell freezes over."

Her smile just widened. "Very well, then. I'm sure we can find some way to amuse ourselves until time enough has passed to offer again."

They left. Kiyoshi's body left with them.

I lay there, too tired to move, until the lights began to dim. I vaguely remembered feeling strong arms heft me off the ground and get one of my arms across his shoulders.

"You're still doing this, aren't you?" Ryuusei's amused voice murmured as the dark came...

I woke up in bed, at the infirmary.

Youkai, who had been dozing in a chair next to the bed, woke up with a snort. "Yo. You thirsty?"

I nodded, throat too dry to speak, and he handed me a glass of cool water.

"What happened?" I asked, when I could speak.

He shook his head. "Dante... he died. He told Yuko that he made his Choice and didn't regret it. Then... Yuko said he just changed. We found him on the ground near you."

Dante... I closed my eyes and nodded. If only I'd known him longer than just showing off Alice in Wonderland...

"Ryuu... Regulus said, to tell you that you'd made a lot of people hopping mad for your head as well, but that you shouldn't worry about them for a while." Youkai continued. "Yukio looked pretty cheesed off, but piped down after Boss told him to pipe down."

"Heh," I shuddered. "The rest?"

"Banged up," came the wry reply, a hint of pride in his voice. "Over a hundred and fifty stitches all together, but we all came out more or less in one piece. Party tonight, after cleaning up. Thinking of having pizza."

My stomach growled at the mention of food.

Despite my body protesting otherwise, I crawled out, took a shower, got clean clothes, and hunted down some coffee before I was dragged to the next meeting.

Aki-sensei was there, and she looked tired. There were a row of bandages on one arm, the result of the previous attacks on the building. The Professor was there as well, along with an irate Carly-san who was chewing Rex out while he was rocking a screaming Reina Atlas, now about three years old. It was interesting to see the six-foot plus Rex Atlas bow his head to this tiny woman until you realised that Atlas senior used to do that as well, then it turned pathetic.

"So... you went out, in the storm, to the Neo Domino Bay, and then climbed a magic staircase to a battlefield in the clouds at which you charged through and stopped Kiyoshi," Aki-sensei was concluding the explanation from Adrian.

"...yeah, that pretty much summed it up."

Aki-sensei sighed. "We have another death on our hands. How are we supposed to account for it? How is Yuuki taking it?"

"Yuko-kun is talking him through it," Seika explained. "It looks bad, but they think he might be accepting about it."

"Why was there a magical battleground in the clouds?" the Professor asked.

"They created it."

"Yes, but how?"

I opened my mouth, decided to close it, and sank down. Youkai joined me, and our hands twined. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"This entire mess created a death toll of ten and counting, and we've got to regroup. Does it look like I am?" I groaned, but remained silent as Kaido started yelling for order for his damage report.

Night fell, and the Dreamsprite came for us. Rex, Seika and I went out to the Mutou Memorial Park, following the fairy-like monster. There, we were waiting, dragging along the Professor and Aki-sensei along.

"Why are we...?" Aki-sensei trailed off as lightning weirdly flickered overhead. In a single flash, Ryuusei appeared, his expression... profoundly surprising. He was wearing red and black, and his Riding suit still fit him.

"Hi." he whispered.

Both Fudo parents jerked their heads, their expressions thunderstruck.

"Ryuusei..." Aki-sensei whispered. "Ryuusei!"

All three members of the family ran to them, and so did the two of us, as we tackled our friend in a hug.

We found Ryuusei, we stopped a war, and we're getting back together. Just another day at the Arcadia Movement.

* * *

_**Interlude: Infestation Terminus  
AKA Problem-Solving in the Arcadia Movement**_

_**An LLS Production**_

The Arcadia Movement headquarters might not look fairly large, but it was deceptively big on the inside. There were three different wings; administration, dormitory and science. It was in the dormitory building, on the concourse leading up to the place where homeless or destitute Psychics stayed in the Movement under the aegis of the Arcadia banner. In exchange for room and board and food, those who stayed typically did odd jobs which may or may not involve unbelievably dangerous shit happening.

I am Yamada Yukio, codename Cold Wolf. Right now, I am doing my job as the leader of the Knights of Arcadia, who is meant to protect the Arcadia Movement. I have to persuade my cousin's friend to undergo interrogation by our resident psychometrer, Kaido.

Perhaps my words were slightly out of context.

Just the night before last, we of the Movement have been subject to a monster attack. Though the Despair of the Dark was ultimately driven away, we have paid with twenty casualties and five dead. Kaido had deduced the existence of a traitor within our midst, and amongst the new members. Yuuki did not have the spine to betray us; therefore, either Diamondblade or Yuuki's _friend_ was responsible.

"Duel!"

Yukio: LP 8000

Yuko: LP 8000

Yuuki: LP 8000

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

"Draw!" I started off. "I play the Spell, Gishki Aquamirror to tribute the Evigishki Mind Augus in my hand and ritual summon the Evigishki Gustkraken in my hand! Witch of the seas, answer my call, hear my plea, come to my aid! The Ritual Mirror bring you forth!"

The blue mirror of the Gishki tribe appeared, swallowing the shadow of the ogre whole. The smooth glassy surface of the mirror began churning as a figure of shadows rose from it. The suds of the water spray flowed off to reveal long red hair under a green wide-brimmed witch's hat, smirking feminine features which would have been beautiful if not for the tentacles that poked out under the black armour the Monster wore. The female upper body held a staff, the head of which was the same blue sapphire mirror that brought it forth [2400/1000].

"With the summon of Gustkraken I can look at two random cards in hand and shuffle one of your cards into your deck- you!" I pointed to Kiyoshi. "Show them... and shuffle that Evilswarm Kerykeion into your deck."

Kiyoshi's face seemed to flush as he did so, and I watched. I did not know why, but I hated him on sight. So soft, so unwilling to throw down unless cornered. He would be eaten alive if not for Yuuki.

"Huh," Jimmy Cook was standing by the sidelines, his hat pulled low. Beside him was Kannazuki Seika, nervously watching the proceedings. "So they've come to blows about this."

"Dammit, Jimmy!" Princeton swore, jumping. "You're not supposed to sneak up on people!" The Infernity Duelist might be a regular acquaintance, but he was... very sour. An acquired taste.

"I'll set a monster and end my turn," I declared. That Infestation Pandemic was a pretty dangerous card, but without a monster... well, it did not quite bear thinking.

"My turn, draw!" Yuuki called as his frown morphed into a grin. "I'll summon Evoltile Odonto [500/1200] to the field! And when he's summoned, one Evolsaur monster in my hand follows him, so come, Evolsaur Elias [100/2400]! Next I activate the Spell, Evo-Force! By tributing Odonto, I can special summon another Evolsaur, so here's my second Elias!"

I barely reacted as the two level six dinosaurs appeared on the field. I had long expected it.

"I construct the overlay network between these two monsters! Exceed Summon, Evolzar Solda [2600/1000]!" Yuuki called.

The resulting monster was a giant dinosaur, glowing phosphorescently in the field as it spread its wings, claws raised in a gesture of predatory emotions. It resembled a pterodactyl; same basic structure, different ultimate result.

"Oh, a Fire Dino deck," Cook sounded interested. "I run Laggia and Dolkka myself, but Solda isn't bad. It's basically a built in Horn of Heaven or something like that, and while it's got Exceed material you can't destroy it by card effects."

Thank you, Cook. You've just managed to help Yuko and I.

"Yes!" Yuuki looked pleased at the comment. "The master of the Jurrac actually complimented us! Now I set a card and end my turn!"

"Draw!" my twin snapped. "When I control no monsters, I can special summon Steelswarm Cell [0/0] from my hand!"

"The effect of Solda activates!" Yuuki defended. "When my opponent special summons a monster, that card's destroyed!"

"Think it'd stop me?" Yuko looked amused. "I play the Spell, Double Summon! Now I can normal summon twice, so I'll start with Steelswarm Scout [200/0]!" The insect-like monster chirped. "And I tribute him to summon Steelswarm Girastag [2600/0]!"

The other monster was wide, bulky and also rather horrible. It resembled a beetle, if that beetle could stand on both legs, carry itself rather like a man, and still manage to look completely inhuman rather than a man wearing a bug costume.

"When I tribute him using a Steelswarm monster, I get to activate one effect, sending ugly there to the graveyard to gain one thousand life points!" Yuko snapped, pointing to Solda.

"What?" Yuuki flinched. "But-"

"Sent to the grave by express, not being destroyed!" Yuko cackled as the dinosaur roared and was dragged into a hole in the ground that swallowed it up. "I'll set a card, turn end!"

The Steelswarm deck, which relied mostly on Tribute summons, was dangerous, even to me. If Yuko were to trigger a Grave of the Super Ancient Organism, I had to use an Exceed strategy instead. And judging from the field...

"Draw," Kiyoshi barely glanced at the field, focused as he was on his hand. "Because I control far fewer monsters than any of my opponents, I can special summon from my hand Evilswarm Mandragora [1550/1450] to the field! And then, I can normal summon Evilswarm Ketos [1750/1050]. I construct the overlay network! Come, Evilswarm Ophion [2550/1650]!"

It was with a great thrashing and dimming if shadows that the card was heralded. The monster was a single dragon, with great wings and blue-black scale patterns scored on its body.

I hated it. It felt like something like the surface of a polluted lake: everyday brown on the surface, with evil killers lurking under the surface. A strong sense of wrong came to me, and it was a wonder that I even remained. It roared, something far more than echoes of darkness, because it was a hungry sort of darkness that continued to feed and desire and was _hungry_.

What was odd, even to me, was the positively ravenous look Kiyoshi's features morphed into right as he pointed at Gustkraken. "I'll use his effect first to search for an Infestation Spell or Trap, and now, Evilswarm Ophion, attack Evigishki Gustkraken!"

Yukio: LP 8000 → LP 7850

Yuko: LP 8000 → LP 9000

Yuuki: LP 8000

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

Neither Yuko nor I cared about that tiny bit of battle damage; we knew that there were stronger things to be hand.

"I'll set a card, turn end." Kiyoshi called.

"Draw!" I called. "By the effect of the Gishki Aquamirror, I can shuffle it into the deck to add Gustkraken back to my hand. I flip summon Gishki Ariel [1000/1800], allowing me to add Gishki Beast from my deck to my hand. I summon Gishki Beast [1500/1300] to the field." The green kelpie-like creature appeared, smirking. "I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon! Arise, Bahamut Shark!"

The shark bared its teeth. It did not resemble a shark or a fish as its name implied, and rather more like a dinosaur. Leathery wings of blue and white sprouted from its back, and it gave a roar as it bared teeth and claws at everyone, except Yuko [2600/2100].

"Holy- Yukio, are you serious?" Yuko shouted. "You're going all out?!"

"Bahamut Shark, attack Yuuki directly!" I called as Bahamut Shark let loose a blast at him.

Yukio: LP 7850

Yuko: LP 9000

Yuuki: LP 8000 → LP 5400

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

"I'll now use the effect of Bahamut Shark, detaching one Exceed Material to special summon a rank three or lower Water-Attribute Exceed monster," I called as I took out Gishki Beast. "I'll special summon Number 47: Nightmare Shark."

Another blue and white shark appeared. Unlike Bahamut Shark, this one put me to consider the legendary beings called mermaids. It had no legs, but instead a tail. It bore wings on its back, large ones like a stingray's. Its fin protruded between the shoulder blades. Its snout was the shark's one, awkwardly positioned with gills where the cheeks should be. Its arms, which were anatomically incorrect of a shark, and protruding out of a human torso, bore sharp implements [2000/2000].

"You _are_ serious," Yuko muttered.

"When Nightmare Shark is special summoned, I can attach a level three Water Attribute monster from my hand or my side of the field to it as Exceed material," I called, though my face bore no outward change in expression. "I attach Gishki Diviner. Main phase two, I set two cards. Turn end."

"Draw!" Yuuki called. "I summon Rescue Rabbit [300/100]!"

I twitched as the rabbit appeared and was replaced by two Sabersaurus [1900/500].

"I construct the overlay network using these two monsters!" Yuuki called. "Exceed summon! Arise, Evolzar Dolkka!"

Again, the resulting monster was white, and had only one pair of wings [2300/1700]. It had a sinuous neck, and bore teeth and claws and talons. Ridiculous thing. How could anyone want to summon this?

"I'll set a card, and end my turn," Yuuki called.

"Draw!" Yuko declared. "I'll activate the set quick-play Spell, First Step Towards Infestation to return Girastag to my hand and draw a card. Now, since I control no monsters, I can special summon from the graveyard Steelswarm Scout! I tribute Steelswarm Scout to summon Steelswarm Moth [2400/0]! Now I can pay a thousand life points to bounce up to two cards my opponent controls!"

"Like I'd let you!" Yuuki retaliated. "Evolzar Dolkka can negate that effect and destroy the monster!"

Yukio: LP 7850

Yuko: LP 9000 → LP 8000

Yuuki: LP 5400

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

"Hmph," Yuko grunted. "I'll set three cards, turn end."

"Draw!" Kiyoshi declared. Doubtlessly, he had already realised that Ophion was useless when Yuuki was slightly crippled, and that I was using a different strategy than ritual monsters. "I summon Evilswarm Castor [1750/550] to the field. Now I can summon Evilswarm Thunderbird [1650/1050] to the field. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Arise, Evilswarm Thanatos!"

The warrior riding the horse [2350/1350] gave me pause. Why? Monster immunity was not about to be involved here.

"Then, I activate the quick-play Spell, Infestation Pandemic!" Kiyoshi called. "During this turn, all Evilswarm monsters I control are unaffected by Spells and Traps!"

I nodded. It would not stop a Negate Attack, but Kiyoshi might be afraid of Yuko's set cards. If only he knew...

"Ophion, attack Yuko directly!" Kiyoshi called.

"Trap card, Infestation Ripples," Yuko called. "I pay five hundred life points revive Steelswarm Scout [200/0] in defence mode. Now, I activate the trap, Infestation Tool, to send another Steelswarm Scout from my deck to my graveyard and give Scout eight hundred attack."

"Useless," Kiyoshi shook his head as Ophion destroyed the monster.

Yukio: LP 7850

Yuko: LP 8000 → LP 7500

Yuuki: LP 5400

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

"Thanatos, direct attack!" Kiyoshi called.

This time, Yuko did nothing as it struck.

"Trap card, Xyz Move!" I called.

Bahamut Shark winked out and disappeared, landing on Yuko's field. Yuko blinked in surprise as the monster appeared, ending his battle phase.

I continued to stare at Kiyoshi. Palpable anger and frustration rolled off him, the same kind of frustration that I myself had experienced before... and the complete opposite of the Yamada Yukio now.

Although the old bags were strongly anti-Psychic, ignoring Madame Seiran Shimotsuki was about as impossible as ignoring the thorn in your side for them. It was at a charity gala that I saw the Madame. Unlike Shimotsuki-sama, who nearly always favoured dark, cool shades, the Madame was almost always seen in white. They said that she could see the future, the Madame. And as Mr and Mrs Yamada confronted her, she was not even looking at them, instead looking at me as she declared the defining statement of the Yamada family:

"_One day, you people will die alone and unloved, because your hate of differences has alienated all that you care for."_

In the coming years, the waters of the Gishki did begin to injure people. Mr and Mrs Yamada threw me out of the house.

_Requiescat in pace __to them too; I was dead to them, and had been for over eight years._

I made my bones at fourteen, when Evigishki Gustkraken drowned a pimp in the Neo Domino Bay, and that was a turning point in my life. There was a grotto around Satellite, which I realised was where most of the homeless of Neo Domino ended up sooner or later. I had been scrounging for fish with the others when the icy presence came and _she_ was there.

She was beautiful. She was, is and would be _great_. She was Shimotsuki Setsuka, and somehow that day, she was here for me. At that time, rumours of the Cold Queen had already begun to spread. Even Yuko, who soon followed me after my thirteenth birthday, lived in the constant fear of Shimotsuki Setsuka. This harbinger of death and destruction of the Arcadia Movement was here before me. I was finished in three turns, unable to react before her might.

Then...

… She...

"I would have you as my apprentice, I think," she commented. Still flat out on my back, I had thought her insane. She repeated it three times, and then I could hardly believe my luck.

"I have a brother," I told her. "He's like me, like us. He's working in the Underground now, but..."

"Bring him, then." Her voice was childishly high-pitched, and it was all the more dangerous for it. "And... welcome to the Arcadia Movement, Yamada Yukio."

Under her, before her, I was turned into _something _from _nothing_. The Gishki evolved, from pure rituals to Exceed to strategies to lockdown and hand control. Under her, I learned three different ways to kill with cards, and more with my own hands. She kept her promise; Yuko and I had food, clean clothes, a roof over our heads, a warm bed, friends like us, compatriots, and we were doing good. As Psychics growing up in a time when the atrocities of Divine were widespread, we were improving. She was leading us, and as children, we had _done_ it.

Not without cost; some nights I remembered when I killed in her name, some nights when the wide eyes of the drowned or the fearful expressions of the iced over appeared. Some nights I hid from Yuko and never admitted what was the price for securing peace and vengeance and his place in the light. I think he knew, we were twins after all. I never actually admitted to anything. Shimotsuki-sama had turned my life around, she had given me a purpose, and she sent me after the monsters who dared lay a hand on us. The Arcadia Movement had been the home I never had with them... and now...

…and now, it was under attack. Shimotsuki-sama had been replaced by the young and inexperienced Kannazuki. Kiyoshi was a threat to it, by not submitting to interrogation.

"Draw!" I called. "I activate the Spell, Card of Demise! Now, I can draw until I have a hand of five cards, but five of my turns later I must discard my entire hand. I'll summon another Gishki Beast! With its effect, I can special summon Gishki Ariel back to the field in defence mode."

"No," Yuuki frowned, glancing between Nightmare Shark and my beast. "I won't negate it."

"Trap activate, Torrential Tribute!" Yuko activated.

"What?" Yuuki and Kiyoshi shielded themselves as the torrents swept the field clean.

"Trap card, Torrential Rebirth!" I called as Bahamut Shark, Nightmare Shark, Beast and Ariel reappeared from the flowing waters. "For each monster special summoned this way, my opponent takes five hundred damage per monster! I choose you, Yuuki!"

Yukio: LP 7850

Yuko: LP 7500

Yuuki: LP 5400 → LP 3400

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

"I attach Shark Stickers to Nightmare Shark as Exceed material. Now, I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon!" I called. "Arise, Evigishki Merrowgeist!"

With flowing red hair, a creature bedecked in fins, a red tail and wings tinged in green, holding a staff topped with the Aquamirror, appeared on the field. The female upper body was at odds with the fish-tail protruding down, and the monster waved, beautiful despite its being an aberration to anything resembling normality [2100/1600]

"Nightmare Shark, Merrowgeist, direct attack on Yuuki!" I called.

"Quick-play Spell, Devoted Love!" Yuuki called. "This ends the battle phase, and allows my opponent to draw a card, but at the end phase, my life will drop to zero. Kiyoshi, you draw!"

... what?

Yukio: LP 7850

Yuko: LP 7500

Yuuki: LP 3400 → LP 0

Kiyoshi: LP 8000

"Yuuki!" Kiyoshi called in concern as Yuuki's life dropped to zero.

"I set a card, turn end," I called. "Because Yuuki has been defeated, his turn is skipped to Yuko."

"Draw!" Yuko called. "I activate Recurring Nightmare to return Steelswarm Moth and Steelswarm Cell to my hand. Since I don't control any monsters, I can special summon Steelswarm Scout [0/0]. And now, since I don't control any Spells or Traps, I can special summon two Steelswarm Scouts! I tribute all three of them to summon my ace, Steelswarm Hercules [3200/0]!"

With a thudding crash, the monster appeared, growling.

"Bahamut Shark, Hercules... direct attack on Kiyoshi!" Yuko called.

Yukio: LP 7850

Yuko: LP 7500

Kiyoshi: LP 8000 → LP 2200

"I set a card, turn end," Yuko panted.

"I draw!" Kiyoshi called. He was stuck, and he knew it. "I... I'll set a monster and a card, turn end."

"Not so fast," I murmured. "Draw. I detach an Exceed material from Nightmare Shark to allow one Water Attribute monster I control a direct attack this turn. I choose Merrowgeist. Merrowgeist, direct attack!"

"I'll still have life points," Kiyoshi retorted.

"No, you won't," I answered as I showed him the Rush Recklessly in my hand. "Chain, Rush Recklessly!"

Yukio: LP 7850

Yuko: LP 7500

Kiyoshi: LP 2200 → LP 0

Somehow, the force of my attack rebounded, sending Kiyoshi skidding into the nearest wall as well. There was a crash, and Kiyoshi groaned as he hit it. He did not go through it, more was the pity.

"Yukio!" Yuko snapped and I realised that somehow, my monsters had been solid even though I had control over my powers. As I saw Kiyoshi being helped up by Yuuki, and even Yuuki's devoted expression... I had to wonder...

"What were you _thinking_?" Yuko continued to shout at me as we left the dorm under the full gaze of the people within. "We aren't being ordered around by Shimotsuki Setsuka anymore, Yukio. We don't need to injure people anymore! Or was this aimed at Seika-chan? You know that she's trying, but she's an improvement from Shimotsuki already-"

I did not answer, still considering. Kiyoshi would go as far as to make himself injured to avoid counselling or even a conversation with Kaido. It was definitely suspicious. For one, it showed a knowledge of Kaido's abilities, and two, it showed that there was something to hide.

If Kiyoshi was a traitor, I would invent a new form of water-boarding just for him, and then demonstrate why osmosis was a fearsome process that would rule his life.

For now, I had things to chew out.

_Some say the world will end in fire,  
Some say in ice.  
From what I've tasted of desire  
I hold with those who favour fire.  
But if it had to perish twice,  
I think I know enough of hate  
To say that for destruction ice  
Is also great  
And would suffice._

_-'Fire and Ice', Robert Frost_

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	24. XXII: Desert Sunlight

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXII: Desert Sunlight**

The first thing that greeted the morning was not the rooster's crow, as expected, but Chase-nii complaining.

"...it wouldn't be so bad out here," He was saying. Or yelling. "Every morning it's like someone sticking needles in my eyes."

"Oh, come _on_," Ryuusuke was saying, "Why didn't you bring sunglasses?"

"I don't like glasses," came the answer. "Things on my eyes, they bug me."

"Do they bug you as much as going blind?"

"Shut up, newbie."

"Who's a grumpy Duelist in the morning?" Ryuusuke was teasing him in that tone of voice one usually reserved for cats.

"Get a couple more years on you and that many late nights will leave you with a headache, too, punk." A couple more curses joined it, and I turned to see Chase-nii begin his impersonation of the consummate professional Duelist – he subtracted the complaining and was left with only the grumpy scowl.

"Who's up?" Kaido was yelling. Since the two attacks it had been his default state on Camp Kaboom.

Youkai took a small notebook from his pocket and flipped it open. "The Wonder Twins," he replied.

"You're kidding." Chase-nii snorted into his rice. "They're experienced."

"Refresher course," Youkai promptly replied. "We're all doing it. Why do you think Camp Kaboom is filled?"

"_Merde_," came the answer. "Fine, breakfast first."

The site the Arcadia Movement had chosen for 'Basic Burn Damage: Uses and Application' camp had once been what was popularly referred to as a boom-town in America, built up around a vein of Dyne that trickled out after a year or so of mining. It was quite high up in the mountains, and though we were less than a hundred kilometres north-west of Satisfaction Town, we might as well have been camped out in the desert itself. The only indications of humanity for a while in any direction were ourselves and the tumbledown remains of the town and the mine up-slope from it.

Given that it was a boom-town, and we were teaching things that generally involved plenty of booms of its own, there had been lobbies from Chase-nii to christen it Camp Kaboom officially that were overridden by Kaido. One of the few campers had heard them, though, and by the end of the second day Camp Kaboom had been named despite the disapproval of the general establishment (Kaido).

The forty-odd kids had their tents pitched within the stone walls of a church someone had built. I had pitched a tent with them, but the other older 'Camp Counsellors' had set up camp on the remains of what had once been a saloon of sorts. After teaching all day and evening, and once it had gotten cold and the younger students were asleep, they were free to play poker, mat Duel, or drank, with the occasional guitar piece from Rodriguez-san.

"Cocky little bastards," was Chase-nii's opening curse of the day as several Psychics, all capable of conjuring fireballs to roast him, gave him a wide berth. Although Chase-nii really had no powers of his own, he could sneak up and catch them unaware, and more than one had fallen to his morning wrath.

"Good morning, Seika!" Uzuki jumped, and we hugged as we settled in the queue. "I've blown up so many things!"

"Eheheh... Uzuki," I answered, knowing full well the ease at which Uzuki had done so.

"Good morning," Nii-chan yawned as he walked into the meal area. Several heads swivelled, and I saw quite a few stares and whispers as well as quite a few drooling people. Everyone already knew who Nii-chan was, and anyone who didn't had never read the news. When the former Prince of DA Kings disappeared and suddenly returned, there were many theories that were debunked by Aunt Carly and Baa-chan. "Good morning, Seika."

"Good morning, Nii-chan," I nodded, stifling my own yawn.

Breakfast might have been made by the residents, but it was served by the trainees every morning at a site built around several portable grills and more folded tables near a well that still held cool water. There was rice, miso soup, fish and slightly more, but part of the little more was coffee, which meant that usually Chase-nii had the time for his grumpiness to fade before exposing himself.

I collected my cereal, an apple, and a big cup of tea as I settled down with the others. Chase-nii was drinking coffee, and the resident adult was slapping him on the head in the blinding light of morning in the desert mountains.

"Kids these days, no moral fortitude to get up at four," Uncle Kiryu muttered. "Really, I was surprised that you came back, Ryuusei."

"Misawa-san managed to stabilise the dimensional gateway," Nii-chan answered.

"Who the hell wants to get up at four?" Chase-nii was saying.

"It's the principle of the thing." Uncle Kiryu answered. "Prepare breakfast, clean the house and get ready for the day, those should be done before daybreak, right?"

"Slave-driver," Chase-nii rebutted.

"Idiot disciple."

"Master and disciple... both of them are crabby in the morning," Rex just sighed. "So, today's the last day, right? So we'll be having the practice test."

This distracted both the sniping Duelists. "Oh?" Chase-nii and Uncle Kiryu both grinned madly.

"Now _there's_ entertainment," Uncle Kiryu smirked. "Seeing the newbies get their asses kicked."

* * *

The transition of night to day in the desert was like stepping from a nice, cool air-conditioned room into a sauna within an hour. The heat itself was enough to cause blisters, and as we approached the mostly scorched ground, mixed with glass shards and burnt scrubs. There were a few low-level huts here and there.

"Well, I suppose we should start this," Kaido smirked, holding up a fire-ball. Slowly and deliberately, without his DuelDisk, he began bouncing it about in his hands. All the acolytes present stared wide-eyed at this feat, while the more experienced guys just crossed their arms, standing by the sides.

"The weapons of Psycho Duelists," Kaido began. "Magic, Trap, and Monsters. Like any Duelist, Psychic Duelists use these three elements that go into the deck, hand, graveyard and the banished zone. But, the fastest and most easily conjured weapons, between burn damage and effect damage, is effect damage." He flung the fireball up with his left, and caught with his right, never once stopping the lecture. "This camp is meant to teach how to use the three fastest Spells for burn damage and to defend yourselves; Sparks, Hinotama, and Ookazi. These three Spells have been consistently tested as the fastest ways for a Psychic Duelist to protect themselves. Either by the most obvious, the Fireball, or as _this_. Ryuusei."

Ryuusei caught it, and the ball burst into flames that covered his fist. Without looking away, Ryuusei clenched the flaming fist, holding it up so that everyone could see how his hand wasn't being cooked extra crispy.

The older ones snorted. The younger ones stared in awe.

"Success or failure is not the issue," Ryuusei evenly continued. "We will never stop teaching you, nor will you be thrown out of the Movement for being incompetent. What matters is the success or failure of your will. Your will to overcome human weakness. Your will to work. To learn. To use the power we share as you will, instead of having it react for you when you cannot. Instead of having your powers run uncontrolled, instead of being told what to do, instead of hating yourself, you can control yourself. You can do what you want to, and care not about the rest of the world. Here, we teach you how to burn things, and how to use those correctly to inflict the most damage. If you must fight, you might as well do it on _your_ terms. You might as well master your powers to the fullest extent."

He waved, and the fire went out.

"Intermediate courses cover the more powerful cards, cards such as Final Flame and Meteor of Destruction, as well as Continuous Spells and Traps." Kaido continued. "The advanced courses are the very horrors of Duel Monsters. That is, Lightning Vortex, Raigeki, Meteor Flare, as well as how to use monster effects on the field. I assume that you know of the second head of the Arcadia Movement, the White Witch Shimotsuki Seiran?"

A few nodded, most looked confused.

"And you know the story that she murdered over two hundred gangland members in Neo Domino itself in a single night?"

A few swallows, and more nods.

"It's not a story."

Quite a few pale faces.

"Of course, all of you have a long way to go before you can even think about matching us, never mind the Madame," Kaido lightly continued. "And if any of you even think about pursuing that method of action, we'd be honour-bound to beat you guys to pieces just on principle. The reason why the Madame even went to such lengths... well, I have no idea. But, you're well on your way to mastering your powers... just after this practical test."

Groans.

"Why am I here?" Yuuki groaned by the side.

"Come on, Yuuki," Yuko slung an arm around his cousin. "It's good practice. Besides, this means that we get to team up against Yukio."

"But, before this practical..." Kaido cocked his head. "Can anyone tell me why fire is a very effective weapon?"

"Because of the oxygen concentration," Youkai automatically replied. "Fire is a deadly weapon because even if you miss, the fire would burn the surrounding air hot enough to cook the enemy. And then, in an enclosed space, you could theoretically surround the enemy with fire and decrease the oxygen concentration. But, the Battle Regulations of the Arcadia Rights Bill of 20XX, only applicable in Neo Domino City, means that fire is restricted for use only in open-air areas no less than ten square metres in area."

"They have regulations for that?" I yelped. "Then-"

"I use a Wind Deck," Youkai answered me. "We've never needed to set things on fire in an enclosed space."

"Then what's with the explosions?"

"We have rogues who've never learned a lick of self-preservation and who like the pretty flames."

"Allow me to recap what we've covered," Kaido began, ignoring us. "You've learned how to apply the Spells and Traps. You've learned your basic safety precautions with the basic three Spells, and any more cards you may wish to use. You've learned basic tactics such as recognising when you've surrounded, and the procedures needed to take yourself out of a fight. Any more, and we'll need a second camp-out to teach that. Satoshi, take over."

"Now, you will be divided into ten groups, into which one of you will be given a Death-Match Duel Rope." Satoshi took over the grumpy Kaido, who made a beeline for the coffee-pot now. "The rules are simple. Each group will be assigned a senior Psychic. Each of you will be doing this one-on-one. Your task will be to tag the Psychic Duelist you've been assigned with into a Duel, and Duel them to surrender. That means, that you will be given the green light to use your full range of Psychic powers only if you've managed to tag your Psychic Duelists. Otherwise, you're limited to burn damage and Normal Trap cards. Anyone caught breaking the Battle Regulations will be out, immediately. Anyone who can tag their Psychic and win will have a week off cleaning duty."

"_Yeah_!" Now all the baby Psychics looked really motivated.

"Water, you'll be dealing with Yamada Yukio, codename Cold Wolf." Satoshi announced. "Wind, will be taken by Misawa Nowaki, codename Sylph."

"It's Youkai!" Youkai shouted.

"Fire, will be taken by Hazuki-san, codename Titania." Satoshi nodded to the red-haired Duelist. "And Earth... well, she's not here yet. Anyway, there are two teams here who'll be dealing with two of the former royalty of DA."

"Will they be alright?" Kiryu-sensei murmured as the groups scattered. "I mean..."

"What?" I blinked.

"I just got the news that Lawton escaped from jail and he's heading back for revenge," Kiryu-sensei answered. "And West mentioned that he saw Lawton around somewhere."

One hand of mine trailed to the Satisfaction Town DuelDisk, my mood already ruined. "Dammit... the fruit-loop, huh?"

"Worried?"

"Maybe wondering if your aged self can take care of the guy."

Of course, I got slapped upside the head. "I'll have you know that I can still Duel, idiot disciple."

"Yes, yes." We knew what was a joke, after all.

Kiryu-sensei had taken me in when I ran away from home, and so I met Ryuusei and Rex. I owed my everything, even my life to Kiryu-sensei. The decision I made at eight to study the way of the Infernity had been done in a split-second, when I walked into the bar to see Kiryu-sensei beat about ten men in a bar fight with his bare hands. It was one of my better ones, really.

The first explosions had us ducking behind the nearest obstacles. "See the next time I accept a favour from Yusei," Kiryu-sensei grumbled. "Teaching kids explosives, really?"

"Could be worse," I shrugged. "We could be teaching them lightning, and then we'll need a bigger area."

"Or we could be teaching them moral fortitude."

"Slave-driver."

"Idiot disciple."

A slew of water was upended on me all of a sudden, and I jumped. "Oi!"

"If we have to deal with stray explosives, so do you!" a harried Rex whacked us. As I stood, I saw Seika dodging quickly, and then Kiryu-sensei and I had to run as a fireball came our way.

"This batch couldn't tag me," Yukio tonelessly announced, standing on a pile of bodies that were ten acolytes.

"You're the slave-driver!" Hazuki shouted as she spun, dodging away from the Death-match Duel Rope and then shooting another Fireball.

"Ah, I got caught," Youkai sighed as a loop got around his hand.

"This Rick-sama will finish you, Sempai!" the boy boasted.

"Duel!"

Rick: LP 8000

Youkai: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Rick called. "I'll set a monster and two cards, as well as play the Field Spell, Catapult Zone. Turn end!"

"Draw!" Youkai cheered. "I'll set a monster, and then I set two cards. Turn end."

"Draw!" Rick announced. "I flip up Medusa Worm [500/600]! Now, since it's flip summoned, Medusa Worm can destroy one monster on your field!"

"Lucky~!" Youkai teased. "When Kamui, Hope of Gusto is flipped, I get to special summon a Gusto tuner monster from my deck. I'll special summon Gusto Egul [200/400] to the field." The tiny green eagle appeared on the field.

"I flipped Medusa Worm, so I can summon Guardian Statue [800/1400] to the field," Rick called. "Medusa Worm, attack Gusto Egul!"

"Lucky that was in defence mode," Youkai sighed. "When Egul is destroyed by battle, I can special summon a level four non-tuner Gusto monster to the field. I choose Gusto Gulldo [500/500]."

"What, your monsters are even weaker than mine! Get it!" Rick called.

"When Gulldo is destroyed, I can special summon a level two or lower Gusto monster from my deck," Youkai announced. "I choose Winda, Priestess of Gusto [1000/400]." The priestess was standing still, her eyes closed.

"I can flip both my monsters face-down, turn end." Rick called.

"Like I'd let you!" Youkai called. "Continuous Trap card, Light of Intervention! As long as this card's on the scene, neither of us are going to be setting cards!"

"Damn!" Rick swore. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Youkai called. "I summon Caam, Serenity of Gusto [1700/1100]. By shuffling two Gusto monsters, such as Eguls and Gulldo, from graveyard into the deck, I can draw a card thanks to her. Then, I activate the quick-play Spell, Emergency Teleport. I special summon from my deck the tuner monster, Krebons [1200/400]. Tuning, level four Caam to level two Krebons. Silent winds that blow across the world, give me control of all the winds under our contract! Synchro summon! Descend, Daigusto Sphreez!"

The whirlwind started up, and from above the green-haired Psychic dropped down, grinning madly [2000/1300].

"When Sphreez is Synchro summoned, I can recover a Gusto monster from my graveyard, such as Caam, back to my hand." Youkai continued. "Trap activate, Trap Stun! Now, battle! Sphreez, attack the Guardian Statue with Roseo Temporale!"

Sphreez lashed out with a kick, and Winda followed with throwing a whirlwind at the other monster.

Rick: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Youkai: LP 8000

"But, Catapult Zone allows me to send Rock-Type monsters from my deck to the graveyard to negate their destruction by battle," Rick argued.

"Fine by me," Youkai shrugged. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Rick called. "I'll turn both of them to defence mode and end my turn."

"Draw!" Youkai called. "Those set cards... when I attacked, you didn't activate them. In that case... both are Trap cards. I summon Gusto Falco [600/1400]. Falco, attack the Medusa Worm!"

"Trap card, Mirror Force!" Rick called.

"Gotcha." Youkai smirked as his whole field imploded. "When Falco is sent to the graveyard from the field by any means except battle, I can set one Gusto monster on the field. Of course, since Light of Intervention applies to me as well, I can special summon Windaar, Sage of Gusto [2000/1000] in defence mode. And then, I activate the set card, Miracle Synchro Fusion. By banishing Daigusto Sphreez from play with Krebons in my graveyard, I can Fusion Summon Ultimate Axon Kicker [2900/1700]!"

"Damn," Rick muttered. "So was it pointless...?"

"I'll set a card, turn end," Youkai declared.

"Draw!" Rick called. "I'll pass."

"Draw," Youkai called. "Activate Spell, Psychic Feel Zone. By taking a banished Psychic-Type tuner and non-tuner monsters and moving them in the graveyard, I can special summon from my Extra Deck a Psychic Type Synchro monster with the level of the total levels of the banished monsters. It's a Synchro summon straight from the banished zone!"

"What?" Rick stared.

"The silent winds of the world, lend me your power, blowing against the winds of fate." Youkai chanted. "Synchro Summon! Soar, Daigusto Eguls!"

The giant green eagle [2600/1700] appeared on the field, beating its wings.

"And then, I'll move Windaar to attack mode," Youkai announced. "Ultimate Axon Kicker, attack Medusa Worm with Nerve Overdrive! And by the way, he's got a trample effect!"

"_What_?"

Rick: LP 6000 → LP 3600

Youkai: LP 8000

"Windaar, you deal with the Guardian Statue," Youkai announced. "And thanks to that, Daigusto Eguls, direct attack with Tornado Gamba!"

Rick: LP 3600 → LP 1000

Youkai: LP 8000

"Trap card, Blessings of Gusto," Youkai called. "By shuffling Winda and Falco back into the deck, I can special summon from the graveyard one Daigusto Sphreez! Sphreez, finish him off with Roseo Temporale!"

Rick: LP 1000 → LP 0

Youkai: LP 8000

"Damn, I knew that putting too many Degenerate Circuits was a bad idea..." Rick sighed. "And it hurts."

"Of course it does," Youkai nodded. "Anyway, nice work, newbie. Too bad we were both playing defensive decks. Against an aggressive deck that doesn't have things like Light of Intervention, maybe you'd win really well."

A slipper flew out of nowhere and hit Youkai on the head.

"Continue playing, Youkai!" Kaido ordered. "We've got to show them what happens if they fail."

"Huh? That too? Damn Kaido..." Youkai muttered, glaring. "Tornado Gamba!"

The clouds overhead were turning in a cyclic motion, and the acolytes stared up and began screaming as some of them backed away. Youkai sent the mini-cyclone spinning, and quite a few started running.

"Kaido, what are you doing?" Ryuusei casually asked, ignoring the mini-cyclone in favour of the Prophecy Duelist.

"This is the usual consequence of failing," Kaido serenely answered. "Death or injury. As a Psychic Duelist, Regulus, you should remember that."

"Isn't it a bit overkill, sending a tornado after them?" Ryuusei asked.

"Nah, this is nothing," Kaido commented as Youkai skated along one of the roofs to drop next to me.

"Kids, no running speed," Youkai grumbled.

"Well, you're the Sylph of the Arcadia Movement." I reasoned. "No one can outrun you, right?"

"He did, once," Youkai cocked his head. I followed his gaze to Ryuusei. "Ryuusei?"

Ryuusei's arms were crossed, still staring at the running acolytes and the spinning tornado.

"Ryuusei?" Rex had noticed something subtly wrong about Ryuusei as well. I felt justified.

"Shimotsuki and I figured something out." Ryuusei confessed. "Shimotsuki is coming. She'll come."

"Why?" I demanded. "She hasn't been here for two years. Why the hell would she come here after so long?"

"I'm here," Ryuusei answered. "That's why."

"In case you haven't noticed, the world doesn't quite revolve around you," Rex pointed out for me.

"She will come, and that is because I am here," Ryuusei repeated, with absolute conviction.

"And why?" I asked.

"It's complicated," he answered, frowning. The mini-cyclone began to lose power in the distance. "It's... a matter of balance. Where one goes, the other must follow."

"Where is she, anyway?" I asked.

"Somewhere in Australia, I think," Ryuusei frowned. "She said that she'd contact Nakamura-san, but... I don't know."

"She really doesn't care much about Nakamura-san, does she?" Rex grumbled.

"We don't really know that much about Nakamura-san either," I pointed out. "Just that he's scarily overprotective when needed and a powerful Duelist."

"I didn't know much about Nakamura-san when I was with the Movement either," Ryuusei shook his head. "It will come."

"It?" I echoed. "What's _it_?"

"I don't know."

Rex slapped him upside the head. "You know, this mysticism is wearing me out. Can you snap out of moping?"

"Rex..." Ryuusei growled. "Do we settle this with a Duel, or with fisticuffs?"

"I've felt your punch," Rex pointed out. "So it's a Duel."

"Kaido, clear a space!" they both snapped, the sons of Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas already commanding the field.

"Clear!" Kaido called, and the Psychics scattered. Ryuusei and Rex ran to the field, but dived down as a shot rang out.

"Where is Kiryu Kyosuke?" a man's voice rang out. Other than the ponytail riddled with grey, and a large tattoo on one side of the face, Lawton looked pretty much like the photo in the newspaper cutting stuck around Nico's bar from about twenty years back. "I'm here for payback!"

"Oh, Lawton, it's you?" Kiryu-sensei called. "You look about as horrible as I last met you. What, you're here to satisfy me again?"

"Bastard, get here and let me pay you back!" Lawton yelled.

"Why would I?" Kiryu-sensei asked. "My appetite's grown since the place was called Crashtown. And judging by how you're panting, one of our examiners is hot on your trail, isn't she? The infamous new intern of NDPD, the Sword of Judgement herself..."

Lawton glanced back, as if mentioning her would bring the dread presence herself. "W- What? Kiryu, you're not accepting the Duel?"

"Huh? What? Well, you might have to wait," Kiryu-sensei easily answered. "Those two wanted to Duel first."

Rex and Ryuusei glanced at the haggard-looking man holding the gun, and dismissed him. "Do we start?"

"Well, it's impolite not to give him what he wants," Ryuusei reasoned, clicking open his DuelDisk. "And what do you know, our DuelDisks have already locked on. Well? Will you Duel us, uncle?"

"You... I'll just beat both punks and get back to adult business!" Lawton growled as he answered.

"Two on one?" Ryuusei asked Rex.

"That's pretty unfair."

"Oi, that guy took both Yusei and me to beat," Kiryu-sensei replied.

"Oh? That changes things." Ryuusei considered.

"Two-on-one," Rex agreed, unfolding his DuelDisk. "Eight thousand life points each. Each control their own field, and cannot control other people's cards without permission."

"Agreed," Lawton nodded. "But, I'll take a limit of ten cards in hand."

"Should it be a problem?" Rex asked.

"No," Ryuusei swiftly replied. "Not at all."

"Duel!"

Rex: LP 8000

Ryuusei: LP 8000

Lawton: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Rex called. "I'll play the Spell card, Trade-In, and discard the level eight monster Archfiend Empress and draw two cards. I'll summon Trick Archfiend [1000/0] and set two cards before I end my turn."

"My turn, draw," Ryuusei began. "I activate the Spell card, One for One. By discarding a monster to the graveyard, I can special summon the level one Evil Thorn [100/300] from my deck to the field. I activate the effect of Evil Thorn; by tributing it, I inflict not only three hundred damage to my opponent, but also special summon two Evil Thorns with their effects sealed to the field. The opponent I have is you, Lawton."

Lawton: LP 8000 → LP 7700

Rex: LP 8000

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"Plants?" Rick, the newbie, whispered. "I don't know of anyone else other than Hazuki-san and Izayoi Aki who can use that..."

"Not quite," I shook my head. "As in, Ryuusei's deck is not quite a Plant Deck."

"The card I discarded was Dandylion, so two Fluff Tokens [0/0] are special summoned to the field." Ryuusei continued.

"Four monsters..." I shook my head. Ryuusei's special summoning had always been crazy.

"With that, I'll play the Spell, Scattering of Seeds. When this card is activated, I can send up to five different monsters from my deck to my graveyard, but this turn I cannot special summon from the graveyard." Ryuusei continued. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" Lawton looked like he was fuming. "I summon Gatling Ogre [800/800]! Now loading all rounds!"

"Setting five cards?" Rex blinked as the holograms appeared.

"Gatling Ogre's effect: when I send a Set Spell or Trap to the graveyard, my opponent takes eight hundred damage per card," Lawton gloated. "I send all five cards to destroy half of the blondie's life points!"

"Since when is blond dumb?" Rex asked as the rounds approached. "Trap card, Hallowed Life Barrier. I discard a card, and any damage I take this turn is negated."

"Damn..." Lawton swore as the rounds slid off the invisible field. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" Rex called. "Oi, Ryuusei, mind if I use your field?"

"Go ahead," Ryuusei shrugged.

"I summon the tuner monster, Dark Resonator [1300/300]!" Rex called as the imp with the tuning fork appeared. "Tuning, all four of your level one shrubs to level three Dark Resonator. The beating pulse of the new ruler, show the chaos inside yourself! Synchro Summon! With pride, Chaos King Archfiend!"

"Battle," Rex declared. "My Chaos King, destroy that sight for sore eyes."

"Trap card, Back Attack Ambush!" Lawton defended.

"Counter Trap, Solemn Warning," Ryuusei called. "By paying two thousand life points, the effect of Back Attack Ambush is negated since the effect involves summoning an Ambush Token."

Ryuusei: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Rex: LP 8000

Lawton: LP 7700

"Trick Archfiend, direct attack!" Rex called as the fiend somersaulted to drive her stake deep into Lawton.

Lawton: LP 7700 → LP 6700

Ryuusei: LP 6000

Rex: LP 8000

"Turn end," Rex sighed. "It's your move, Ryuusei."

"Draw," Ryuusei called. "Trap card, Limit Reverse. By special summoning Lonefire Blossom [500/1400] from my graveyard and tributing it, I can special summon from my deck Gigaplant [2400/1200]. Equipping Supervise to Gigaplant, I use its Gemini effect to revive Lonefire Blossom and tribute it again to special summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias [2800/2600] from my deck. Rex, can I use your monster?"

"Go ahead," Rex nodded.

"Activating Spell, Synchro Change," Ryuusei called. "By banishing a Synchro monster on the field, I can special summon from my extra deck a Synchro monster with the same level as the banished monster."

"It's coming," I hissed.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world," Ryuusei's voice actually brought the desert storms to bear and the winds to stir. "Pitch-dark flower, set in bloom! Synchro summon! Bloom, Black Rose Dragon!"

White light eclipsed the fiend and it gave its' life with a sigh. A crimson light flared in the dark sky above, and scarlet red flower petals began to dance in the winds. From above, the great dragon descended in florid glory, red and black wings spread out wide like the forest fires [2400/1800].

"Supervise activates, special summoning the Gemini monster Gigaplant back to the field." Ryuusei announced. "Your field is empty, Mr Lawton. Tytannial, Gigaplant, Black Rose, direct attack!"

Lawton: LP 5900 → LP 0

Ryuusei: LP 6000

Rex: LP 8000

Lawton was sent flying back to hit the wall; ow. He did not go through the wall; double _ow_. Rex and Ryuusei exchanged high-fives.

Kaido coughed, and turned to the star-struck acolytes. "Okay, that was codename Regulus, formerly of the Arcadia Movement. If you do anything bad you'll be on the receiving end of Black Rose Dragon."

Very slowly, they nodded.

"Great!" Rex cheered. "And now we can save these stats on Calcifer!"

"Stop calling my laptop Calcifer already!"

I just sighed. "Those two..."

Overhead, the storm clouds gathered.

* * *

_**Scattering of Seeds**__**  
**__**Type: Normal Spell**__**  
Effect: Choose 5 monsters in your deck, and send them to the graveyard. You cannot Special Summon from your Graveyard the turn you activate this card.**_

_**Please review!**_


	25. XXIII: Tremendous Fire

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXIII: Tremendous Fire**

"You left a _permanent_ garden in that town!" Uncle Kiryu's screams could still be heard echoing through the desert.

"I'm sorry..." Nii-chan whispered.

"That's not the problem!" Uncle Kiryu was still waving towards the run-down town, or the transformed town. "How? This place is desert for a hundred miles around! And there's even an oasis now!"

Vines entwined around the ruined wood walls, the tiled roofs, the corrugated steel rusting under the sheen of green. Nearby, a brook bubbled up near the well, flooding into a well of clear water. The temperature already felt cooler in the transformed town, whatever magic there was in its inception more than welcome as a change to what would be dying, a patch of life in an otherwise barren area.

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Rex muttered. "I mean, now there's access to fresh water-"

"And the fact that the geography of the desert just underwent a major overhaul by unnatural means won't be noted?" Uncle Kiryu crossed one arm as he picked a rose from a nearby bush to make his point, especially missing the thorns.

"If I may suggest..." Ryuusei considered. "The Arcadia Movement can take the credit for this. Seeing as the camps are held here every year, I do not think it would be noticed if the incident is shuffled under the file of unusual happenings that gather around the Arcadia Movement's members each year."

"And if we claim as such, this rose-garden can be taken under the wing of Satisfaction Town and developed, as well as provide fresh water," Kaido considered.

"True..." Uncle Kiryu considered. "Exactly... who owns the land, anyway?"

"I'll get on it when we're back in Neo Domino City," Kaido easily replied. "Chibi Boss, we've got to put out the-"

_Boom..._

"Fire!" Satoshi-san called at the top of his voice as a couple of acolytes ran towards the well.

"You idiot!" Kaido screamed.

"Oh, yeah," Uncle Kiryu crossed his arms. "Actually, we've got a guy who's headed to Neo Domino City but he doesn't have a D-Wheel. We don't have one to spare for him. So, could I ask for a favour from your guys to let him ride along?"

"Why did you bring this up only now?" Chase-nii waspishly commented, and got smacked for his trouble.

"Idiot disciple, why not?" Uncle Kiryu snapped back. "Anyway, I promise he's a nice guy and everything."

"To get that from someone who actually knows Fudo Yusei, that must be really high praise." Kaido commented. "So-"

_Boom..._

"Satoshi you bastard, put that fire out!" Kaido yelled without missing a beat. "So, where is he?"

"What a consummate multitasker," master and student commented simultaneously.

"Sorry, Kiryu-san, I got slightly lost- why is there a garden in the middle of the desert?" a man's voice asked as I turned around to see him.

He was very tall, standing perhaps equal to even Rex-nii. His black hair was cut short with the back and sides in a buzz-cut and the fringe a little longer and waved in the front. Most unusual were his eyes; one a sapphire-blue and the other was gold, and yet from them there was an aura of quiet strength, like Nii-chan own strength; immovable as a mountain and steadier than the earth. A fitted white short-sleeve shirt with a wide collar, under a gold vest worn unbuttoned covered his excellent muscle tone, and a white and gold newsboy cap, blue bell-bottom jeans, off-white Beatle boots, and a gold medallion that looks like the head of Exodia finished the ensemble. There was a tattoo in the shape of Exodia's head on his right forearm that gleamed in the desert sun as he stared in surprise at the new flora-covered town.

"Remodelling," was the short reply. "Everyone, this guy is Orion Hunter. Hunter, these guys are with the Arcadia Movement, who was holding their Camp Kaboom here. They'll be taking you along with them when they return to Neo Domino City later."

"Orion-san?" Nii-chan blinked. "Hey, it's really you, Orion-san!"

"Ryuusei?" Orion blinked. "Then..."

Slowly, his gaze turned to me. "...Seika?"

"Y- Yes," I nodded. "Erm... do we know each other?"

"Yes, we certainly do," Orion nodded. "I'm Setsuka's cousin! Don't you remember me, Seika?"

"I- I'm sorry... I don't," I shook my head. "You're Setsu-chan's cousin?"

"Oh, right, you were about five then," Orion nodded. "Yeah, I'm her cousin. Diana-san, or the Madame as we knew her, was my father's sister."

"You're Apollymi Hunter's-" Kaido did a double take. "You're... Boss's cousin?"

"She's still the head of the Movement, I take it?" Orion conversationally asked.

"N- No," I stuttered. "I- I am."

Silence. More silence. The kind of forcibly extended awkward silence where Orion looked like he needed some time to wrap his head around the concept.

"I- I see," Orion answered, his voice having taken on a strangled quality. "Then... Setsuka... what happened to Setsuka? Ryuusei? Seika? What's been going on?"

There was a pause. Kaido shook his head. "Let's get on the bus. I'll try to explain what I can."

* * *

DNA is frigging amazing. I mean, no matter how you look at it, it's a string of stuff written in quaternary code that's made up of four chemical compounds attached to a simple sugar-phosphate backbone that pretty much dictates our entire body. It's the personal coding language of biology itself and its structure was pretty much the number one medical discovery of the twentieth century. It can heal, and it can kill, and it's all dependent on a unique combination of chemical compounds whose unique order only comes up in astronomical odds.

DNA can make, once in a while, some really unique individuals whom you just... know. Know _what_, exactly, I have no clue, but there's something about them that either endears them to everyone, or freaks the hell out of everyone else. Sometimes, that specific facet of a person becomes your entire impression of them and it remains.

Take, for example, Shimotsuki. Even though the old girl was responsible for fifty thousand members of the Movement in Neo Domino itself and approximately fifteen thousand and counting worldwide – which pretty much meant that she used to control the city in the _world_ with the highest ratio of Psychic Duelist to population, with only New York coming second with a paltry five thousand or so – I always had the impression that she'd sprung from the earth already fully formed with a poker face and cold glares and an equally glacial aura that just freaks the hell out of me. The details of her family, the equally legendary Madame Shimotsuki and the father who once beat the King of Games, Yuugi Mutou himself (and some say the Nameless Pharaoh as well) were... background. There, but unimportant. It's a lot like Batman; he's a vigilante hero of the night, and she's the badass Mafia princess of the Arcadia Movement. There wasn't much else I'd cared to take note of...

…until I recalled that everyone had a story behind them.

Ryuusei had the shadow of his mother's Black Rose Witch and now the mantle of incredible power on him. Rex had the worry for his mother and sister given Jack Atlas's usual absenteeism. I had my parents dying, running away fro home, and to Satisfaction Town where a kairotic moment happened for me. Kiyoshi... Kiyoshi had his abuse, Ophion killing his foster family and causing him to run to the Summer Court of the spirits, until he saw how they treated their 'guests' and got insane and decided to spare us all by killing us through ice ages or global warming. Seika had her father dying, her adoption into the Fudo family, and her relation with the Shimotsuki family, as well as her recent appointment as the new head of the Arcadia Movement.

It was very easy to be batshit terrified of Shimotsuki Setsuka, just staring into her eyes and into a soul as barren and cold as the frozen tundra. It was very easy to pay attention to the very awe her presence inspired just by mentioning her, and anyone who knew her would immediately pause to wipe sweaty palms on the nearest available surface and force that fight-or-flight reflex down unless she was in view, at which they just hunkered down and prayed not to be eaten. Family didn't seem to be an integral part of her; she _was_, and _is_, and _would be_, Shimotsuki Setsuka, and family was a background concern.

To have living family, though... that meant that she had a past too. That meant that she was a living being, with hopes and dreams and emotions. That meant that she too, once upon a time, had _family, _someone to stave off the emptiness and quiet pain and the feeling that no one cared about you at all. That she had family, but we _didn't_ quite know, meant quite a lot of things.

"You're the Madame's nephew, then?" Kaido was asking Orion. We were on the coach, all occupied in our seats for the long ride back to Neo Domino City and there was barely anything to do besides wait.

"Yes," Orion answered. "I know... my father wasn't really around. I was found when I was eight and she claimed me. I went to Duel Academia and then started travelling, so I wasn't really in Neo Domino when she was setting up, but I did have an honorary membership."

"Oh, right," Kaido nodded. "You're a member of the Hunter family."

"And what of it?" Orion asked.

"Boss had you declared dead," Kaido bluntly answered. "Since you're technically alive, you'll be revived in the eyes of the law. With that, the Madame's will should be reactivated, which therefore means that there will be another contender for the position of head of the Arcadia Movement. Chibi Boss is the invested head right now, with actual power but no legal standing because of her status as a minor. Therefore, you have the strongest legal standing to take over the Arcadia Movement."

"I was declared dead- of course I was," Orion sounded deflated. "As expected of Setsuka, she really works fast... so I've been legally dead for eleven years, huh?"

"Yeah," Kaido shortly answered. "Are you intending to rejoin the Movement?"

"Well, I was intending to challenge Setsuka and win, so... yeah, I guess," Orion chuckled.

Kaido continued to study him, from his seat across that little hallway between the seats on a coach. Speaking as someone who had been under that stare, I knew from experience that it would be unsettling.

"You have no intentions to take over the Arcadia Movement," the bespectacled Duelist finally said. "It's just the result of the end. And I don't think you have the temperament of handling the Movement the way it is now, anyway."

"I'm flattered," Orion crossed his arms, barely reacting. "So... since Seika is the head of the Arcadia Movement, where _is_ Setsuka?"

"She's... gone," Kaido answered.

Orion looked at him, and then at Satoshi and Rodriguez, who were keeping the baby Psychics calm if not actually in order. Then he got up and turned to Ryuusei. "Where. Is. My. Cousin."

Although Orion was the exact opposite of Shimotsuki in terms of aura, him being somewhat close inspiring hope and cavities in everyone and she being the coldly malicious entity I've always known, it was at times like this that I truly saw the family resemblance, the grace of their shared features and the steely resolve hidden within.

Shimotsuki was a Mafia princess. This was a prince.

Ryuusei considered. "She's in Australia on the honeymoon right now."

There was that look on his face again. Usually it involved people doing crazy and improbable things and you can't believe that they actually got away with it but they did with the kind of aplomb that you envy them for, that some people can manage something _this_ daring and get away with it for being human. That was the exact reaction of Orion Hunter upon hearing about his cousin's marriage. I mean, sure, Jimmy Cook and Shimotsuki Setsuka weren't the couple everyone was expecting, but he could have taken the news as someone related to Shimotsuki might be.

"What?" he yelped. "She got _married_?"

"Yes." Ryuusei answered. "James Cook II."

"Oh, that guy," Orion nodded, still with that stupefied look on his face. "So his persistence won out, huh? I guess he was serious about that crush..."

Anyone who regularly kept up with the grapevine of the Movement knew about Jimmy Cook and his crush on the ice queen. It was the butt of jokes until a few years ago, and then they became the envy of almost every Psychic. It might sound funny, but the ice queen had someone to love. The very fact of it was... rather heart-rending when she disappeared.

"Why did you leave, Orion-san?" Ryuusei asked, deciding to change the subject.

"...it got bad," Orion groaned, a series of expressions crossing his face, along with a quiet regret. "Eleven years ago... it started. Setsuka turned for the worse, she became what everyone kept calling her. A monster, a witch... and she took it even further. I didn't even know until Nakamura-san called me... and by then, Shimotsuki Setsuka already had her own Interpol file under suspicion of annihilating the Elysium Circle and its allies. Can you imagine... a ten, no, eleven-year-old girl, being a criminal at that age?"

"_Eleven_ years old?" I yelped. "She-"

"Madame's death affected everyone in the Movement," Ryuusei stoically answered. "That contract with Dewloren gave an already powerful child too much power. That's why, when you challenged her publicly, Orion-san, and you were beaten down horribly. And after that, you left the Arcadia Movement to travel. During that time, Shimotsuki had you declared legally dead, and therefore claimed your material possessions under Madame Shimotsuki's will. With no one else to challenge her after that, Shimotsuki expanded the Arcadia Movement and became its benevolent dictator until she gave it up to Seika."

"What was she thinking...?" Orion groaned, putting his face into his hands. "Setsuka... is, was precocious, headstrong, and like Diana-san. She was a dangerous combination, and the fact that the Madame kept teaching her as well was even more so. Was I too late...?"

"Orion-san, what did you leave for?" Ryuusei questioned.

"After... I was horribly beaten," Orion admitted. "I was in the hospital for two weeks. During that time, I realised that to have any hope of reaching Setsuka, I needed power. Even though I had Psychic powers, and from my mother the Sight, I couldn't persuade or move Setsuka because she was precocious and headstrong. I couldn't defeat Setsuka or make her listen because she had so much more power and will than me. So, with my mother's archaeology journals, I traced the origins of Duel Spirits all over the world. I needed to find a way to break the contract."

"You were too late to prevent the deaths of the Madame and Rafael-san," Ryuusei nodded. "You were too late to stop her from making that deal with Dewloren that sealed her fate. And now, you are too late to defeat her. The distance between the two of you have increased further."

"So she's in Australia..." Orion sighed. "Well, I can ask her when she comes back."

"She's not coming back," Ryuusei quietly answered. "And you know it, servant of the Forbidden One."

The gold eye flashed, and there was a haunted shadow about Orion's features. "So do you, Lord of the Ever-Green."

The coach rumbled, and stalled, drawing groans from most of the people as they got up and out, onto the streets of Neo Domino City once more. Overhead, the Arcadia Movement building loomed, a spectacle of black and forbidding but curiously safe.

"Welcome..." Nakamura-san's words died as he laid eyes on Orion. "...Orion-sama?"

"Nakamura-san!" Orion laughed, reaching over to give Nakamura-san a friendly embrace and handshake. "You're here!"

The older man's face fell. "Indeed... if only it were not so." He turned to Seika. "Seika-ojou, you must be tired."

"Welcome back, everyone!" Aki-sensei called cheerfully, reaching over to give Ryuusei a hug. "I hope you all had fun at Camp Kaboom!"

Kaido groaned openly. "You too, Izayoi-sensei?"

"Let's face it, Basic Burn Damage isn't a very interesting camp name," Satoshi teased.

"Get back here!" Kaido drew swiftly and flung a violet blast at him, which Satoshi dodged and ran.

"No one got hurt, Ryuusei turned the town into a rose garden, overall we're okay," Rex reported.

"Good!" Aki-sensei nodded as she gave Seika a hug. "Uzuki-san?"

"Say..." Uzuki's face fell suddenly and comically. "I forgot about the test!"

"Uzuki..." Seika sighed. "The test is Dueling 101..."

"You still need to study for that test?" Rex and I spoke together.

"I did study for it last time," Ryuusei answered.

"That's because you're a nice guy and Shirahane hates you," I waspishly replied.

"What's the test about?" Adrian asked.

"Alternate Win conditions," Uzuki sighed. "We didn't have a nice presentation like Princeton-san's year-"

"Oi, I didn't ask Kiryu-sensei to come over!" I hotly protested.

"Duel!" Orion snapped his fingers. "Is it just you two? We can have a practical lesson! After all, we have the famous Viper Duelist, Adrian Rodriguez here, right?"

"I'm famous?" Adrian's eyes sparkled.

"Amongst the Duel Spirits," I supplied. "They call you 'the loud-mouth snake bastard'."

"Oi!" Adrian glared at me, but something said that he was teasing. "So, a shower first, and then I'll team up with this guy in Duel Marathon on Alternate Win conditions, huh?"

It is amazing, the speed at which the younger Himemiya sister can be forced to move when faced with the prospect of a Duel. It was done and over with in a flash, as the two girls faced both Duelists.

"This is a friendly Duel," Seika nodded. "Uzuki, don't go overboard, okay?"

"Yes, Seika!" Uzuki waved as she faced Adrian. "Ready, senior?"

"You make that sound old," Adrian joked.

"Duel!"

Uzuki: LP 8000

Adrian: LP 8000

"Draw!" Uzuki called. "I'll set a card. Turn end."

"Draw!" Adrian called. "Our lesson begins now. I'll activate Trade-In to discard a level eight monster and draw two cards. Then, I'll set four cards and end my turn."

"Draw!" Uzuki declared. "I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Madolche Ticket and summon Madolche Magileine [1400/1200]." The witch appeared in a cloud of pink hearts, readying her fork-broomstick. "Madolche Magileine, direct attack!"

Adrian: LP 8000 → LP 6600

Uzuki: LP 8000

"Trap card, Damage Condenser!" Adrian called. "By discarding a card, I'll special summon a monster with equal or less attack power than the damage I took. The snake king's wrath shall be unleashed once more! His body uncoiled, he will crush all in his way! Arise, Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes!"

It wore green robes under a sweeping purple cloak, and bore a golden crown the shape of the top half of a cobra's head to cover its face. Snakes of a greenish hue hissed from all around it's body, and everyone would swear that he could see a forked tongue dart out occasionally [0/0].

"Vennominon? But... its attack power is zero..." Uzuki murmured. "Turn end!"

"Draw! And then, I activate the Trap card, Offering to the Snake Deity!" Adrian called. "By destroying my Vennominon, I can destroy two cards you control. I'll destroy that Madolche Ticket and your set card! Now, I activate my own Trap: Rise of the Snake Deity! The serpent goddess has at last awoken! Her venom shall weaken and wither away all who oppose her! Awaken, Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes!"

Snake-skin slithered about, her head of poisonous snakes arose, covering her with that very same malevolent air that was lent to all monsters. The wicked witches, the evil queens, the mad enchantresses. Think of the alluring sirens, the hungry ogresses, the savage she-beasts. Think of them, and remember that somewhere, sometime, they have all been real[0/0 → 500/0].

"Next, I activate the Spell, Snake Rain," Adrian declared. "I mill four Reptiles of my choice into the graveyard to increase the power of Vennominaga [500/0 → 2500/0]. My last trap of this turn, Ojama Trio!"

"Ojama... Trio?" Uzuki repeated as the infamous three stooges of Uncle Jun's deck appeared [0/1000].

"O-"

"-JA-"

"-MA-"

"TRIO!" they cheered as they occupied the field.

"W- What?" Uzuki looked deeply offended.

"I'll set a card, and turn end." Adrian nodded.

"Draw!" Uzuki called.

"Trap card, Battle Mania!" Adrian called. "Now, all your monsters are switched to attack mode and must attack this turn!"

"W- What?" Uzuki panicked as her cards changed. "W- When Madolche Marmalmaide is flipped face-up, I can take back Madolche Ticket."

"But, you'll be forced to battle," Adrian nodded. "See, the three stooges are already at it. Vennominaga, counter with Absolute Venom!"

Indeed, the ugly trio flung themselves as Vennominaga, whose snakes lashed out. As she killed each and every one of them, three little snakes gathered at her feet, or where she touched ground.

"Each time Vennominaga inflicts battle damage to my opponent, I gain a Hyper Venom Counter," Adrian nodded. "When she has three Hyper Venom Counters, I win the Duel!"

Adrian: AUTOMATIC WIN

Uzuki: LP 8000 → LP 7100 → LP 0

"As usual, the Viper doesn't hold back even in a practice session," Satoshi commented from the sidelines.

"I don't want to hear that from the Spartan teacher called the Trailblazer," Adrian snapped right back. "Anyway, that was one of the Duel Winners in action."

"Duel... Winners..." Uzuki echoed. "Cards that can win a Duel by other methods. Exodia, Exodius, Final Countdown, Last Turn, Destiny Board, Horakhty, and... Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes. Incredibly powerful cards... Cards that can win a Duel in a single move... the Duel Winners."

"Nice," Orion began clapping. "Then, shall we?"

The floor began to rumble as he proposed it, and the doors opened. Ryuusei and the Professor dived through in time as the explosion sounded.

"Dad, next time, less," Ryuusei commented as he unlocked his DuelDisk.

"What happened?" Uzuki snapped as a mass of black feathers scattered through and some malevolence in the air seemed to seep in as we all faced it.

_It's coming! _Rei warned. _That power..._

"_You opened a door to a world you don't know._" The whip glanced through the air, and bit through concrete as the white-haired entity in red and black armour that did everything to enhance her attributes appeared, snapping her whip. Ryuusuke flew from its grip to bump and bounce on the floor towards us. The Professor caught him. "_Right into the heart of Winter. Prepare to pay the price, impudent worm._" Her voice was cracked and oddly canted, like she was talking underwater.

"I'll do something about the dimension tear," The Professor nodded. "Ryuusei, I'll need you as well. Can one of you take care of Ryuusuke-kun and occupy that monster?"

"Winter... just nice, then," Orion stepped up. "You monster, I challenge you to a Duel. If you win, then you'll be able to do what you like. If I win, you'll tell me everything about your boss."

"_I am the Chaos Hunter, and as a boon the Queen in all her glory has granted me the name Nemesis, as her retribution,_" the Chaos Hunter replied as her left arm glowed and the armour fanned out into a DuelDisk. Right now, the Fudo father-son team made a run for the laboratory. "_As you wish, I shall fulfil it._"

"Duel!"

Orion: LP 8000

Nemesis: LP 8000

"Draw!" Orion called. "I'll summon Vortex Trooper [0/600] to the field. Now, I can return two cards from my hand and return it to my deck, shuffle, and then draw two cards. With that, I activate Pot of Duality, which allows me to check the top three cards of my deck, and add a card of choice to hand. I'll choose Defence Draw. So, I'll set a card, turn end."

"_Draw,_" the Hunter studied the field. "_When my opponent controls a monster and I do not, I can special summon from my hand the tuner monster, Unknown Synchron [0/0]._"

"Synchron?" I could feel my eyebrow rise as the lump of metal appeared on the field.

"_I shall then activate the Spell, Charge of the Light Brigade._" she continued. "_By sending three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, I can search my deck for a Lightsworn monster. I shall choose Jain, Lightsworn Paladin. Now I summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin [1800/1200] to the field. Jain, attack that Vortex Trooper._"

"Trap card, Defence Draw!" Orion countered. "All battle damage here becomes zero. And then, when Vortex Trooper is destroyed, I can draw a card," Orion nodded. "And then, I can draw another card thanks to Defence Draw."

"_I shall set a card, turn end._" the Hunter rumbled.

"My turn, draw!" Orion called. "I summon Sangan [1000/600]! Sangan, attack Jain!"

"_Jain has the higher attack power!_" Nemesis called as the Critter did a suicide run.

Orion: LP 8000 → LP 7200

Nemesis: LP 8000

"Yeah, I know," Orion shrugged. "But my real aim is this card, Right Arm of the Forbidden One. Now, I activate Upstart Goblin. You gain one thousand life points, but I get to draw a card."

Nemesis: LP 8000 → LP 9000

Orion: LP 7200

"_Right Arm of the- I see._" the Hunter allowed. "_Such a risky proposition has not been seen since the days of the mortal Sugoroku Mutou and the traitor. You have made the worst decision of your life, dog of Exodia._"

"Dog... of Exodia?" I blinked.

"I need power for something," Orion growled in answer. "If it means making a deal..."

"_Mortals. You never understand until it is too late._" Nemesis intoned. "_It is your turn, Exodia's servant._"

"I draw!" Orion called. "I set two cards, and then I activate the Continuous Spell, Swords of Blazing Light!"

Blue flames flickered, and swords of the same flame stabbed into the ground around the Hunter's field.

"As long as I control no monsters, monsters my opponent controls cannot declare an attack," Orion nodded. "And furthermore, this card doesn't have a time limit. Unless my opponent have five or more cards in hand, or I control a monster, it will not run out."

"Protecting himself while he's collecting the Exodia pieces..." Uzuki murmured.

"_Draw!_" Nemesis called. "_When I control a tuner monster, I can special summon Boost Warrior [300/200] from my hand_. _Tuning, level one Boost Warrior and level four Jain to level one Unknown Synchron! Synchro summon... Goyo Guardian [2800/2000]!_"

"Synchro summon?" I frowned as the Japanese kabuki samurai monster appeared.

"_Turn end._" the Hunter murmured quietly.

"Draw!" Orion called. "Now, I'll activate the trap, Hope for Escape! By paying one thousand life points, I can draw one card for every two thousand difference between our life points. This will be the destiny draw! I _draw_!"

As he drew, his tattoo gave off a bright glow.

"The pieces are here," Orion nodded as he showed his hand, literally. "Forbidden One, I break the seal upon your strength. In the covenant of our forging, bring me victory! Come, Exodia the Forbidden One!"

Giants hands appeared first as the hexagram trapped in the circle appeared as a whirling circle. The pharaonic head-dress and chest appeared, followed by the rest of Exodia. He was... a great beast, on equal powers with maybe even Summer and Winter, and he was here _now_.

Orion: AUTOMATIC WIN

Nemesis: LP 9000 → LP 0

"_Exodia..._" the Hunter collapsed in awe as her body began to fade. "_So that is the beast on the level with the Emissaries that the rulers command... I will remember this. What shall I tell the Queen, dog of Exodia?_"

"Tell her Orion Hunter is coming to depose her," Orion challenged. "Knowing my cousin, she'll have a challenge waiting for me one way or another."

"_Are you... you challenge us?_" the Hunter roared, now desperately trying to cling on. "_Our Queen will not be defeated by the likes of you...!_"

_You... you... _the echo continued to hold as she faded, her scream one of barely masked rage.

"What..." Uzuki swallowed.

The Fudo father and son walked in. "We've solved the dimension distort- what just..."

"Just happened?" Adrian finished for them, his expression heavy as well.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	26. XXIV: Dark Room of Nightmare

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXIV: Dark Room of Nightmare**

"_There are more disappearances...?"_

"_How scary..."_

"_But, aren't they all Psychic Duelists?"_

"_No, my friend's sister disappeared into thin air just yesterday!_"

I spoke with those rumours amongst the students of Kings and Queens in mind, that this was a very credible threat and that we had to do this. And yet...

"We've established that the Neverland website had something to do with those missing people," I began. With Yamada-san, Nakamura-san, Orion-san, Kaido and Nii-chan and Baa-chan present, it was a very small meeting. "The last time the Movement investigated, there was the reported reappearance of Shimotsuki Setsuka, Tenjouin Michiru and Kujaku Satsuki, codename Polaris, Devil and Aquila respectively. We can hypothesise that these three former members of the Arcadia Movement are responsible for at least part of them. The finding and recapture of all three has become our immediate priority within Neo Domino City. Kaido-san, do we have any leads?"

"Other than the Neverland convention, our regular contact Chase Princeton has been trying," Kaido reported. "Aside from that, and the missing body of Kiyoshi, there are no more leads. There are no common patterns between all the missing people, merely that they are Duelists. And as you know, Duelists are very easy to find. The venues at which they disappear keep changing as well, as did the Forgotten City nightclub."

"In short, the best way would be to set a trap," Yamada-san nodded. "But, what's the motivation behind all this?"

"Who knows." Baa-chan looked troubled. "And now Setsuka is doing this...just like how that woman's motivation always surprised me. She's really her mother's daughter."

We paused at the sound of glass breaking, all turning to see Orion-san holding the broken shards.

"Don't say that," Orion-san spoke in a dead voice. "She's just lost..."

"You've been labouring under some misconceptions for a long time, Hunter-san," Yamada-san crossed his arms. "You challenged her, then lost, and then you left. You left your only blood relation to fend for herself, without any emotional support after the loss of her parents and family. Even if Shimotsuki-sama had experienced that in the beginning, now it's gone."

"Yamada-san..." I murmured, but Yamada-san now settled back into his chair.

"So, I suppose the approved plan is to bait a trap?" Kaido continued without missing a beat.

There were a few more arguments, more shouting, and then it was dismissed.

"Orion-sama, your legal status was just restored," Nakamura-san announced as the meeting's end was called. "Missy has invested your ten million yen into the following properties, and your assets have trebled under her judgement."

"Thirty million?" Orion-san yelped. "T- That's-"

"Also, I have taken the time to prepare application forms for a credit card and basic bank account," Nakamura-san handed him the files.

"That's... as expected of Nakamura-san," Orion-san nodded. "Then why couldn't you control Setsuka?"

"The Missy is a very determined entity," Nakamura-san replied. "If she was set on a course, then she would have done it anyway. The only way I could have done anything to mitigate it was at her side. It was either that... or lose her completely to Dewloren and them."

"Even so... Even so...!" Orion-san slumped on the chair. "Seika... am I a bad cousin? I searched for over ten years for a power to break the contract... and now, it's too late."

"I- I think... I think Setsu-chan would appreciate your effort," I feebly answered. "After all... you were doing it for her sake. I... I can't get used to this. I want... Setsu-chan to come back. But, she told me herself... that when I was adopted by Jii-chan and Baa-chan, for my safety, until a chosen time, I was to stay away from the Arcadia Movement and from Setsu-chan. Because... because she was planning something big, and she couldn't care if I were to die."

"That kind of cruel words..." Orion-san hissed.

"It was true," my voice was small. "At that time, the Arcadia Movement was unstable. There was... another group. A school bus of children died, you know? All because of hate crimes. Setsu-chan did what she needed, sacrificing herself for everyone else's safety. She couldn't care if I were to be caught in the cross-fire..."

"Those are still unnecessarily harsh words!" Orion-san protested. "That can't be true. Setsuka... Setsuka..."

"It is the fault of this city," Nakamura-san rumbled. "The memories and pain of this place meant that Missy would always be held to duty. It was for this duty that she gave herself to... which caused her to end up like this. This is the shared fate that awaits you, Orion-sama, should you choose to take over the Arcadia Movement. Just like everyone of the Hunter family."

"Nakamura-san..." Orion-san shook his head. "I have every intention of doing so. But first, I must resolve this. I must free her and bring my cousin back."

"I see," Nakamura-san nodded after a long silence, and left.

"You're really going to bring Setsu-chan back?" I asked.

"Yep, I am," Orion-san nodded. "It was for the sake of this that I actually searched for all these years, after all... don't you have to go to school?"

"No, today is a special test..." I answered before my cellphone went off. "Eh?"

"_Seika, are you here?_" Uzuki reported. "_I'm at the Daimon Area's shopping mile! There's an insane guy holding up the mall! Right now he's being distracted, but hurry!_"

"Mall hold-up...? Orion-san, please follow me!" I murmured as I ran out with Orion-san and we got a ride from Nakamura-san.

"How are you always present when we need a car?" Orion-san demanded.

"There is a silent alarm connected to every business the Movement makes agreements with," Nakamura-san answered. "In answer, the Movement sometimes does private security in exchange for funds, and it gives the future Berets a chance to try their hand first at practical skills too."

Thanks to Nakamura-san's fast yet not technically illegal driving, we made it on record time to see the shopping mall surrounded by cars. We flashed our Arcadia membership cards quickly, before skating through.

"To challenge the great Ace to a Duel, you sure have guts, little girl!" the man gloated across the blonde woman standing across him.

"I'm sure it's the fact that I'm holding the trigger to that detonation cord that's wrapped around your hand," she answered. "But, I'm sure that I can beat you in three turns."

"Kujaku Satsuki?" I recognised. "Satsuki-san..."

"Duel!" both called.

Satsuki: LP 8000

Ace: LP 8000

"Draw!" Satsuki called. "I summon Harpie Channeler [1400/1300] to the field in attack mode!"

An orange-haired Harpie with her hair done in looped pigtails, a staff in her claws and black wings appeared, smirking in her slinky white dress with matching stockings. A chain dangled from her staff.

"I'll use her effect right now, by discarding a Harpie card, I can special summon another Harpie monster from my deck in face-up defence mode," Satsuki called. "I'll discard Harpie Dancer to special summon another Harpie Dancer [1200/1000]! Then I activate the Continuous Spell, Hysteric Sign. By activating this card, I can take a specific Spell, Elegant Egotist from my deck to my hand. I set a card, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Ace gloated at the appearance of the second Harpie, a blonde with white wings. "I'll summon Chainsaw Insect [2400/0] to the field in attack mode! And then, I'll set a card. Chainsaw Insect, attack Harpie Channeler!"

"Trap card, Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation!" Satsuki called. "When I control two or more face-up Harpie monsters, I can negate your attack and end the battle phase."

"Che. Turn end," he scowled.

"Draw!" Satsuki called. "I'll discard Harpie Queen to add the Field Spell, Harpies' Hunting Ground to the field. I'll then activate Harpies' Hunting Ground! Now all Winged Beast Type monsters gain two hundred attack and defence power [1400/1300 → 1600/1500] [1200/1000 → 1400/1200]. I'll then discard Harpie Lady Three to special summon from my deck another Harpie Queen [1900/1200 → 2100/1400]. Due to the first effect of Harpies' Hunting Ground, when a Harpie Lady monster is normal or special summoned to the field, I destroy a Spell or Trap! I choose your set card!"

"What!" Ace covered himself as the Appropriate was destroyed.

"Next, the Spell card, Elegant Egotist!" Satsuki called. "Arise, Harpie Lady Sisters [1950/2100 → 2150/2300]!"

Feathers dropped, and the infamous trio of monsters that were Mai Kujaku's ace monsters appeared.

"Since the effect of Hunting Ground is compulsory, I'll destroy my own Hysteric Sign! Now, I'll activate the Spell, Wing Requital. By paying six hundred life points, I can draw as many cards as there are Winged Beast Type monsters I control, but I cannot use those cards this turn."

Satsuki: LP 8000 → LP 7400

Ace: LP 8000

"I draw four cards," Satsuki nodded. "And with my three monsters, I construct the overlay network! Exceed Summon! Appear now, our newest pet, Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon [2000/2500]!"

The blood-scarlet dragon that appeared was slimmer, with the same decorated headpiece and collar as the original but somehow more malicious. A chain slid down for one of the Sisters to hold.

"Eh. That's it," Ace shrugged. "Your monster can't stand up to Chainsaw Insect..."

"Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon can attack you directly."

"...say what?"

"Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon, attack this fool directly!" Satsuki ordered. "Mirage Fire Giga!"

The resulting blast sent him skidding back physically.

Ace: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Satsuki: LP 7400

"W- What was that?" Ace stuttered. "T- That was... that was real damage! You... you're a Psychic Duelist?"

"I'll set two cards. End phase, the effect of Hysteric Sign allows me to add three different Harpie cards from my hand to my deck upon the end phase of the turn of destruction," Satsuki finished as the dragon swallowed one material. "I choose Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, Harpie Queen and Harpie Lady One. At my end phase, Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon will detach one Exceed Material. Turn end."

"_Wow..._" the audience murmured. "_She's cool..._"

"Satsuki?" Hazuki-nee shouted from above. "Satsuki, is that you?"

"Draw!" Ace looked more angry. "But, your dragon's attack power cannot beat even Chainsaw Insect. I just have to declare an attack to destroy it!"

"My pet's ability, Mirage of the Sky," Satsuki declared. "As long as Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon is on the field with Exceed Material, all Harpie monsters on the field cannot be targeted for battle or card effect by my opponent."

"_What_?" Ace growled.

"In short, your so-called powerful monster cannot stand up to my dragon as long as she holds Exceed Material," Satsuki declared.

"Bitch..." Ace muttered. "Then, I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Infinite Cards! With that, both players can hold an infinite amount of cards in their hands. I'll summon the monster, Muka Muka [600/300], and since I hold four cards, it gains three hundred attack and defence power [600/300 → 1800/1500]. I'll set a card, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Satsuki called. "I play the Spell, Triangle Ecstasy Spark! Now, until the end phase, the attack power of all Harpie Lady Sisters not only become twenty-seven hundred [2150/2300 → 2900/2300], my opponent's Trap cards are completely sealed off!"

"What?" Ace roared.

"I'm not done," Satsuki nodded. "I activate the Spell, Quill Pen of Gulldos. By targeting one card my opponent controls and two Wind Attribute monsters from my graveyard, I can shuffle my monsters to the deck and bounce that target to your hand! I choose that eyesore of an insect, Chainsaw Insect!"

"My Insect!" Ace called.

"I summon Rescue Rabbit [300/100]." Satsuki continued. "By banishing it from my control, Rescue Rabbit allows me to special summon from my deck two Harpie Girl [500/500]. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed Summon! Arise, Daigusto Phoenix [1500/1100]!"

Something like an orange and green eagle appeared, its wings spread and beak heavy.

"I use the monster effect of Daigusto Phoenix, detaching one Exceed Material to choose a Wind Attribute monster like my Mirage Dragon," Satsuki nodded. "Battle! Harpie Lady Sisters, attack that Muka Muka with your Triangle Ecstasy Spark!"

A triangle glowed as the sisters flew in formation, and a single pure violet blast eradicated the life of Muka Muka with joyous screams.

Ace: LP 6000 → LP 4900

Satsuki: LP 7400

"Daigusto Phoenix, direct attack! Next, my Mirage Dragon, direct attack with Mirage Fire Giga!" Satsuki called as the dragon's maw opened.

Ace: LP 4900 → LP 3400 → LP 1400

Satsuki: LP 7400

"I've still got life points!" Ace called.

"The ability of Daigusto Phoenix kicks in!" Satsuki called. "It allows the chosen monster to attack twice! So, my Mirage Dragon, deal the finishing blow with Mirage Fire Giga!"

Ace: LP 1400 → LP 0

Satsuki: LP 7400

Ace flew back, hitting a wall and colliding with the reinforced glass front of the bank he was attempting to rob. A small crater appeared on the surface as he collapsed with a crack and the _snap_ of broken bones. As the holograms disappeared, the Sisters remained, preening, and Satsuki lowered her hand, abruptly shaking. It was very cold, I realised.

"Satsuki!" Hazuki-nee called. "Satsuki, please, wait! Satsuki!"

"Himemiya..." Satsuki murmured, pausing only slightly from walking towards her dragon. "You're supposed to arrest that bastard, aren't you?"

"Well..." Hazuki stared as Satsuki's blonde head bent and she lowered herself to gather a bouquet of flowers in her hands. "W- What about you, Satsuki? You've come back..."

"Today is my shore leave," Satsuki murmured. "You should not have seen me, Himemiya-san. Goodbye."

"Wait, Satsuki-" Hazuki-nee covered as fierce gusts of wind blew, and Satsuki... faced us.

"The Queen has gotten your challenge," Satsuki said to us. "Should you accept, she will grant you an audience outside of Neo Domino International Airport at sunset tonight."

So saying, she then disappeared...

* * *

"You really know where to pick the best places to eat," Youkai grumbled as he ate the roast chicken and avocado spread sandwich. "Marry me."

"Not legal yet," I mumbled, but definitely feeling that uncomfortably warm feeling that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with sharing a meal with someone you like, that undefinable feeling. If it was a date, then the Professor and Ryuusei and Rex would be third wheels, because they were here too.

Rex's face was holding an expression that was bordering on hilarity. "You know, there are so many jokes I could make right now about you two being an old married couple and Chase actually researching on Neo Domino's restaurant scene."

"You shut up," I venomously muttered. I also shifted to not feel the sheaf of paper detailing Neo Domino's best eating places in my duster pocket. Out of sight, out of mind...

Bite. Chew. It was really good, a nutty flavour inter-spaced with the bread and the chicken. Beside me, Youkai made another noise bordering on orgasmic.

"This is good..." Ryuusei was devouring the food quickly. "I haven't actually eaten that much in these two years."

"Huh?" Rex blinked. "Why?"

Ryuusei paused, staring at the half-finished hamburger. "Everything there has an obligation and duty behind it. If I ate, I couldn't know if it would bind me there. There are stories about those who have eaten food with the spirits, and were therefore unable to return forever. To that end, I couldn't really eat anything until I met Misawa-san and Youkai-sempai's aunt, Tania-san."

"Oh? I've never seen her," Youkai answered, his voice flat. The very loss of his uncle Misawa Daichi had caused the now-broken curse on his family in the first place, after all.

"No wonder you managed to finish off the entire rice cooker," the Professor quietly nodded. "Don't spoil your stomach, Ryuusei. No one's going to snatch it away."

"Dad, I'm not a kid anymore."

"You're still my son, Ryuusei."

Ryuusei subsided, choosing to sink his teeth into the meat instead. I think he was touched; it was hard to tell under that poker face.

"I've actually been thinking about publishing," the Professor murmured once the meal was over and done with. "Even though two years of research ended up wasted, it's still useful knowledge. We've already confirmed that the Einstein-Rosen bridge can be created and crossed safely, by non-material beings if not actually ourselves. I can actually prove the existence of different universes out there."

"That's great," I nodded quickly. "If the Duel Spirit World exists..."

"Dr Zweinstein had already made his publication," Ryuusei doubtfully murmured. "But... his research was thrown under doubt from funding by the Kingdom of Misgarth and the then-infamous Society of Light and his tenure was cancelled. Dad... are you going to publish despite everything you'll face?"

"Well, work funded by M.I.D.S would have quite a seal of approval," the Professor answered. "And I'm just proving the theory of wormholes. By any chance we could create a wormhole, teleportation would actually become possible. I'd like to leave my mark in some other way before leaving this world."

"Always the overachiever," Rex snickered. "If you're not careful, Uncle Yusei, Ryuusei won't be able to catch up!"

"He's my son, he'll manage," the Professor evenly answered. "Then-"

The muffled explosion that sounded caused all of us to pause.

"What was that?" Rex's head swivelled up to face the jangling fluorescent lights. "Earthquake?"

"No... a Psychic Duel?" Youkai's crimson eyes narrowed. "No..."

We ran out of the restaurant after settling the bill hurriedly, to see from the balconies a man slumped on the floor, cracked glass and a small crater, as well as yellow police tape and a familiar and increasing strident voice:

"_I'm telling you already, there was a blonde girl! I swear!_"

"Uzuki?" I blinked. "Then... Seika."

"Seika!" Both Fudo men ran down the escalators. They made it to the ground floor and found Seika long before any of us could.

She was physically holding Uzuki back from hitting the beautiful blonde bombshell that was NDPD's own Psychic nightmare, Hinamori Seiran. Seiran had her arms crossed in disbelief, and was scowling at Uzuki. "Kujaku Satsuki? Hazuki's already giving chase, you don't need to!"

"Nee-chan is risking her life, I have to...!" Uzuki protested. "Nee-chan..."

"Hazuki-nee is one of the four Queens of Queens, right?" Seika reasoned. "She'll be alright."

"This is Kujaku Satsuki!" Uzuki shot back. "And right now she's working with Shimotsuki Setsuka! Who knows what that woman had done with Satsuki-san?"

"Oi," Orion snapped by the side. "Setsuka wouldn't do that."

"You don't know!" Uzuki growled. "You've never seen your sister live under that... that... _woman's_ rule, coming home with bruises and pain from Duels everyday! Even if the fact that Hazuki can return home at all is wonderful... even if not everyone can control their powers sufficiently to return home... my older sister lived for ten years under the rule of that ice queen! She had nightmares specifically about her! And now she's facing the minion of that ice queen, and I'm supposed to let her go like this!?"

"Hazuki decided for herself!" Seiran snapped. "Each and every one of us, the Queens of Queens, we chose our training. Hazuki's injuries and nightmares were the result of her own work! She didn't want to lose control and accidentally kill her family! For the sake of control, for the sake of returning home, Hazuki trained herself each and everyday, even when Shimotsuki-san told her to stop! We could had just learned control, we could've just stopped there. But we Queens of Queens went one step further to refine our power out of our choice! Satsuki, Hazuki, I, even Shimotsuki-san, we made our choice. And now, Hazuki is just following that choice to its logical conclusion: to protect the Arcadia Movement."

Blue met fierce green, before Uzuki mutinously subsided. "Then... what about Nee-chan?"

"She... I don't know," Seiran looked doubtful. "I know... that Satsuki has great power. But, so does Hazuki. If one of us Queens of Queens were to have fought each other in the past, it would've probably been a draw. But, given what you said just now about Satsuki... I don't know. The only person to have ever received tutelage from Shimotsuki-san was Yukio-san."

"Yamada-san?" Seika gasped.

Seiran nodded. "About that..."

Her phone rang off. "Hang on a moment." She clicked it open to show a holo-screen. "Talk to me."

"_Good evening, Hinamori-san._"

Seiran, the only woman to have ever beaten Rex Atlas, froze. "Satsuki?"

"_True. I have left Himemiya Hazuki in an alley somewhere in the shopping mile. If you run out now, you should recover the Titania in time before any unsavoury elements come._"

"Where did you go, Satsuki?" Seiran urged.

"_I have no time. So, to answer... w__hen I attack someone and leave her on the ground weakened, she's my victim and of no particular consequence. If I were to come here and talk, she's my accomplice, and it makes her __a target for people._"

"What kind of people?" Seiran persuasively whispered.

"_If you don't know, Seiran... then no one can torture you to death for it._"

Seiran paled.

"_And... is Kannazuki Seika there?_"

"I'm here," Seika spoke quietly.

"_I see. I am Kujaku Satsuki, codename Aquila of the Arcadia Movement. My apologies for not remaining behind, but it is imperative that I remain apart from the Movement. Right now, I have news to report. Kiyoshi is alive._"

"K- Kiyoshi?" Seika murmured.

"_Yes. I am waiting for the time by which Shimotsuki Setsuka would be the most recovered._" Satsuki relayed quickly. "_We await your decision, Kannazuki-san._"

_Click_.

"What was that?" Rex muttered.

"No time," Seiran ran out, and we ran along as the police intern dodged crowds and elbowed her way through with the authority borne of years believing in their own power to the point that they imposed their will by sheer willpower alone on the streets of Neo Domino.

"A while... an alley... there-!" Seiran gave a gasp.

A dead-eyed Hazuki slumped on the ground of an alleyway. Her sleeves were shredded, and so were her socks. Her red hair hung lanky and loose from the remains of her French bun, and she was frozen, her lips blue with cold despite the heat of late summer about. There was a hint of cold in the air around, doubtless of ice. Pieces of melting ice littered the floor around her, no doubt Satsuki's work.

Ryuusei sniffed. "I sense Winter. Satsuki is the champion of the Winter Queen, after all."

"Satsuki... did this?" Seiran cautiously looped an arm to haul her up. "What can we do?"

"Bring her back." Seika nodded. "Nii-chan, can you do anything for her?"

"Yes. Summer can eliminate the Winter that caused Hazuki to be this weakened." Ryuusei nodded. "But... if this was in Shimotsuki's plan, I could not use my power so freely."

"We can talk later,"Uzuki snapped. "Help me bring Nee-chan back!"

It took a bit, but by the end the Professor and us managed to bring an unconscious Hazuki back and into the infirmary of the Arcadia Movement. There was a strong smell of cleaner around, and yet it was still very strong, the undercurrent of death.

Seika took a deep breath. "Hazuki-nee?"

Hazuki stirred. "Satsuki... so cold..."

"It's alright..." Ryuusei murmured, taking her hand. There was a stream of warmth, like summer sunlight. "As King of Summer, I command. Be well, Hazuki. Sleep. When you wake, you'll heal."

Hazuki sighed in relief, her hands dropping as the cold dropped to warmth and she closed her eyes.

Ryuusei let go. "That should help."

"So... Satsuki-san is actually an ally?" Seika asked.

"I doubt it," Ryuusei interrupted at the same time as Seiran said: "Yes."

"Kujaku Satsuki had a reason for making a deal with Shimotsuki," Ryuusei answered. "Just like Ayame-san had a reason for making a deal with me. It is highly possible that Shimotsuki ordered her to lie."

"That..." Orion looked down. "I get the feeling like I don't even know Setsuka or you any more..."

"We changed," Ryuusei's answer was flat. "If only you knew, Orion-san."

"It's almost sunset," Seika murmured. "We have to go to the airport to meet Setsu-chan."

"What? Shimotsuki issued an invitation?" Ryuusei frowned.

"It might be a trap," Orion pointed out.

"It's not," Seika nodded, as if that solved everything. "She won't. She'll be curious. She'll want to confront us, make us nervous, make us doubt. If we don't appear, that's her aim. If we're curious enough, and determined enough, we must go. And, it would give you an excuse to challenge her, wouldn't it, Orion-san? We must go!"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	27. XXV: Contract with Exodia

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXV: Contract with Exodia**

Neo Domino International Airport was a very large airport. It entertained three terminals, and was a fairly large place. We drove around in crowded parking lots and auto loading zones for nearly half an hour, before I determined that Setsu-chan meant the main entrance, the one with dark wood filigree. We got off there and waited, Chase-nii, Rex-nii, Youkai, Nii-chan, Orion-san and Uzuki with me.

"We're supposed to be here," Orion impatiently glanced at his watch. "And it's sunset. Where is she?"

Cars pulled up into a circle drive at the front, airport shuttles disgorging and swallowing travellers, taxis picking up men and women in business suits. A thousand of a thousand of patterns of lives milled around us, and we waited. We stood there quietly.

Maybe thirty seconds later, I heard the clopping of hooves on asphalt. A carriage rolled into sight, drawn by a pair of horses. One was the blue-white colour of a drowned corpse, and its breath steamed in the air. The other was green, its mane sown with wild-flowers and a horn spiralling up. The carriage itself looked very old-fashioned, dark wood and brass filigree and large wheels – and no one was driving it. The horses came to a halt directly before us and stood there, stamping their feet and tossing their manes. The door to the carriage swung open in silence.

Satsuki indicated us to get in.

I took a surreptitious look around me. No one else seemed to have noticed the carriage or the unworldly horses pulling it. A taxi heading for the space the carriage occupied abruptly veered to one side and found another spot. I saw Chase-nii abruptly focus, and perhaps I could almost sense the whisper of enchantment around it, subtle and strong, probably encouraging others not to notice it.

"I guess this is our ride," I said.

"You guess," Orion frowned at it, and then around him. "Ladies first."

Satsuki did not move at all as we got in and took our seats. Orion-san and Nii-chan helped us in, along with the others.

Nii-chan stood outside as Satsuki lifted a hand. "You are not allowed."

"True," Nii-chan nodded stiffly. "It is very able work. The Lady Knight is an able champion of Winter."

"I am honoured, Your Majesty," Satsuki answered stiffly as the door closed.

The carriage took off, so smoothly that I almost didn't feel it. I leaned over the window and twitched the shades aside. We pulled away from Neo Domino International Airport, and into traffic with no one the wiser, cars giving us a wide berth even while not noting. The carriage didn't bounce at all, and after about a minute wisps of mist began to brush up against the windows. Not long after, the mists blocked out the view of the city entirely. The street sounds faded, and all that was left was silver-grey mist and the clop of horse hooves.

"W- Where are we going?" Orion-san answered quietly.

"Where you should," Satsuki answered quietly. "To the stronghold of the Queen. The Stone of Destiny, Lia Fáil."

We rolled along, and the air got colder and crisper as the carriage trundled. After about five minutes of mists and more mist, it stopped. The door opened. Satsuki got up lightly and got out.

Chase-nii and Rex-nii exchanged looks with Youkai.

"Do we?"

"Why not?" Chase-nii shrugged.

Then we got out of the carriage.

I took a slow look at my surroundings. The mist lay over the land like a crippled storm cloud, sluggish and thick in some places, thinner in others. The landscape was dotted with the occasional foliage, but otherwise everything pointed to us being higher than any other point. We were on a snow-covered path, leading through a set of high black stone walls with inverted icicles set into the walls like spikes, hungry for blood and covered in snow.

It was very cold. I shivered.

"This is the highest of the Ice Barrier Mountains, _Sliabh an Iarainn_, the Iron Mountain," Satsuki murmured as she indicated to us, leading us through the archway into a glittering hallway lit with white crystals overhead. "And the stronghold of the Winter Queen at the top of the Ice Barrier Mountains, the White Night Castle, Lia Fáil."

"It's beautiful..." I murmured, rubbing my hands. "So graceful... but so cold..."

We passed through a large, vaulted ceiling hall, glistening blue and green. Sparkling blue-white dragons flying through the air above.

"What the hell...?" Chase-nii muttered, throwing his duster to Youkai, who threw it back and hit him as well.

We entered an even more elaborate hall, this one a great empty white space. Open arches led off to more corridors, a draught pouring in from the tunnels lit with torches and crystals. A crystal canopy hung overhead, the sun's weak rays shining through like within the foyer of a ghost castle, a veil of starlight to drape over an otherwise bleak entrance hall. To our left, there was a fountain, a trickle of water coursing over white solid ice.

"Well..." Rex-nii murmured. His voice echoed.

There was a sound; a shriek of breaking ice, the prelude of an avalanche or a cave-in. We tensed, before I realised that the hall was moving.

Crystals were thrusting themselves up out of the ice, and screaming as the ice changed form. They rose into a half dome of spikes and frozen blades, and shuddered as the centre of the new outgrowth shifted again. Wisps of Arctic blue and green and purple whirled within those sharp spikes, sending out a wild glitter of coloured luminescence, mesmerising and blinding at the same time.

She stepped out of the solid ice, as if passing through a curtain. Her dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with a tube-shaped device edged with glittering diamonds. She wore a dark blue midriff-baring tank top that left her shoulders bared, matched with a blue skirt with a belt studded with diamonds, finished with boots of the same colour. Jewels glittered on her ears and around her wrists and neck. She was distant and cold, as pure and lovely and merciless as moonlit snow. The cold never bothered her.

She stood for a moment, staring out at the cavern, at us with her wide blue-green eyes. Then, after a long moment, she sat, the motion slow and regal, and the ice within the spiked dome reshaped itself into a seat beneath her. She settled onto it, and the ice screamed again, shrieking out a second anguished bellow.

Satsuki swiftly moved to bend one knee, bowing her head down. Her blonde locks almost brushed the ground. The light changed to glaring full-force, and I saw it, that the hall was occupied by maybe a thousand Duel Spirits, and all of them knelt in acknowledgement of Winter's ruler. All of them facing us. We were surrounded.

They got up.

There was a low continuous roar, and I nearly ran until I realised two things:

One, they weren't moving.

Two, they were screaming: "SURPRISE!"

The echo continued as we froze.

"What?" Chase-nii coughed in a strangled voice.

They started to sing.

They sang 'Happy Birthday'.

It made my skin crawl. There was a cackling rasp, with a weird whistling voice. Some could not carry a tune at all, and huge bat things hovering overhead shrieked in pitches that could barely be heard. Hideous giant thugs towering over ten feet tall, sound like laryngitic foghorns.

Layered all throughout that cacophony were voices that went to the other extreme, voices that carried the melody with such perfect, razor-edged clarity as to be perfect. Amongst the Winter Court were beings haunting, mesmerising, disarming, flawless, maddening, bloodthirsty. They sang to me, and I could feel the weight of their attention on me like the pressure wave from an onrushing shark.

It ended abruptly, with a single voice singing: "And many more."

The crowd of creatures parted suddenly, and a girl stepped out of their ranks. She paused for a moment, for dramatic effect, and to give everyone time to admire her.

Tenjouin Michiru had changed her hair, this time into a dark blue frizzy cloud, her bangs dyed whitish-purple to go past her shoulders. She wore a strapless maroon crop-top, with a metal loop attaching it to a loop around her neck. It was completed with a shiny maroon mini-skirt hiked high enough to glimpse maroon panties – I blushed for her sake – and maroon platform high-heeled sandals. The cold did not seem to affect her either.

"Here's the birthday boy!" Michiru commented in a singsong voice, flinging both arms up. She started towards us in a slow and slightly exaggerated walk.

"Hi, Tenjouin," Chase-nii muttered. "I think Tsugare-san wore that outfit once. My, would our faces have been red."

Michiru stopped, just shy of Orion-san. "Rumours of your death have been greatly exaggerated, I see."

Orion-san gave a cold smile. "And you must be Tenjouin Michiru. You're... your reputation precedes you."

Setsu-chan coughed. The room went silent in her wake as Michiru turned back to face her as well.

"On this day of celebration of Our cousin's birth, We give you greetings one and all, you lords and ladies of Winter." Setsu-chan spoke, her voice low but carrying. "Welcome again to Our home. We can see that the celebrations are already well under way."

She settled back on her throne and placed one finger against her lips, as though she were fascinated with the scene before her. She lifted a languid hand. "It is Our desire that the festivities... continue."

"I can see you're having fun, playing the Queen," Orion-san commented as a white tiger prowled at the edge of her throne. "Dewloren's power is driving you mad, Setsuka."

Her eyes widened, as if mocking him with their colour. "Why, cousin? We haven't met for almost eleven years and the first thing you say to me is to accuse my majordomo?"

Orion-san rolled his eyes. "Fine. Thank you, yes, I'm twenty-nine, you're kind enough to remind me of the day you kicked my ass nearly ten years ago or so, yeah, I know. Now, Dewloren's power is driving you nuts, Setsuka. I'm here, and if I have to bend you over my knee, spank you and drag you out by the hair, then fine, I'm going to return you to normal."

"Dude, it's today?" Chase-nii muttered. "I think I like him."

"Impudence," the tiger growled. After the Flame Tiger, I really shouldn't be surprised that Dewloren was anthropomorphic.

Orion-san's teeth bared in challenge. "I've finished Shadow Duelists more evil than you before, kitty. I'm coming for you now."

The tiger actually laughed at that, and it was hurtful. Literally. My ears rang painfully at the sharpness of the sound. "Hearts. Good. Evil. The things you mortals natter about. I am a Duel Spirit, and not subject to that quaint line of thought you mortals have placed on yourselves. It is nothing to me how many cockroaches or sorcerers you have ended."

Ice cracked. I shivered.

"Dewloren," Setsu-chan murmured from her throne. "Fetch a cloak."

The tiger's head swivelled. "Your Majesty?"

"Seika is cold," Setsu-chan simply answered.

Within a second of mentioning it, a heavy fur-lined affair was draped over my shoulders, as if the ceiling had materialised it. It was still giving off soft crackles, but it did not burn, and it was very warm.

"T- Thank you, Setsu-chan." I whispered.

"Don't mention it." A voice whispered, very close to my ear, and we jumped as Setsu-chan slowly walked around Orion-san to the base of the steps leading to her throne, the gesture oddly predatory. "Would you prefer to settle this the only way it should be, dear cousin? After all, I did prepare a whole party for your birthday. It is not complete without... _entertainment_."

"You... little..." Orion-san murmured, but he reached into his pocket, and pulled out his DuelDisk, challengingly flashing his right forearm. "With Exodia's power, I shall free you now."

"More false words have never been spoken," Setsu-chan whispered as a jewel glittered on her arm and transformed into a crystalline DuelDisk. "Here, and now, we shall settle this."

* * *

Even if Shimotsuki was a complete bitch, she did know how to make an impression. Five minutes in, and the subtle 'you are not welcome' cold was already causing my teeth to chatter.

"Dammit," Youkai and Rex hovered close to Seika, or more specifically Seika's flaming cloak. "What the hell is this thing? It's literally on fire!"

"A stole, made from the furs of the Inari Fire," Michiru answered, standing next to us.

Orion had moved forward to face his cousin, and for the first time I saw the resemblance. Without the gold eye, Orion could very well be her older brother. Of course, there was a slenderness and energy of life around Orion that shone like a star compared to Shimotsuki's dark malice, but otherwise they may well be gender-bent mirrored images.

"Are you sure I can't Duel in your place?" Michiru whispered.

"This is personal," Shimotsuki answered her placidly. Her DuelDisk fanned itself out, almost like a snowflake.

"Duel!"

Setsuka: LP 8000

Orion: LP 8000

"I will begin, draw," she said, and the voice echoed in the expanse of the throne room, which I now noted was decorated in concentric circles, like the centre of a coliseum. "I shall summon Strategist of the Ice Barrier [1600/1600]."

There was a gust of wind, and the strategist stroked his long white beard, holding onto his hexagonal hat as he studied the field and Orion. He turned, nodding in acknowledgement of her before he returned to the field.

"I discard an Ice Barrier monster from my hand to draw a card by his effect," she continued. "With that, I activate the Spell, Medallion of the Ice Barrier."

A yellow medallion on a string of red beads flashed momentarily around her hand, before it disappeared.

"This card allows me to add any Ice Barrier monster from deck to hand," she declared. "I shall add Prior of the Ice Barrier from my deck to my hand. When I control an Ice Barrier monster, I can special summon from my hand Prior of the Ice Barrier [1000/400]."

Another old man appeared, this one wearing a deep blue hooded cloak over white robe adorned with many gold ornaments and holding a staff, each bearing the hexagonal snowflake symbol I saw carved over the great throne now. The Strategist nodded towards him, and the two shared glances before the Prior turned and bowed to the ruler.

"Dispense with formality, my subjects," she commanded. "The second effect of Prior, I can tribute him to special summon any Ice Barrier monster from the graveyard. But, during the turn I special summon him from my hand, I cannot special summon any level five or higher monster. It is just as well, that the monster I target is level three. Revive, Warlock of the Ice Barrier [400/1000]."

The new Spellcaster that appeared in the wake of the priest was small of stature, wearing robes of brown and blue, and his white hair flew all over his head as he appeared, his wand aloft, the snowflake visible. He too, bowed to her before he took his place, standing before her.

"I shall set two cards on the field, turn end." she nodded.

"Draw!" Orion called. "I-"

"Continuous Trap, Freezing Dance," she interrupted as the resulting Arctic howl froze Orion's field. "As long as this card remains on the field, neither player can normal summon, special summon or set monsters from their hands. This card remains on the field until my second end phase after this card was activated."

"What?" Orion muttered. "Then... I activate the Spell-"

"Also, when I control another Ice Barrier monster, Warlock of the Ice Barrier mandates that all players must set their Spells and cannot use them until their next turn." Shimotsuki cut in.

"Then, I'll just set two cards and end," Orion scowled.

"I draw." Shimotsuki glanced at the two cards. "I discard an Ice Barrier monster again to draw. Now, I activate the Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted, reviving Prior of the Ice Barrier."

The wizard wielded his staff proficiently.

"I tribute Prior to special summon Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier [1700/900]." she called. The Dance Princess had her hair done in pigtails, and a scarf wrapped around her neck. She bore her crest in the form of two shield-like snowflake weapons that she held carefully as she bowed to Shimotsuki in acknowledgement.

"Dance Princess's effect: I can reveal any number of Ice Barrier monsters in my hand, and then bounce an equal number of set cards on the field back to your hand," Shimotsuki called. "Dance Princess, I reveal Cryomancer and Defender in my hand."

The Dance Princess spun on one foot, before lashing out with a barrage of kicks that sent Orion's cards skidding back.

"What?" Orion swallowed.

"Battle. Dance Princess, direct attack," Shimotsuki ordered as the princess leapt up to slice through Orion with the serrated edges of her weapons.

Orion: LP 8000 → LP 6300

Setsuka: LP 8000

Orion stumbled back, coughing. "Urgh..."

"Warlock, direct attack," Shimotsuki called as an icy blast was conjured to blast him.

Orion: LP 6300 → LP 5900

Setsuka: LP 8000

"And Strategist, direct attack." Shimotsuki's barrage did not stop, as the Strategist gave a karate chop with his fan on Orion.

Orion: LP 5900 → LP 4300

Setsuka: LP 8000

"He's lost almost half his life points in one attack..." I hissed as Orion shook, stumbling back.

"Turn end." Shimotsuki did not look disturbed that this was her cousin, rather, her face was... viscerally hungry at having struck the first blow. "It is your turn, Orion-niisan."

"Setsuka..." Orion hissed. "Draw! I'll do this now... I'll set two cards... turn end."

"Draw," she called.

"Trap card, Dust Tornado!" he called. "I'll destroy Freezing Dance!"

"Yes!" Rex hissed. "Now he can summon from his hand next turn!"

"Next turn won't matter if he can't survive _this_ turn!" Youkai snapped.

"I discard Defender from my hand to draw a card," she called. "I reveal Cryomancer to bounce your remaining set card. I should thank you, for getting rid of Freezing Dance. Now I summon the tuner monster, Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier [1300/0]."

The monk that appeared wielded another snowflake wand, and was dressed in whites and browns with leather belting his white smock shut. A leather headpiece protected his head. He too, bowed to the Queen, and took a combat stance.

"It would seem that there are some who do not learn, Your Majesty." Dewloren rumbled from the sidelines.

"Of course there are," she answered as the jewel on her wrist glimmered. "Orion-niisan, I had thought that you would have learned the last time we faced in battle."

"I..." Orion growled. "I won't give up... Setsuka. I won't give up. You... you've been blaming Ryuusei all this while. If Blood Rose Dragon had not been stolen... if Diana-san hadn't outed herself..."

"It was a matter of time," Shimotsuki snapped back. "Mother would have revealed herself sooner or later. It is only sad that the way for it to happen was tragic. It was necessary."

"But you made a deal... a deal that turned you into this!" Orion motioned around. "Setsuka, open your eyes! No one asked you! You've made some bad choices, but we can still live! There's a way out!"

"You are the dog of Exodia," Shimotsuki snorted. "The moment I am defeated, your life is forfeit to Exodia. I will live, and then what? When Father died... when Mother died... I promised that I would become the change she wished to see in the world. I promised that I would rebuild the Arcadia Movement. While you've been wasting your time, I honed my skills, I rebuilt Arcadia. Don't you realise it? This was never about my own personal cares. This was for the good of many, many people. I took power for a purpose."

"Setsuka..." Orion hissed. "You aren't that mature. Face it, the first reason you took power, the reason you made that deal with Dewloren was for revenge. You wanted the power to utterly destroy the Elysium Circle."

"And I have done it," Setsuka mocked. "What have you accomplished, Orion-niisan? I have used the power as it should. I have bettered the lives of nearly a million across the globe. I have done what Divine could not, and I have lived to tell of it. I know what I would give up in exchange, and I made that sacrifice with that information. I made that choice. Orion-niisan, this ridiculous farce of your sacrifice, you can drop it now."

"You're my only relative left." Orion insisted. "True, I shouldn't have left you alone, but I needed to find a way to release you! You're a goddamn... a goddamn _monster_ right now!"

There was a collective drawing of breath.

"He's said it now..." Youkai muttered, his breath steaming in the cold.

"I am the Queen of the wicked monsters," Shimotsuki retaliated. "Am I not?"

"You... I'll make sure you open your eyes, Setsuka!" Orion roared, and his mark glimmered gold, burning in defiance of Winter.

She laughed, and the sound rang through my ears. "Then let us match forces! Tuning, level four Dance Princess and level three Warlock to level two Cryomancer!"

The roar shook even the foundations as the tuner dissolved into Synchro rings and circled the two monsters.

"Trident of the cold death, the swing of the pendulum is ever frozen." she called as she raised a hand and icy winds gathered around her, her lips turning blue with cold. "May the three thousand worlds linger forever in winter! Synchro Summon! Touch the three worlds, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

There, right in front of them, rising from the Synchro rings, was an enormous monstrosity arising in the great hall. The creature was almost snake-like, its long tail partially visible compared to its great size. It had a pair of short limbs that ended in enormous claws, and three triangular, snake-like heads, with a pair of wide, wide leathery wings. The monster was a solid silver-blue scaled creature, like a creature made from the very ice itself.

I could hardly breathe. Its power was incredible, like the fount of power that I had once seen, back in the valley. A power beyond anything else I had ever seen. Seeing that power was like seeing the grind of the glacier bringing death directly to our doorstep.

The icy maw cracked open, and a thunderous roar tore through [2700/2000] from a clearly inhuman throat.

"When Trishula is Synchro Summoned, its effect triggers, causing one card to be banished from my opponent's hand, field and grave." Shimotsuki called, her eyes wide. "Three World Spear!"

Ice crystallised, cracking the floors when Trishula appeared. One card in Orion's hand was encased in ice, and shattered, sending the grinning head of Exodia away.

"Exodia!" Orion called.

"With this... Trishula, direct attack with Ice Age Panic!" She called, her hair billowing out in the resulting winds. "Strategist, direct attack and finish this!"

Orion: LP 4300 → LP 4800 → LP 500

Setsuka: LP 8000

"That card..." Shimotsuki paused. "Insurance?"

"Trap card, Insurance," Orion nodded. "When this card is returned from the field to my hand, I regain five hundred life points."

Her eyes narrowed. "I see. So that card returned to your hand by the effect of Dance Princess. I will set two cards, turn end."

"He's already past the safety line..." Rex muttered. "If he can't block it this turn..."

"Draw!" Orion called. "Now that Freezing Dance is gone, I summon Royal Magical Library [0/2000]! Now, I activate Swords of Blazing Light! Now, as long as I don't control a monster, monsters my opponent controls cannot declare an attack. But, when I control a monster or when my opponent has five or more cards in hand, Swords of Blazing Light is destroyed, but the Library gains one Spell Counter (1). Next, I activate the Spell, Soul Taker. By destroying one monster my opponent controls, but in exchange my opponent gains one thousand life points. This is the beginning of my counter-attack! Destroy Trishula!"

Shimotsuki smirked. "Too bad... this is also the end."

"What?" Orion froze.

"Trap card, Torrential Reborn," Shimotsuki pronounced. "When one or more Water Attribute monsters such as Trishula would be destroyed, I can special summon them back to my field, and inflict five hundred damage to you for each and every monster special summoned this way. Just enough to finish you off."

"W- What?"

She raised a hand. "Revive, my servant, Trishula!"

The three-headed dragon appeared, and a cascade of liquid poured down in a concussive wave upon Orion.

Orion: LP 500 → LP 0

Setsuka: LP 8000 → LP 9000

"It is my win, Orion-niisan," Shimotsuki announced. Around her, Duel Spirits of the darkest folk-tales and deepest shadows hissed and cheered in celebration. "Looks like your coup d'etat failed."

Orion hissed as he got back to his feet. "One day... one day..."

"It need not be this way." Beginning a slow, exaggerated walk, Shimotsuki persuaded as she came over to Orion. "Come to my side. I forgive you, Orion-niisan. I can forgive you. I can negotiate with Exodia for the contract you placed your life on. All you have to do is stop now. Wouldn't that be nice, Orion-niisan?"

"You... Setsuka..." Orion's breathing grew heavy as slender cold-looking fingers graced his face.

"It hurts?" Shimotsuki whispered to him, eyes half-lidded. "Yes, it does. But it need not be. Will you stay, Orion-niisan? Or will you leave your cousin again?"

Her eyes met his, and she gave him a slow, slow smile. As she had been before at the Neverland convention, I felt my whole body thrum in response to her, to her presence, her proximity, to her... _everything_. That smile contained something within it, something conveyed in a flashing instant, and with that image came a hundred or a thousand others, each of them a single captured moment, the kind of moments that are the only one to survive a frenzied dream, frozen and layered atop one another, each of them a promise, a prediction, and every one of them aimed right at Orion. It wasn't limited to visual imagery. Each layer of the flash had its own round of sensual memory, every one of them only partial but intense – touch, taste, scent, sound, and vision – dozens and dozens of dreams and fantasies compressed into that one instant of dark inspiration and illusory imagery. There wasn't sex in it, though there might be to Orion, but it felt... awfully compelling.

It made me want to run like hell, because the only better salesperson was burning in the deep fiery place with dogs and everything. Beside me, I heard Seika take a deep breath.

Setsuka Shimotsuki's eyes were bright with an insane rage and a terrible hunger as she moved, and she snaked her left arm around Orion's wind-pipe, tightening with a horrible strength. Orion cried out as his head was jerked back sharply – and then he made no sound at all as the wind was trapped inside his lungs. The still-smirking woman that was her dug one hip into his upper back, using Orion's own spine as a fulcrum against his.

She spoke, and her voice was something straight from Hell. It was lower, smokier, but every bit as lovely as it ever was. "Orion-niisan," she purred, "I've wanted to do this with you since I was a little girl."

Her right hand, still slender like bent wires might be, reached slowly, sensually around the straining abdomen. Slowly, very slowly, she sunk her fingertips into flesh, just beneath the floating rib on his left flank. His face contorted and she tried to scream.

Shimotsuki shuddered. Her tongue emerged from her mouth, bright pink, and touched his earlobe. "Listen to me," she hissed. "_Listen_ to me."

Power shuddered in those words. I felt an insane desire to rush toward her and give her my ears, ripped off with my own fingers, if necessary. Orion shuddered, the strength gone out of his body. His mouth continued trying to move, but his eyes went unfocused at the power in her voice.

"For once in your life," Shimotsuki continued, kissing his throat with her lips, "You are going to be useful."

Orion's eyes rolled back in her head, and his body sagged helplessly back against her. My brain got back onto the clock. I pushed myself away from their nauseating, horribly compelling embrace. Youkai was listing, his hands over his ears, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. I grabbed him under the arms and hauled him away from the entwined Hunter and Shimotsuki pair. Youkai was obviously in pain as I pulled him.

"Bloody hell," he panted, as I set him off, his eyes still shut. "Hell."

I was panting, to get my breath back and to push the sight of them out of my head. "No kidding."

Seika whimpered. Rex pushed her back, still unable to tear his eyes away.

Her shoulders twisted. And Shimotsuki Setsuka ripped an open furrow as wide as her four fingers across the stomach, pale flesh parting, as wet red and grey _things _slithered out.

"S- Setsu-chan...?" Seika whimpered, her eyes wide.

Her hand continued pulling _things_ out of Orion's body, a hideous intimacy to the act itself.

"Oh my," her voice was completely rational, Shimotsuki Setsuka ever the logician even as she licked her cousin's blood off her fingers. "It appears that a horrible accident has happened to Orion-niisan. Silly me."

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	28. XXVI: Oval Ice Fire

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXVI: Oval Ice Fire**

"S- Setsu-chan?" I whispered, watching as she... she... she continued to disembowel Orion-san.

"Oh my," her voice was completely rational as she licked her cousin's blood off her fingers. "It appears that a horrible accident has happened to Orion-niisan. Silly me."

"W- Why..." I continued staring at Orion-san's form in her trap. "Why..."

"Oh, the little missy is so shocked," Michiru cooed by the sidelines, until her false expression faded into hate. "How _interesting_."

Abruptly, Setsu-chan stood, and Orion-san slid off her lap onto the floor. The monsters around us advanced, some of them with viscerally hungry looks. "_Blood..._"

"Like hell!" Rex-nii ran, taking Orion-san to drag him off and back to us. Orion-san's head lolled, and blood continued to bleed along with the grey things that were his innards.

"I recommend you hold them there," Setsu-chan pleasantly answered, with an eerie facsimile of the Madame's smile. One of her hands were still bloodstained. "If he were to lose any innards, I predict a host of future health problems for him. Raiho."

The Chinese man stepped out of the crowd as it parted for him. "Yes, My Queen?"

"Clean this mess."

"Understood." He bowed low.

"Satsuki."

The blonde girl bowed. "My Lady."

"Escort our guests back. It appears that the revels of the Winter Court were too much for my dear cousin." Setsu-chan ordered. "In the future, remind me that I should not host any more surprise parties for him."

"...very well," Satsuki tonelessly answered.

"Wait!" I cried. "Setsu-chan... why? Orion-san was trying to help you!"

"I never asked," she tonelessly replied. "And such challenges should only be returned in kind."

"Setsu-chan..." I nodded slowly. I knew that my face must be pale, from the cold and from the shock. "You're... you're... not well. You have to realise that."

Setsu-chan stopped, tilting her head, and her hair covered most of her face.

"You have to realise it." I nodded. "We want to help you. Everyone cares in our way, Setsu-chan."

Setsu-chan moved her right arm alone, pointing a finger straight at Orion-san. "Yes. I can see how much _he_ cared."

"It isn't too late," I protested. "It doesn't have to happen that way. You've helped other unfortunate people before. Nii-chan, Youkai-san, Reggie, Glen, Kaido... almost everyone received your help. But your power alone isn't enough now. It can be our turn to help you, you have to _want_ it. You have to want to be healed."

Setsu-chan quivered where she stood for a moment, a slender tree placed under increasing strain.

"We need the Cold Queen now," I continued. "We've always needed you, Setsu-chan. We _need _you back, just like Madame needed you to live."

In a very small voice, she asked: "Did she talk about me?"

I swallowed.

Setsu-chan repeated, her voice harsher. "Did she talk about me?"

"It's... it's not her way," I decided. "Madame never mentioned you directly. But... I know, she was always worried about you. I'm not stupid."

"And I am not _blind_," Setsu-chan spat back. "That adoption... Do you think I didn't know about all the time she had been spending with you? The talks, the codes you forgot by suggestion. Did you think I didn't know what it meant? She had been doing what she always meant to do – she was using you as a spare. Preparing you as the next head for the Movement, as her heiress. Preparing my replacement. As if I weren't her daughter anymore with this curse."

Setsu-chan shuddered.

Then she lifted her head and stared venomously at me. Her lips quivered and twitched back from her teeth into a hideous mockery of a smile. "Why should I want to be _healed _of that? I have remade every precious thing _she _ever valued more than her own blood, her own _child_. I have laid down the last of the Hunter bloodline, the last of her direct blood other than myself. And _where_ is she?"

Setsu-chan stuck her arms out and spun around in a pirouette. "Where? Oh, right, the great and mighty Diana Hunter lies six feet under. _Dead_. Diana Hunter is dead, and Orion Hunter will be dead before long if he has to remain. As the head of the Arcadia Movement, you are sworn to protect all under your charge. Are you sure you can afford to remain here to prattle on?"

"I... I can't," I nodded. "Everyone... we have to get Orion-san to the hospital. One day, we will settle this... the mystery of that time will face the light, Setsu-chan!"

"I look forward to it," Setsu-chan gave an elegant shrug, having already recovered from her outburst. By her side, a portal of gently swirling flurries of snow appeared. "As a favour, here's a way back."

"A way back?" I asked.

"Specifically, to the outside of Neo Domino Puzzle Hospital," Setsu-chan answered. "Soon, the Movement will receive an invitation to a Duel tournament. If, just maybe, you wish to settle this on an even footing, then we shall fight."

"I see," I looked at the portal, gently swirling. I then gripped the flame stole. "And this?"

"Take it as a gift," Setsu-chan turned away. "Consider it two years' worth of birthday presents."

"I see..." I murmured. "Setsu-chan... can I trust you?"

"Well..." Setsu-chan did not face me. "We shall see."

I stared at the gate. If I were to walk through... would I end up over the sea? Or above Mount Everest? Or in an active volcano?

I don't know... but I knew that Setsu-chan would not lie.

"Let's go, everyone."

* * *

"She freaking _disembowelled_ her own cousin," Rex shivered. "That... that woman just ain't human. Not anymore."

Orion had to undergo major surgery. From what I guessed, it involved sewing his stomach flaps back together. At the very least, it was a belly wound, which involved no punctured blood vessels and no organ punctures. Relatively safe.

I wanted to laugh. Someone was just gutted before my eyes and I couldn't say anything. From how Rex had described it, it sounded like the doctors thought it was a mugging gone bad. The smell of death was messing with my sense of humour.

"Gutted like a pig," Youkai murmured, still paler than usual. "Oh god... I'm going to be sick."

"I think that's the point," I whispered.

"What is?" Youkai hissed. "H- Her? She wanted to terrify us?"

Break it down. Break it down. Break it-

"Why didn't she kill him?" I murmured out loud.

"Chase!" Youkai snapped.

"You have a point." Crossing his arms, Ryuusei leaned on the wall. "Mom got called in, and I came along. I guess Orion-san met Shimotsuki?"

"Yeah," Youkai glumly nodded. "She kicked his ass, and then disembowelled him. It's very scary."

"No, no," Ryuusei shook his head. "Chase is right. Think. She gutted him right in front of you guys. Without puncturing a blood vessel or breaking his organs. And she even helpfully created a portal for you guys to come back in time to dump him into the ER. If she was really intent on getting rid of him, why didn't she kill him straight? In the eyes of the Court, Orion-san doesn't have any rights. She's well within her rights to have him killed."

"Why did she call Orion the dog of Exodia?" I asked.

"People who have made deals with Exodia to break the seal of the Forbidden One are bound to serve Exodia," Ryuusei answered. "Until then, they have access to the near-unlimited power of Exodia. But, they don't have their freedom to life, and until they die, maybe even beyond, they must serve Exodia."

"They must serve Exodia..." I considered. "So... they're a bit like Satsuki?"

"And Ayame-san," Ryuusei nodded, his expression sad. "Without choice, bound to the orders of their rulers... all for a single wish. But, Orion-san should have done his research. The only way to save her now is to destroy her."

"D- Destroy?" Youkai gasped. "Why? Couldn't we just beat her in a Duel?"

"Do you want to?" Ryuusei asked him.

"I..." Youkai trembled. "I... I can't. When I face her... my body remembers."

"Precisely," Ryuusei nodded. "Even I, I have the power to drag her into oblivion with me, but to us it would make no difference, and I cannot abuse that power."

"She sure doesn't seem to see it that way," Rex muttered.

"Why should she?" Ryuusei blinked. "She's Winter. Vicious, violent, and merciless. What you saw was perfectly in character for a monarch of the Winter."

"So what's disembowelling in public?"

"What passes for a polite disagreement, I imagine," Ryuusei murmured. I recognised the calm in him, the stillness that was almost like serenity – it was focus and confidence. He knew the danger, he didn't want to fight, but he was quietly ready for it, and ready to accept whatever consequences it might bring. It's generally a really bad idea to fight guys who are in that particular mental space. In Ryuusei, it meant that he had a plan.

"I heard from Marguerite, by the way," Ryuusei nearly smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Seika, Chase, you stood up to her."

"Of course!" I snapped. "What's with that woman, anyway?"

"You're thinking in terms of human mentality," Ryuusei answered. "Marguerite is what she is. Just... ultra-dangerous. Marguerite, like all Duel Spirits, doesn't have the one thing that they envy us for, and that is why she did that to Ichimonji to that extent. She doesn't like to remember that."

"That... what is that thing?" Seika pressed. "Something that even Marguerite wants..."

"You already know it," was Ryuusei's enigmatic reply. "Setsuka... she probably has a plan. A plan that she doesn't want Orion-san around. She probably did that to him to put him here, where he can't move."

"But why?" I asked.

"When something is put away, you can do two things to it," Ryuusei answered. "One is to change it. The other is to place it where no one can reach it."

"So she wants to put Orion-san where something cannot reach it," Seika nodded. "There are two reasons why anyone would target Orion-san. One is against Orion-san himself..."

"The other is to target Shimotsuki through Orion," I finished for her. Satsuki's words returned to me: _If you don't know... then no one can torture you to death for it._

Clapping, slow and steady, echoed down the empty hallway. "As expected of the Knight of Zero. To already realise I am here."

We all turned back to see the man in the red suit and matching fedora edged with gold ribbon, complete with gold tie and a solid gold rose corsage. I am not even bullshitting about that.

"Vergil Valentine, at your service," the man made a small bow, which seemed even more eerie in the context of the empty hallway.

Rex slowly looked around. "Empty hallway, no cameras, no activity... what are the odds?"

"Very well," Vergil produced a red rose out of nowhere and threw it to Seika. "My target is not you, Rex Atlas. Not today. I am here for Orion Hunter."

"Vergil Valentine... ah, you're one of Marguerite's pets," Ryuusei frowned. "So, she sent you after Orion-san? That explains a lot."

There was a beat, and Vergil very unwillingly inclined his head. "Step aside, Fudo Ryuusei. Or there shall be words."

Ryuusei's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so."

"Then we have no choice," Vergil made a motion, and gold energy appeared around Ryuusei for a moment.

Ryuusei snapped his fingers, and in answer gold flames burst to combat that same energy. "I said _no, _you ostentatious ding-bat. If you want a Duel I shall oblige you."

Vergil made a noise. "Very well."

"Duel!"

Vergil: LP 8000

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"Draw!" Vergil called. "I'll set five cards, turn end."

"That's it?" Rex blinked.

"The signature of Vergil Valentine," Seika recited. "A powerful Dark Game Duelist hired to only the highest bidder. His MO covers not just money, but power. The Arcadia Movement has listed no less than five hundred people who are his potential victims."

"That's the last time I let her hire the help," I heard Ryuusei mutter. "Draw!"

"Trap card, Thunder of Ruler!" Vergil called. "This turn, there is no battle phase."

"I'll activate the Spell card, One for One." Ryuusei considered. "By discarding Glow-Up Bulb from my hand, I can special summon from my deck a level one monster: come, Evil Thorn [100/300]! Now, I tribute Evil Thorn to special summon two Evil Thorn and inflict three hundred damage to you."

Vergil: LP 8000 → LP 7700

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"You little-" Vergil swore as he was pelted. "I'll throw you into the darkness!"

"Continuous Spell, Super Solar Nutrient to tribute one Evil Thorn to special summon Lonefire Blossom [500/1400]." Ryuusei called as the orange-bulbed flower appeared. "I tribute Lonefire Blossom to special summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias [2800/2600]."

The red-dressed woman gave a little curtsy as Ryuusei summoned her.

"Now, I set two cards, and end my turn," Ryuusei finished.

"Draw!" Vergil called. "Indeed... and my first trap! Secret Barrel!"

"Trap card, open! Nature's Reflection!" Ryuusei defended. "You'll take all effect damage I would have this turn! That's a total of twelve hundred damage!"

Vergil: LP 7700 → LP 6500

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"Next, I activate the Trap, Jar of Greed, and draw a card," Vergil finished. "And then, turn end."

"Draw!" Ryuusei called. "I activate the Continuous Trap, Limit Reverse, to revive Lonefire Blossom, and tribute Evil Thorn to special summon Gigaplant [2400/1200]!"

"Trap card, Ojama Trio!" Vergil defended. "Now you have the three stooges on your field, and therefore the summon of Gigaplant can't be carried out. How will you adapt, Fudo Ryuusei? How will you fight against my all-trap deck?"

"Your timing is impeccable," Ryuusei commented, staring at the three tokens [0/1000]. "Just nice, you get to meet your boss. I will tribute both Tytannial and Lonefire Blossom for my normal summon! Come, Sorciere de Fleur [2900/0]!"

Marguerite appeared in a bright flash of light, twirling her staff. "Well, it's about time-" she stopped when she realised that it was in a Duel. Vergil had frozen, and was also glaring at her with something akin to hate. "Oh my."

"Marguerite," Ryuusei's voice was the epitome of politeness, just barely concealing his irritation. "Explain."

There was a pause. Were it any other being, Marguerite would have brushed them off, but as proven, Ryuusei was the Summer King and her boss, and like all employees, she probably didn't like reporting back.

"Another employee," Marguerite finally hit on one. "One who has overstepped his boundaries."

"M- M- Marguerite," Vergil hissed. "Is this boy...?"

Marguerite smirked. "If he was?"

Vergil's face flushed. "You... and..."

"I'll play Aurora Draw, allowing me to draw two cards," Ryuusei finally sighed. "Heavy Storm. Marguerite, beat some sense into him."

"_Mille Fleur: Fragrance Storm!_" she sang as the Duel assassin was hit by a blast of sickly sweet perfume.

Vergil: LP 6500 → LP 3600

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"I set a card, turn end," Ryuusei called.

"Draw!" Vergil called, his voice muffled. "You've blessed him as well, Marguerite? You've given him power?"

"I gave him nothing," Marguerite easily replied. "Just as you are nothing to me."

"Bitch," Vergil swore as he drew. His face purpled over, and he choked. "I'll set two cards, turn end!"

"Draw!" Ryuusei called. "Activate the Spell, Angel Baton, allowing me to draw two cards, and discard one." He did. "Milling a card to special summon Glow-Up Bulb [100/100]. Tuning, three level two Ojama Tokens to level one Glow-Up Bulb. Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Bloom, Black Rose Dragon!"

Black Rose Dragon appeared, beautiful and deadly and growling [2400/1800].

"I normal summon Debris Dragon [1300/500]," Ryuusei called. "When he's normal summoned, a monster with five hundred attack power or less will be special summoned with its effect negated. I choose Lonefire Blossom."

"Level seven?" I muttered.

"Tuning, level four Debris Dragon to level three Lonefire Blossom," Ryuusei chanted. "Oh spirit, appear from the ancient forest, disguising yourself in this temporary form, and reign over the field supreme and uncontested! Synchro summon! Come forth, Fairy Dragon – Ancient!"

Big butterfly wings spread, and this magnificent being appeared. Its fin-like ears flicked, as the blue being growled. Yet, unlike the Ancient Fairy Dragon that shone with sunlight and innocent promises, this Ancient Fairy Dragon was but a copy, a facsimile of darkness and midsummer's night [2100/3000]. It was very creepy.

"Trap card, Trap Stun," Ryuusei studied the field. "Well, Marguerite, Black Rose, Ancient, direct attack."

Vergil: LP 3600 → LP 0

Ryuusei: LP 8000

Vergil was thrown back against the wall of the hospital room, shadows seeping from his very person. "You... Marguerite... give me power... give me power!"

Marguerite gave a careless shrug. "Usually, I would. But, your own proof of evolution has been disproved. By that same vein, then you should die."

Vergil's eyes widened. "B- But, Marguerite-"

Marguerite's staff banged. "_Fleurs envoûtantes; floraison d'accord._"

They disappeared.

Vergil's screams lingered.

Ryuusei lowered his DuelDisk, abruptly panting. "So, looks like Shimotsuki's plan had merit somehow."

"I don't like that implication," Seika sulked. "Nii-chan, did... did you and Marguerite..."

"No!" Ryuusei visibly shuddered. "I'm... not into older women that way. Besides... you've seen Marguerite. I value everything attached to me, thank you."

"Ryuusei..." I sighed. "Where did Marguerite take him to?"

Ryuusei turned his wide eyes to me. "Do you really want to know?"

I debated. "No, not really."

"Still, why does Marguerite hire Duel assassins?" Youkai asked.

"She's expanding," Ryuusei answered. "Right now, Winter is also gathering Duelists. So Summer has to follow suit. It's a very complicated arms race thing that just happens."

"What the hell are we to them, pawns?" Youkai demanded.

Ryuusei actually took a while to answer. "It... depends. Some have outright disdain for all mortals, and that's the standard. We then have some who have an academic interest, and on the other extreme are those who actually love humans, erm, as pets or lovers. It's... complicated."

"Explain in terms that I would understand." I stated.

"It's the same reason why humans protect animals by keeping them in zoos, domesticating them and sending them to the vet to be neutered-"

"Thank you, Ryuusei." I sincerely answered. "You have just killed any desire I might have had of owning a pet by abusing the metaphor to such degrees."

"I'm glad I could help."

Duel Assassins. Homicidal Duel Spirits. Shimotsuki Setsuka being present and playing out some plan on a cosmic scale. And Ryuusei being shifty, bossing around the Duel Spirit who could happily kill anyone.

My life these days. It makes reality TV look normal.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	29. XXVII: Fire Darts

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXVII: Fire Darts**

"I'm sorry, but..." I raised my hand in the meeting a few days later. "What are you intending by giving me this contract, O'Brien-san?"

Austin-san frowned. "As it says, the Arcadia Movement and all its allies in the form of the various Movements across the globe, are deemed by the US Army as a loosely connected small militia with weapons of heavy capability. No matter in which country, for its central headquarters to be based in Japan essentially means that Article Nine is being defied. There are also many concerns raised that... that this much power is held in the hands of a minor."

"I do not control the Arcadia Movement," I answered.

"But you are the invested head, and so you hold the Movement, and you retain the right to mobilise it into a military party," Austin-san explained. "And as a social organisation, the Arcadia Movement has not participated in any tournament, nor have you fielded any promising Duelists in the past year's tournaments, or even since the Stygian Dirge. The lack of activity is... worrying."

"I... I didn't know," I shook my head. "How did Setsu-chan ever do it, running the Arcadia Movement? I've been working so hard trying to keep on top of the usual work, I haven't had the time to look through our options..."

"Participation in tournaments is a must to maintain the public eye, Seika-ojou," Nakamura-san mumbled. "I will assist in any way necessary, you only need ask."

"That's not the main issue," Austin-san shook his head. "My son had a broken arm from what should be a random visit. Doesn't that prove that there is an inherent danger to placing a building of Psychic Duelists in the middle of Neo Domino's high-top shopping district? Previously, Shimotsuki Setsuka had managed to hold down any danger to the absolute minimum, and so any disagreements to that quarter could be deflected. But, there are twenty-five dead right now. Even for civilian casualties, that's pretty high."

"Of course, it's not enough for the anti-Psychics to get noisy, Shimotsuki Setsuka already managed to crush their power pretty thoroughly worldwide, but the moderates are taking notice," Baa-chan added, frowning. "We cannot sign the Movement to any military, and neither can we accept this labelling that would restrict our actions and cause others to suspect us."

"We've received an invitation to the Duel Royal Tournament," Nii-chan butted in.

"Duel Royal?" Austin-san and I reacted predictably.

"I... I..." I stuttered.

"The upcoming tournament that would take place on Duelist Kingdom?" Austin-san blinked. "Well, West Academia is also sending their students..."

"Our members are far-reaching enough and controlled enough to participate as professional Duelists," Baa-chan answered. "Doubtless, there will be many members who would participate independently, but the Movement has always allowed its Duelists free reign to Duel as they like. The fact that we face danger is by no fault of ours."

"True..." Austin-san acknowledged.

"If needed, we will field some Duelists to participate," I offered. "But not now, and not ever, will the Movement become a military arm."

"I see," Austin-san looked troubled. "But-"

"Please," I shook my head. "Nakamura-san, please."

"O'Brien-san, this way," Nakamura-san nodded as the soldier was shown out.

"What do you think, Ryuusei, Seika?" Baa-chan frowned.

"The Duel Royal..." I frowned at the invitation. "Is this the tournament that Setsu-chan was referring to?"

"Maybe," Nii-chan answered. "I might have been retired, but I can participate for the Arcadia Movement."

"We should give a strong showing," Baa-chan nodded. "That way, not only do we show a competitive spirit, we increase our profile worldwide."

"Agreed," I murmured, staring at the invitation. "Then, the motion and applications for sponsorship of participation to the Duel Royal is passed."

I ran into Ryuusuke when the meeting has ended.

"Ryuusuke-san?"

"Oh, Kannazuki-san," Ryuusuke stared at Nii-chan and quickly averted his eyes. "Erm... actually, I would like to talk to you about something. In private."

"I know when I'm not wanted," Nii-chan nodded. "Seika?"

"Don't worry, Ryuusuke-san," I told Ryuusuke. "Nii-chan can be trusted."

"It's not about that, Kannazuki-san," Ryuusuke continued to stare uneasily at Ryuusei. "It's just..."

"It's just that the spirit blood coursing through your veins is calling to Summer," Nii-chan nodded. "And right now you're wondering if there's some psychic power that is affecting you. Am I right? You're very readable... I'm sorry?"

"I- I'm Ryuusuke Diamondblade, please, don't worry about it," Ryuusuke replied. "Well... I think Fudo-san is a very nice person. And that... I just don't know why..."

"You are a child born between worlds." Ryuusei answered. "One day, you shall have to choose. Whether to follow your mother, and become one of the immortal monsters of the summer's night. Or to die human, as your father did. But until then, you are under the rule of Summer. And therefore, under my rule."

"I'm... I'm not," Ryuusuke swallowed.

"Really?" Nii-chan smiled warmly and Ryuusuke blushed as he looked away.

"I told... I told that witch that," Ryuusuke insisted. "I'm my own self. I am not under anyone's rule."

"Really?" Nii-chan asked. "If, just maybe, I were to give a command, will you be able to resist it?"

"...no," Ryuusuke looked away.

"Marguerite hates people like you," Nii-chan whispered. "Learn some discretion. If you continue saying no without thinking, you may just die."

"Why?" Ryuusuke whispered. "Why do these Duel Spirits continue to torture us? What did we ever do to them?"

Nii-chan's eyes glowed blue-green, warm and comforting but also happy. Too happy. "I suppose... the closest that they can see humans as is as a pet, or an exotic animal. To be trapped in a cage of choosing. To be tortured and injured to entertain them. Because it's fun. They need no other reason for it. In that respect, they are no different from humans."

"That's... that's true." Ryuusuke frowned, looking at Nii-chan. "Very pessimistic, but true."

"The human admires the bear for strength, and the tiger for its fierce hunting. The cheetah for its speed, and the bird for its wings." Nii-chan murmured. "Now imagine that you want these things, but you can never have them. And yet, the one thing you have power over, the one that you can crush at whim, they have a choice to all these, and they are not taking it. They remain conflicted. Ignorant, stubborn, foolish."

"So..." Ryuusuke swallowed, stepping back.

Those blue-green eyes glared, before they faded to blue once more, and Nii-chan stumbled slightly. "For now, you do not choose. You do not commit. You do not make anything of yourself. And that is why spirits like Marguerite hates you, hates me, hates us humans. Because you can still choose, and they no longer can."

"They hate you?" Ryuusuke asked.

"Yes." Nii-chan nodded solemnly. "That is why Shimotsuki hates me, that is why she amassed her forces even though we would both die. Because she has chosen, and I have not, and the two of us are bounded by fate. I have not chosen to be King of Summer, though I have taken the mantle. Until that time, until I choose, I will not act like the King of Summer, the selfish lord that rules over the land of dreams. That, I can promise you."

* * *

"The things I do for love." the comment was delivered in a sarcastic manner, but Youkai gave me a glare for good measure anyway.

"Come on, you can't tell me that you've never done 'meet the family' until now."

"Your cousin tried to kill me," I counted off. "Your other cousin is my lawyer. Your oldest cousin I once saw in drag. Your grandfather took one look at me, and called me interesting. And on the only other date I've technically been to once, the girl's parents nearly landed me with a betrothal. There's a good reason I keep my will handy for these, Youkai."

"We need a situation, without people dying or presenting a danger. We might as well come here." Youkai scowled, his grip around my waist tightening as we rolled up the driveway of the ancestral Misawa home.

"It's like pulling teeth out," I answered. "Through your nose."

The Misawa house was... highly traditional, I'd give that. Stone lanterns, large gardens, wooden constructs, the whole nine yards. You could actually hear a water fountain and the sound of bamboo clicking. I've only seen it twice, when coming and leaving only once, and I can only stare in wonder at it.

A breeze casually blew as I beheld it, Carpe Jugulum pathetically small and too bright next to the sombre atmosphere of the house. Two guards stood by the large front entrance.

"Nowaki-sama," they bowed to us.

Youkai's face was appropriately solemn, as befitting the last party of anyone's life: the funeral.

The interior had not changed at all. We took off our shoes, following the black-clad usher lead through wood-panelled hallways, in a labyrinthe maze of paper screens and panelled walls, delicate wall ornaments and calligraphy scrolls, almost right out of a fairy tale... a fairy tale of darkness and silence that echoed of nothingness. Youkai walked through the halls with his footing soft and with the easy familiarity of nostalgia; this stifling puppet theatre was the place where the four Misawa cousins had grown up.

We got to the main hall, signed the guest book, and Youkai was immediately pulled into a triple-bodied hug.

Tsugare-san wore black and white, which threw a discordant image of a bride dressing up in the oxymoron of a situation. His amethyst hair was bunched up, which again threw a very odd scenario until I realised that Tsugare was pretty enough to pull it off anyway.

Hibiki Akio was the only one who could match Tsugare's height of one-eight-o, seemingly a shade taller than most of his cousins. His build was fairly muscular, enough to make him still look somewhat intimidating and feared despite that his body shape followed the slight side that all of the Misawa seemed to have. His skin tone was an olive tone, which matched his almond-shaped facial structure. Akio's hair was cut in a mullet, dyed navy blue with black streaks falling a little past his shoulders. Amber eyes gleamed brighter than polished copper, and for this occasion he wore a black suit that made his hair stand out even more.

The second oldest of the four, Misawa Ryokai was around my own height, with cropped black hair, black highlights, long bangs swept to the right side of his face, which also covers his right eye. Again with the slim build though Ryokai was built stockier than any of his cousins, his eyes gleamed golden amber at me. For this occasion, his wardrobe consisted of a traditional black kimono and a black choker with an amber stone pendant hanging from the centre.

"Ryo-nii, Akio-nii, Tsu-nii," Youkai greeted each of them. "I brought Chase along."

Imagine standing in the midst of eagles, who were pecking away at some other poor piece of meat. Suddenly they abandoned it to stare at you with distinctly predatory eyes of amber. That's the closest I could describe them.

"Hi," I lamely replied in the face of their stares.

"We've met," Ryokai stiffly answered. I knew the feeling; I wouldn't know how to answer my former prospective murder victim either. All water under the bridge after two years of chasing monsters, but otherwise awkward.

"Can we redo that?" I said. "Hi, I'm Chase Princeton, your cousin's boyfriend for the past five years. We've only met today in a personal capacity. What's your name?"

Ryokai stared at me, before nodding. "Misawa Ryokai. Nice to meet you too."

"What did you do?" Tsugare hissed to him as Akio did a face-palm.

"Hibiki-san, we both know each other, can we drop it?" I scowled.

"Well, I know better than to expect more civility from you at this time," Akio replied, motioning to the hall. "This isn't business, after all."

Across the hall, where Akio's hand swung out as he motioned, was that photograph. Misawa Idaten had really fit the place; a traditional man to the last. Wrinkles lined his otherwise strong face into an aged mask, and even though the photograph was done in black monochrome his eyes seemed to glitter. I knew, having met the man before, that they glittered amber rather than Youkai's crimson. He was also mostly bald in the photograph, yet that did not stop the intense aura pouring off his picture, a shade of the powerful man who ruled Neo Domino's anti-social organisations before.

Ryokai, our host, led us to a waiting table where its sole occupant rose in greeting. Koichi-san was in the most smart-casual set he could find, and he looked obviously lost in the midst of the hall of formally dressed men and women and solemn faces set with amber and grey eyes that were the most common of the Misawa.

"Chase!" He greeted with enthusiasm much like how a drowning man would probably greet the Old Reliable. "How are you? Caused any burning buildings lately?"

"It was only once!" I squawked.

"I saw the news. Don't lie."

"Burning buildings?" Akio sniffed. "That's nothing compared to the legal wrangling he put me through to see if Kannazuki Seika's appointment was legal. It was, by the way."

"I know. As you take a perverse delight in reminding me about it regularly." I glared at him.

A reminder that Seika was stuck with a pain and responsibility she never signed up for was very... very mood-killing. I mean, barely two years and she already had one of the highest fatality rates of the Arcadia Movement's history, barring Divine's kidnapping and murder streak. How much more horror and pain and death could a mind like Seika's take?

"I know that there was a large disturbance two weeks ago," Koichi nodded. "What happened?"

"A slap-down between Ryuusei and Shimotsuki," I sourly answered. "And did you know that Shimotsuki has a cousin, who's currently alive?"

"Orion Hunter?" Koichi crossed his arms. "I never really met him personally, although I heard... about eleven years ago he left the Movement. Some say that he challenged Setsuka and lost, and that's why he left, since his pride would not allow him to remain."

"Well..." Youkai shifted.

I told Koichi almost everything, about Orion's contract with Exodia, about Shimotsuki disembowelling him, and about the Duel Assassin.

"Vergil Valentine is a very powerful Duel Assassin," Koichi nodded. "I know his signature is a deck that uses only traps, and nothing else. Against an Exodia deck like what you told me about Orion... it's possible that Setsuka did it to protect him, although... well, two years ago I would have said that this plan was very roundabout, but I agree with you. She's up to something, but what, we don't quite know. And even if we did..." he shrugged.

I understood. Shimotsuki was like some damned huge glacier. There was no way to stop it even if you knew where it was headed.

"Usually, I'd ask my contacts in London, but I've been in Neo Domino mostly with Tsugare," Koichi shifted awkwardly, where Tsugare was currently deep in conversation with some long-forgotten aunt twice removed or something. "Don't you have your own contacts?"

I winced, and Rei's form appeared, perching on my shoulder.

_I agree, _Rei nodded. _That the Winter Queen is, as you put it, up to something. I can only suppose that this action is one that would counter one of two things, or perhaps both._

It would take another Shimotsuki Setsuka to fully uncover the plots, so I nodded.

_The first, and simplest, is that she is countering a movement made by the Summer Court, _Rei explained. _The Duel Assassin was an employee of Marguerite, and doubtlessly holding favours from her. It would not be remiss for the Winter Queen in ensuring that the hound of Exodia lives._

"What's the second?" I asked, perfectly aware that Koichi-san could hear Rei's explanation.

_The second, and more likely possibility, would be that she is countering a threat both Courts face, _Rei continued. _That could very well be the reason for the Summer King's appearance here. In short, two bitter enemies uniting against one..._

There is quite some truth to the phrase 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Look at World War Two. Now imagine the not-inconsiderable power of my friend, Fudo Ryuusei, plus the ruthlessness and smarts of Shimotsuki Setsuka, and you got the unstoppable and the immovable united against one common enemy. There were pairings that had pulled off less likely victories.

"If we go by that Vergil Valentine was employed to get rid of Orion Hunter, then we can hold Marguerite accountable," Koichi-san reasoned aloud. "So we can supposed that Setsuka is aiming to protect Orion. By landing him in a public hospital, instead of the Arcadia Movement infirmary, with that kind if debilitating injury, she ensures that there are public eyes on Orion, and therefore protects Orion from both herself and others. If she wanted to drive Orion off, that kind of debilitating injury delivers a trauma on its own that would cripple Orion already-"

"What are you talking about?" Tsugare-san sauntered over, leaning to peck Koichi-san on the cheek. Koichi-san flushed, the same stupefied look on his face.

"About Boss," Youkai answered.

Tsugare-san frowned, and his body seemed to shrink in on himself. Looking at Tsugare-san smiling, I wouldn't have known that he was not just a member of the Arcadia Movement, but also one of those who had opted to become a pawn of the Movement. He had braved through the worst of Shimotsuki's jobs and come out all the worst for it until his cousin had run away and entered the Movement.

Now, Tsugare-san was afraid. Afraid of even talking about her, for there are some devils who actually appear when you talk about them.

It was a common reaction, from those who not only had the most traumatic memories, but also the ones who had been suicidal once. The Movement had a very funny treatment for suicidal cases; they put them on the most dangerous work, some or not all involving homicidal Duel Spirits who would be keen to give them death of any sort. Either you found your will to live, or you lived to take your life back from the Arcadia Movement.

"W- What about her?" he asked.

"She has a cousin," Koichi-san informed him.

"Orion? He returned?" Tsugare looked surprised. "Huh, about time. Maybe Kannazuki-san can step down now."

"I don't think so," Youkai shook his head. "For one thing, disturbing rumours had passed about the Arcadia Movement. Just a few weeks ago we got a visit from the US Army in the form of the O'Brien family."

"O'Brien... Austin O'Brien is friends with Yuuki Judai, and given the rumours about the Pacific Duel Academia he would've seen his fair share," Koichi nodded. "If they're sending him to open negotiations first, it's likely that they would try to absorb the Arcadia Movement."

The service began, incense permeating the air as I stood and watched the priest perform last rites. When we moved to the Rex Goodwin Cemetery, where the grave already stood open, well, there's food for thought.

It's a sobering sort of place to visit.

I mean, we're all going to die. We know that on an intellectual level. We figure it out sometime when we're still fairly young, and it scares us so badly that we convince ourselves we're immortal for more than a decade afterwards.

Death isn't something anyone likes to think about, but the fact is that you can't get out of it. No matter what you do, how much you exercise, how religiously you diet, or meditate, or pray, or donate to your religious place of worship (insert your choice here), there is a single hard, cold fact that faces everyone on earth: One day, it's going to be over. One day, the sun will rise, the world will turn, people will go about their daily routines – only you won't be in it. You'll be still. And cold.

And, despite every religious faith, the testimony of near-death eyewitnesses, and the imaginations of storytellers throughout history, death remains the ultimate mystery. No one truly, definitively knows what happens after. And that's assuming there is an after. We all go there, blind to whatever is out there in the darkness beyond.

Death.

You can't escape it.

You.

Will.

Die.

That's a bitter, hideously concrete fact to endure – but believe me, you get it in a whole new range of colour and texture when you face it standing over an open grave, into a yawning chasm of earth and watching the gravediggers inhume the corpse.

I stood there among silent headstones and memorials both sober and outrageous, and the late May sunset shone down on me. Crickets, and the sound of traffic, sirens, car alarms, overhead jets, and distant loud music, the pulse of all cities and Neo Domino, kept me company with the funeral-visiting relatives. There was a silent, crackling tension in the air, a kind of energy that was common in summer.

Come Halloween, when the borders were at their weakest, it would become a near-maelstrom, and then shit would blow up sometime soon. But that would be Halloween.

When the gravestone was erected, I stood with the four cousins, Koichi-san, and stared at the ugly gravestone. Even when dead, Misawa Idaten still had character. The grave of his late wife, Misawa Benten, had been where Youkai and I met for the first time. He had been losing control of his powers, and the first time in DA Kings that Ryuusei had been called out to stop him was when there was a danger of a hurricane about to begin in Neo Domino.

"My parents died when I was young," Youkai confessed. "From the beginning... I was chosen as the next head, and Jii-sama raised me. But... I didn't want it. Ryo-nii... do you regret it? Your choice?"

"Someone has to hold down the fort," Ryokai wistfully stared at the grave. "And you're not cut out for the kind of bloodshed this dark world brings to us. People like Shimotsuki Setsuka are some of the darkest you would ever know, and you're right. You've seen darkness, darkness in the form of the queen of monsters that used to reign there, and you know what is needed."

He considered the grave again. "But, Nowaki, you have no need to be that monster. That responsibility has already been taken, by someone who chose to take it."

"Choice... I don't need to know about what we do to see that one day, the Arcadia Movement and our family will clash," Youkai hissed. "Will you... break it down? Will you break it?"

"It's already starting," Akio leaned forward, his hands and Ryokai's curled around each other's. "It will be a long, and probably dangerous process... but we will do it."

"You'd really do that... of course you would," Tsugare-san muttered. "You always had a strength I never had."

"It's not hard, seeing you're about as useful as a honey-trap only."

Tsugare-san kicked him. "What about it? This honey-trap taught you how to Duel! Do you need a beating?"

"N- No, Nii-san..."

"It's still the oldest Misawa who's the scariest," Youkai commented, but he was smiling slightly.

I looked around, and found myself lost in a maze of memories, a cloud of names that no one living could attach to a face anymore. I wondered, passing some of the older monuments, whether anyone ever visited them now. In those creepy cemeteries they show in movies, the graves were always left untended. Did people visit some of these graves at all?

No. Probably not for any personal reason.

That was all right. Graves aren't for the dead. They're for the loved ones the dead leave behind them. Once those loved ones have gone, once all the lives that have touched the occupant of any given grave had ended, then the grave's purpose was fulfilled and ended.

I walked by one, and almost froze.

"Youkai."

"What's wrong?" Youkai appeared by my side, still trying to see Tsugare-san flay Ryokai alive.

"This grave."

"This grave...?" Youkai glanced at the worn name, which still glinted gold:

_Here lies:  
Rafael Knighton, or Rafael Shimotsuki, 19XX- 15__th__ October, 20XX  
and  
Diana Hunter, or Seiran Shimotsuki, 19XX- 15__th__ October, 20XX_

_The Guardian and the Witch Hunter. Loving parents, man and woman, who served millions across the globe, to meet with a tragic end._

_Survived by:  
Daughters_

_Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? We do.  
Let the Storm come. Our will shall shine when the Storm has died._

"It's... clean," I hissed. "This grave is clean."

"Someone's probably been cleaning it," Youkai doubtfully muttered. "Maybe Nakamura-san?"

"Right..." I still felt doubtful as I left.

As I left the Rex Goodwin Cemetery, I realised something. It had hardly been like pulling teeth out at all.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	30. XXVIII: Ice Fire World

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXVIII: Ice Fire World**

Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.

"As a recent meeting has brought to my attention, we of the Arcadia Movement have been remiss in our sponsorship of any Psychic looking to enter a tournament in our name." I began. "I appreciate that you members of this Arcadia Movement, which exists solely to provide for your needs, have endured this lack uncomplainingly for the past two years. It shall end now; starting today, we will sponsor eight members looking to enter into this year's Duel Royal Tournament. Applications can be submitted to either Nakamura-san or me."

Cheers and whistles echoed, and the participation forms were quickly filled and handed in. Nakamura-san and I were now poring over the choices.

"We need to field Nowaki-kun," Nakamura-san answered. "If we could, I would enter myself, but I fear that the Movement shall require one such as I to remain and hold the fort."

"Satoshi Shinamori-san and Adrian Rodriguez-san are participating as well," I nodded. "Rex-nii is participating independently as well, and so is Nii-chan and Chase-nii. If that is the case... what about Reggie and Glen?"

"It would be too obvious," Nakamura-san answered. "Missy would know then that you're looking out for her. And, consider that Seto Kaiba is our host. We should not be spooking him."

"I think we should bring you," I considered.

"I am honoured, but I fear that my Duel skills leave much to be desired," Nakamura-san diplomatically answered. "Perhaps Kaenboshi Kasai and Yamada Yukio?"

"True. Yuko-kun could participate as well," I nodded as a knock sounded. "Come in."

It slammed open. "Please let me go... as well..." Yuuki bowed deeply.

"Yuuki-san..." I whispered.

"I... I have things I need to ask Shimotsuki Setsuka about!" Yuuki bit his lip. "A- At the battlefield, I'm sure... I'm sure that Kiyoshi survived. That's why... please, let me participate as well."

"Seika-ojou, I judge him to be emotionally unstable. He might..." Nakamura-san trailed off as I scanned Yuuki's application.

"We have neither confirmed nor denied anything." I replied. "Yuuki-san, we have many more applications to go through. Please leave this office."

"But, Kannazuki-san-"

"If not, then... Nakamura-san, please continue to look through the applications, each and every one of them without bias," I called. "Get Kaido to help you if needed. Yuuki-san and I will be in the Duel fields."

"Understood."

"What?" Yuuki asked when we got a field of our own.

"We shall Duel," I answered. "If you win, I will allow you in the tournament. However, should you lose, your application will be cancelled and I will inform your cousins. This shall be a Duel where your pride as a Duelist is placed at stake. Do you accept?"

"Yes," Yuuki nodded, now solemn.

"Duel!"

Seika: LP 8000

Yuuki: LP 8000

"The first turn is mine, draw!" I called. "I summon Magical Exemplar [1700/1400]." The green-robed female magician appeared. "And then, I activate the Spell, Terraforming, to search my deck for a Field Spell. I add Future Visions to my hand. Now, I activate Future Visions!"

As the usual gateway-filled space appeared, four lights appeared around Magical Exemplar.

"For every Spell activated, Exemplar gains two Spell Counters (4)," I answered. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Arcane Barrier, and set one card. Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Yuuki called. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Primordial Soup (6). Once per turn, I can shuffle up to two Evolsaur monsters from my hand to my deck, and draw the same number of cards shuffled this way. I will shuffle two monsters, and draw! Now I set a monster, and set two face-down cards. Turn end."

"Draw!" I called. "I summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200] to the field!"

The yellow Fortune Lady appeared, and winked before she walked through another door on Future Visions. Then, from one more appeared her sister, Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000].

"I equip Darky with Bound Wand, which increases her attack power by one hundred time her level [2000/2000 → 2500/2000] (8)," I declared as Darky brandished her newest weapon. "I then activate Fortune's Future, allowing me to return the banished Lighty to the graveyard and draw two cards (10). Darky, attack the set monster with Dark Fate! And then I activate the trap, Magician's Circle, allowing both players to special summon from their decks a Spellcaster with two thousand or less attack power in attack mode."

"I don't have any," Yuuki acknowledged.

"I'll special summon Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate [1800/0]," I called as the elderly witch appeared, cackling. "Darky, destroy that monster with your Dark Fate!"

"When Evoltile Westlo is flipped, I get to special summon an Evolsaur from my deck!" Yuuki called. "Come, Evolsaur Cerato [1900/1400]!"

"The effect of the Witch of Fate activates!" I called. "When a monster is special summoned, I can banish a monster with questionable attack power like Lighty, and destroy that monster!"

"Damn..." Yuuki glared at his field.

"Magical Exemplar, Catoblepas, direct attack!" I called.

Yuuki: LP 8000 → LP 4500

Seika: LP 8000

"I set a card. Turn end," I declared.

"My turn, draw!" Yuuki called. "First, I'll activate my own Field Spell, Molten Destruction (12)!"

Future Visions dissolved, turning into a sweltering volcano, where my Spellcasters groaned.

"And then, I'll summon Evoltile Najasho [100/2000]!" Yuuki called as the lizard-like monster appeared. "I play the Spell, Evo-Force (14)! By tributing Najasho, I can special summon a monster like Evolsaur Diplo [1600/800]! Najasho's own effect allows me to special summon another Evolsaur monster from my deck, like another Evolsaur Cerato [1900/1400 → 2100/1400]. Cerato gains two hundred attack power from being summoned by an Evoltile, and Diplo can destroy a Spell or Trap my opponent controls when he's special summoned by the effect of an Evoltile, which Evo-Force makes it seems! So I'll destroy Arcane Barrier!"

"What?" I gasped as my Spell was destroyed.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Yuuki called. "Exceed Summon! Arise, Evolzar Laggia [2400/2000]!"

This monster blazed white, with six wings and a large jaw and heavy hind legs.

"Molten Destruction grants all Fire Attribute monsters five hundred more in attack power for the cost of four hundred in defence," Yuuki nodded [2400/2000 → 2900/1600]. "Evolzar Laggia, attack Fortune Lady Darky! Blazing Fire!"

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Yuuki: LP 4500

"Bound Wand's effect!" I called. "When the monster this card is equipped to is destroyed, and as a result Bound Wand is sent to the grave, I can special summon the monster! Revive, Darky!"

"Laggia, activate!" Yuuki called. "When a monster is normal or special summoned, or a Spell or Trap is activated, I can detach two materials and negate that effect, and destroy it!"

"Darky!" I called as Darky was swallowed in the fire once more.

"I'll set a card, turn end!" Yuuki called. "This is my will to protect my friend! Is this fine, Kannazuki-san?"

"Draw!" I called. "Destroying Darky so that next turn she cannot attack you... I summon the tuner monster, Night's End Sorcerer [1300/400]!"

The ragged-robed monster appeared, scythe flaring out.

"Tuning, level four Catoblepas to level two Night's End!" I called, trying to recall it. "Within this citadel where the spells are as many as the stars in the sky, the storm descends! Synchro Summon! Blow them away, Tempest Magician [2200/1400]!"

The dark-robed female magician appeared in a whirlwind, bearing a deadly-looking scythe. Bats flared around her as she faced Yuuki, unafraid.

"But, Tempest Magician is weaker than my monster!" Yuuki defended.

"When Tempest Magician is special summoned, I can add a Spell Counter to her," I called. "And then, I can remove all Spell Counters on the field to inflict five hundred damage per Counter to you, and because of your two Spells, I have more than enough power stored up."

"W- What?" Yuuki stared. "Then, my Mirror Force..."

"Tempest Magician, bring the storm!" I called as the magician swung her scythe. "Rise of the Tempest!"

Whirlwinds kicked up again, and though she faced the storm, the Tempest Magician was never unafraid as she raised her scythe.

Yuuki: LP 4500 → LP 0

Seika: LP 7600

"I... I lost..." Yuuki fell to his knees. "Then... I..."

"The Movement will not compromise itself for your personal vengeance," I answered. "There are many Duelists who want to claim this chance, who have their pride. We cannot afford to compromise our judgement, for all your sakes. That is why, this act is one that is selfish and unbecoming."

"I... I see," Yuuki-san glanced down.

"And yet... and yet, I cannot stop you if you were to participate independently," I sighed as his head shot up to stare at me. "You will not participate in the name of the Arcadia Movement. But, I will not interfere if you were to participate independently. If you were to rescue Kiyoshi, tell him that though he betrayed us, he has been given a pardon though there are twenty-five deaths he has to atone for."

"Y- yes!" Yuuki-san bowed. "Thank you very much, Kannazuki-san!"

"Don't mention it," I whispered, turning away as I picked up the card from my DuelDisk. Tempest Magician... the Madame's card.

From its picture, Tempest Magician seemed to wink in answer.

_Bring the Storm. Our will shall shine when the Storm has died._

I was in better spirits that I arrived back at the office and glanced through the final folders left.

_Misawa Nowaki  
Ryuusuke Diamondblade  
Yamada Yuko  
Yamada Yukio  
Himemiya Uzuki  
Himemiya Hazuki  
Nakamura Iemitsu_

"Nakamura-san... I see," I whispered as I glanced down the list, and wrote down one last name.

_Kannazuki Seika_

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, the bobbing of the _Flying Dragon_ seemed to have stopped in the middle of the ocean.

"Who's bright idea was it to stuff so many Duelists on this bloody ship?" I grumbled as it continued it's snail-pace across the dark waters of the Sea of Japan towards whatever location it was. My bright red glove, complete with one star chip, was already on my damned hand, and I wore a black turtle-neck under my duster – which had saved my life far more times than I cared – and black fatigues, along with running sneakers. There was a surprising amount of running away involved in investigative work of any sort, and the fact that I bought my shoes with extra fireproof was proof, if any, that things had a horrible tendency to explode with me. Wallet, phone, keys, and a pocket knife. Maybe I should have brought some snacks besides the change of clothes and the water bottle, but I wasn't that sure.

Another half-hour passed before the speakers crackled to life.

"_Attention all Duelists! We shall be arriving at our destination shortly! You may now go up to the deck, but you are forbidden from leaving this ship."_

Almost immediately, almost everyone made it out for some fresh air. An enormous mix of red, yellow, and blue, along with a lot more colours and black and white, swarmed outside and gathered near the bow of the ship.

I pushed past several Duelists just to get to a flight of stairs leading to the bridge. I reached the top, but so many people had covered the rails that it was impossible to get a good view. Rex's arm poked out of the crowd, by the wall pointing upward. I took his cue and squeezed over, hoisting myself up onto the roof with Rex's boost. On all fours, I slowly got to my feet on the roof of the bridge.

I could see a large island covered with trees and rocks in addition to two mountains. On top of the shorter mountain in the centre of the island was a large stone castle, bleak and maybe more squat. Definitely not Gothic. Maybe Romanesque, or something else, something without pointed spires. I remembered Edinburgh Castle, and thought that Pegasus was probably thinking of something like that; not a fancy fairy-tale thing, but a working castle, the kind of setting where whatever adventure story that was retold in Duel Monsters could be re-enacted. The kind of enduring _castellum_ that would keep its secrets, no matter what. Lia Fáil, Shimotsuki's stronghold, definitely seemed like that, and so did this castle, though I saw it from far away.

"What do you see?" asked Rex when he climbed up. A black streak over the roofs later, and Youkai skidded to stare in wonder.

"Duelist Kingdom," Youkai said immediately.

"It's Duelist Kingdom, alright," Rex confirmed, his eyes sharpening with light and the Duelists' desire for a fight.

The ship soon docked and everybody disembarked. As we got off, I could see not just one, but three ships and a number of DA students, complete with colour-coded uniforms. A bit silly, in my opinion. I remembered in Kings, our colours were a formality, and that was it. I didn't have time to get a good look at the Central newbies as I was whisked away with the others.

Several men, seemingly identical in dark suits, were there to guide everybody up to the castle. Well, I say guide, but really it was more of lead us through a forest, up a narrow set of weathered steps and across a damn drawbridge which was the only way across a moat – I kid you not – and past the battlements where it was said that the King of Games had lost to Seto Kaiba once, and then in the courtyard.

A multitude of people stood there, Duelists in their survival garb waiting aimlessly. Quite a few famous faces stood out. Uncle Jun nodded to me, flashing a forefinger-thumb gesture like a gun. Sho Manjoume did a face-palm at him. And of course, the crowds nearly surrounded Jounochi Katsuya.

Age had been very good to him. The veteran Duelist looked like he had barely aged at all. Even when the King of Games had died, even when Seto Kaiba's stroke had been announced, Jounochi Katsuya still had an air of boyish youth about him in his advanced age. Of course, there were the requisite wrinkles of age, and the crow's feet and the lines of silver in gold hair, but otherwise he might as well have stepped out of the past. His shirt hung well on him, and his pants were suitably loose for comfort while keeping some dignity about him.

I wondered how he had to feel now. Being invited back to the home of a past enemy already dead, to the point where everything started, by the invitation of the only other person that he more-or-less knew that continued to exist in this world, despite everything. As I stared at him, I could see sharp honey-coloured eyes, the only inheritance of Satsuki that she seemed to carry from him, flicker with the Duelist's will to fight. This Duelist might be old, but he wasn't falling so easily.

Of course, then a familiar sight crossed my sight.

"Does anyone know what's going on?" Seika asked me.

His answer soon came when a loud noise was heard coming over several hidden speakers. All eyes turned to the balcony as a man with a brown buzz-cut and sunglasses, wearing a purple business suit stepped out and stood erect before us, with his hands behind his back in an easy parade rest. Of course, everyone's attention was not on the man, but on the other two.

Seto Kaiba's blue eyes met them all in challenge. Even in his advanced age, he stood ramrod straight, as if any other was a sign of weakness to him. The years had not been kind and it showed, even through the stress that must come from running KaibaCorp. His signature mullet was streaked with silver here and there, and lines edged his face and made his gaunt cheekbones stick out. He was tall and thin, almost painfully so. There are no words to describe the aura of command about him. I mean, this was the guy who rebuilt KaibaCorp from a military company into the gaming conglomerate it was today and revolutionised the gaming industry to boot. The one bastion behind the Manjoume Group's total domination of the world, one of the strongest companies of the Fiction 500, Seto Kaiba. He was wearing a three-piece suit, this one with a blue shirt and dark blue tie under a white jacket and white trousers, with white shoes. Blue and white, the colours of Seto Kaiba and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Rex gave a gasp.

Of course, beside the infamous magnate was Kisara Kaiba. The only niece of the business magnate. When Mokuba Kaiba died in an accident, there were many women who came out claiming relations to Mokuba. It made news when four paternity tests conducted turned out to be true, but then one of the doctors admitted that only one was true, and the rest were faked. That same doctor and the one who conducted the experiments died under mysterious circumstances, and everything seemed suspicious as a plot to take KaibaCorp, one of the world's richest companies. In true Kaiba tradition, Seto Kaiba had all four potential successors compete publicly in Duel Monsters to confirm which was the real heir, and then he himself would face the winner.

Who _does _that? Kaiba did. The finals of the then-dubbed Battle of the Dragon was epic, if only because the dark horse won against the champion, even against an effing Five God Dragon. The result of the last Duel was never released, but soon after Seto Kaiba admitted a then-thirteen-year-old girl, Kisara Kaiba, as his heiress. The little girl made news as the 'princess guarded by the dragon'. Seto Kaiba was about that overprotective, even when Kisara was admitted to the Arcadia Movement. Shimotsuki was on first-name terms with this guy. Really.

She had pale white skin, her light white-blue hair piled up in an elegant bun, and bright blue eyes hidden behind wire-rim glasses. She was dressed in white togs that Jack Atlas would have been jealous of in the clean cut and design, which emphasised the old money she had been around despite her relatively quick rise to the rich. Very pretty, very pale, in the sickly anaemic sort of fashion of princesses everywhere, and she was looking at the crowd with a sort of nervous energy. The two men seemed to crowd her, but I knew better. What the news _forgot _to mention was that Kisara Kaiba was a Psychic Duelist.

"Duelists!" Kaiba began, his voice strong. "I welcome you to Duelist Kingdom Island. Kaiba Corporation has been given the great honour of holding this Duel Royal Tournament, right here on Duelist Kingdom Island. The rules are simple. First and foremost, every Duel in this tournament shall be an elimination Duel. Should you lose... you will automatically be removed from the competition. To stay in this contest, you must win. At stake will your star chips, to be kept in the Duel glove you have been issued upon participation when not at stake. You must collect ten star chips to be allowed to participate. Only eight will be allowed to advance into this castle once it has begun, at which the next time they meet shall be as enemies. The ante rule is not allowed: anyone caught breaking it goes swimming with the fishes."

Several people gulped.

"Next, we have a little piece of equipment for each and every one of you." Kaiba raised a hand.

One of the dark-suited men came forward and presented a bracelet that looked very much like modified versions of the infamous Bio Bands. The suited man, Isono, Kaiba's own personal assistant, picked it up and showed it to all the Duelists below him.

"These are Duel Bands." Kaiba continued. "You will each wear one of these on your arm. This will allow us to monitor your location and movements. It will be connected to your DuelDisk wirelessly, and it will scan the first Band that it comes in contact with. This shall permit us to know who you are, if you really are what you claim to be. If you lose a duel, it will send out a signal that will disable your DuelDisk for the remainder of the tournament and notify the correct authorities. You are to stay where you are until they come for you and escort you off the island."

"What if we refuse to duel?" asked one student. Newbies...

"Isono, what is this spineless fool doing here?" Kaiba snapped as dark-suited men surrounded the idiot. "But to answer, you don't have a choice. If you do not go through at least one Duel every six hours, your Duel Bands will immediately lock on to one another and you will be forced to Duel."

"If that's the case, what if we want to participate in a group?" one of the other professional Duelists inquired.

"An excellent question," was the sour comment. "Fortunately, the Duel Bands have two settings: Standby and Active. During the Standby mode, you are free to mingle with others and register them as friends. Once you have them registered, your Duel Bands will not view these people as hostile targets. However, they will only remain in Standby for a set amount of time. Once that time runs out, they will automatically be set into Active Mode and anyone who is not registered will be detected as hostile. Of course, if you do not Duel at least once every six hours, Standby mode and any friendly recognition will be overridden and you will be locked into a Duel immediately."

"What are we Dueling for?" another pro asked.

"We have a cash prize of five million US dollars," he answered. Immediately, countless heads perked up. "And... I assume that everyone here knows the history of Duelist Kingdom, and the last tournament that occurred here."

Countless faces, countless eyes, turned solemn. I could even see Uncle Jack somewhere.

"Duelist Kingdom," Seto Kaiba murmured, and I saw Jounochi stiffen. Doubtless, they both knew what it was, the significance of the first great tournament in the history of Duel Monsters. We were standing on the closest thing to the Mecca of Duelists, after all. "If the last King had died, then it is a given that the next King will come. I do not acknowledge Riding Duels, even though I know that Jack Atlas is a good Duelist. To that end, Duelist Kingdom will happen here, again. And yet, the times have changed. So will the rules."

His eyes narrowed. "In the end, only one shall become the next King of Games."

At that moment, several doors opened and more dark-suited men stepped out. They were bringing out the Duel Bands, and trolleys of backpacks.

"What are those backpacks for?" another student inquired.

"Those are your survival kits," Kisara answered, her voice soft yet clear. "The tournament will last several days. Each backpack has been packed with the items necessary for survival. You will each be issued a three-day supply of food and water, a map of the island, a compass, a blanket, a knife, a rope, a flashlight, a small match-book, and a small medical kit. You are also free to use whatever items you happen to have on hand. Once you have everything, your Duel Bands have a Standby Mode time limit of ten minutes before the first override starts."

"Shh, Kisara," the grizzly dragon murmured, horribly and completely tender in a way towards her. It was... really maudlin.

Then his face hardened once more. "As anyone who has studied up on Duelist Kingdom might know, it is divided into different terrains, each designed to benefit a monster but not by too much. At specific points, the conjunction rule will be activated; in each field, there will be a Duel Field that is active. Each Duel Field is also its own Field Spell, that will either advantage or disadvantage you Duelists. There are also certain Duel Fields that will activate at for a set time, overriding any Duel Field you happen to be in at the time, if any. Further details will be provided in the map."

"So, Duelist Kingdom again," Ryuusei muttered. "Each Field can confer its own advantage, and it's up to the Duelist to figure it out and gain advantage that way."

"In the _very unlikely_ scenario that your DuelDisks break, a KaibaCorp DuelDisk Compact will be provided at the port." Kaiba finished. "If there are no more inane questions, then let's begin."

The crowd started to move forward. First they would each go to the left side of the gate, where they would have a Duel Band strapped to their left wrist. Afterwards, they were required to put their Duel Disk on immediately. As soon as they had done so, the Duel Band beeped, signifying that it had registered the device. Following that, each individual proceeded to the right side of the gate where they were given a survival pack before being directed down the stairs, through a hallway, and finally on the beaches of Duelist Kingdom Island.

"So in this time... looks like we have quite some time," Rex considered his own bulky Duel Band. "This feels kinda weird."

"I'm glad you agree," was the sly voice, and I did a double-take as Michiru sauntered out. Her hair remained like a dark storm-cloud, but this time she had switched out the revealing skirt I had last seen her in Lia Fáil in with khaki cargo pants and hard-wearing boots, though the crop-top remained under her cardigan. "The Duel Kingdom is our beginning."

"You're a participant as well?" I demanded.

"I'm an eliminator," Michiru gloated. "Too bad, I've already got an appointment."

"Appointment...?" I turned around as I saw the brown-haired man approach.

"M- Michiru...?" Tenjouin Fubuki sputtered. He looked like he had aged several times of the two years Michiru had been lost, and there were streaks in his hair. Other than that, he was still dressed in the Obelisk Blue colours, although I knew that he was a teacher in DA Kings and had been for a while. "W- Why... are you dressed like that?"

"I like it," Michiru simply replied, smiling. "And you, Papa? You've come all this way to settle it, haven't you?"

"W- What did you do?" Tenjouin-sensei demanded. "My Michiru..."

"Precisely," Michiru crossed her arms. "I made a deal with Shimotsuki-san for power. Look." A blast of light appeared in one hand. "I have power, much more power now than ever. Papa, aren't you proud? Your little devil finally got her revenge."

"Is this about your past?" Tenjouin-sensei insisted. "Is this because I didn't tell you about your mother? Michiru... what do you want me to say? I found you on my doorstep, and the paternity test confirmed it. Even if I don't know who is your mother, you're my daughter, aren't you?"

"You're a loose idiot, and I don't want to hear that from you!" Michiru bit her lip. "My mother wasn't even human! Didn't you realise that fact before you went flirting with Duel Spirits, you bastard?"

My eyes widened, and I saw it. Even if it were uneasy, that aura around Michiru... was nearly identical to Ryuusuke. Michiru... was a changeling. Just like Ryuusuke. Just like Dante...

"Michiru..." Tenjouin-sensei sadly murmured. "You're still my daughter. So what about it? Let's dance on the beach again!"

"You... you humans are all one and the same," Michiru growled as the lights about her shone brighter. "So full of yourselves, so incapable of seeing anything. Don't find me ever-"

"What happened?" Youkai called as he ran over, skidding slightly. "What...?"

Suddenly, the Duel Bands of the Tenjouin family began to flash red, and so did mine and Youkai.

"The stakes will be one star chips," Michiru chuckled in a mix of sorrow and delight. "If I win, then I will never return home, _Papa_. And if you do... oh well, we shall see."

"If I win, you can stop this rebellion," Tenjouin-sensei severely answered. "In this Duel, my feelings as a father shall triumph!"

"Duel!"

Fubuki: LP 8000

Michiru: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Tenjouin-sensei called. "I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick [800/500] to the field! Then, I tribute him to special summon from my hand the Red-Eyes Black Dragon [2400/2000]!"

In a flash, time passed, and the coal-black dragon appeared, baring its teeth.

"Hmph," Michiru sniffed.

"Next, I'll activate the Spell, Inferno Fire Blast!" Tenjouin-sensei called. "Take twenty-four hundred damage!"

Michiru: LP 8000 → LP 5600

Fubuki: LP 8000

"Effect damage right off the bat... not bad," I commented.

"True, but Red-Eyes?" Youkai added.

"I'll end here," Tenjouin-sensei called.

"Without even a set card? How careless. Draw!" Michiru called. "I'll play the Spell, Card Destruction, and allow us to refresh our hands. Of course, I have a purpose. When they are discarded from my hand into the graveyard, I can special summon The Fabled Ganashia with two hundred more attack power [1600/1000 → 1800/1000]. I special summon two of The Fabled Ganashia!"

"Two monsters-" Tenjouin-sensei hissed as the two elephants appeared.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Michiru called. "Exceed summon! Appear, Muzurhythm the String Djinn!"

A guitar solo began to start as the little devil appeared in the spotlight. It wore an orange coat and denims and large-soled shoes. Its horns poked through its green hat. It held a rose in its mouth. The guitar it held was a double-neck guitar. Its little black form held the guitar in tiny black paws, and the entire image was... rather cute, as it snapped its fingers "_Muzu_!" [1500/1000].

… I had to wipe my eyes. Yep, tiny fiend.

"But, Red-Eyes has the stronger attack power..." Youkai murmured.

"Next, I'll activate the Field Spell, Array of Revealing Light!" Michiru called as a circle of light enveloped the field. "I declare Dragon. Now, all monsters of that type cannot attack on the turn they're summoned at all."

"Huh?" I considered. "In a Fabled deck, that doesn't quite suit it..."

"Muzurhythm, attack with Rhythmic String!" Michiru called. "When a Djinn Exceed monster is attacking, I can detach one overlay unit to double its attack this damage step [1500/1000 → 3000/1000]! Go, Muzurhythm!"

Fubuki: LP 8000 → LP 7400

Michiru: LP 5600

"I'll set a card and end my turn here." Michiru finished as Tenjouin-sensei hit the boundary of the field.

"W- What happened?" I blinked.

"Psychic powers, obviously!" Youkai growled.

"I... I..." Tenjouin-sensei struggled to his feet. "Only monsters and magic... Michiru... nice try, but no! Draw! I'll activate the card, Monster Reborn! Revive, Red-Eyes!"

With a roar, the black dragon broke out again [2400/2000].

"I'll activate the Spell, Dragon Heart!" Tenjouin-sensei called. "By sending three Dragon-type monsters from my deck to my graveyard, I can add one thousand attack power to Red-Eyes! And then, I use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Array! Go, Red-Eyes! Attack with Inferno Fire Blast!"

Michiru: LP 5600 → LP 3700

Fubuki: LP 7400

"I'll end my turn here." Tenjouin-sensei called. "Even when Red-Eyes is attacked, it'll return right back!"

"What?" I scoffed. "Not even an extra monster?"

"Draw!" Michiru called. "Activate Trap, Xyz Reborn, to revive Muzurhythm and attach Xyz Reborn as material. I'll summon Tour Guide From the Underworld [1000/600] right now!"

With a loud puff, a pink-haired girl in a dark blue suit-skirt holding a clipboard appeared.

"She allows me to special summon a level three Fiend Type monster from my deck, like Fabled Kushano [1100/800]!" A ghostly green figure appeared. "I create the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon! Appear, Melomelody the Brass Djinn!"

A horn blew, and the green-haired horned imp that appeared carried a brass pipe with it, smiling [1400/1600]. She wore a pink dress and white stockings, and sat on her instrument, a giant brass horn.

"Once per turn, Melomelody allows me to choose an Djinn Exceed monster to attack twice," Michiru announced. "And I activate two copies of Overlay Regen, targeting Muzurhythm. Like this, Muzurhythm has three material attached. Battle! Muzurhythm, attack! Now I detach one material and double his attack [1500/1000 → 3000/1000]!"

Fubuki: LP 7400 → LP 6800

Michiru: LP 4700

"Melomelody, use your effect!" Michiru called as the horn blew. "Muzurhythm, direct attack!"

Fubuki: LP 6800 → LP 3800

Michiru: LP 4700

"Melomelody, your turn!" Michiru called. "And Muzurhythm allows her attack power to double. Chain, Rush Recklessly! [1400/1600 → 2100/1600 → 4200/1600]"

"Four thousand!" I hissed.

"Melomelody, direct attack with Melody Stream!" Michiru called as the horn blew and hit Tenjouin-sensei across the field again.

Fubuki: LP 3800 → LP 0

Michiru: LP 4700

"I win," Michiru crossed her arms. "Now per the rules of Duel Royal, I'll take that star chip. As an eliminator of the Duel Royal Tournament, I declare Tenjouin Fubuki eliminated and to be taken out of the competition forthwith."

"Michiru..." Tenjouin-sensei tried to stand. "My... daughter..."

I nearly gagged as she crushed his hand underneath her sharp heel.

"Don't _ever_ call me that again." Michiru spat. "What do you think _I_ feel? I don't belong in a pathetic controlled world of humans. I can't free myself enough as a Duel Spirit to live in a world of immortals. It's all because of this accursed blood! I remain between worlds because of this blood, and it's all because of you! Why, why?!"

Changelings... knowing what Michiru was now, I could muster some feeling for her. Ryuusuke was a changeling, and so had Dante. Ryuusuke still managed to survive, did he not? Michiru could have been well-adjusted, but... who knew. Maybe all that time with Shimotsuki had skewed her perceptions, made her unable to function as a normal person. Or her spirit blood was far stronger than Ryuusuke's blood.

Either way, Michiru was pissed off at Tenjouin-sensei for some reason or other. Still didn't change that she was psycho.

Heaving a sigh, she removed her foot, her eyes gleaming as a cold energy seemed to shroud her. The chip floated from the ground and into her palm. "Thank you, _Papa,_" she hissed, her face no longer sweet or caring as she turned her back and left.

Before we could say anything, two men appeared and took him away.

"O- Oi!" I called. "Where are you taking him?"

One of them produced a KC identity card. "He lost. He's gone."

With that, they started dragging him to the small dock, where a small row-boat floated.

I opened my mouth to protest again, but then my own started beeping red.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	31. XXIX: Ice Tune

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**I've been considering the subject of Michiru myself ever since your thoughtful reviews came in. Actually, I think that Michiru was angry at how flighty Fubuki seems to be even as her father. It's very one-sided, but I think Michiru is angry at him because of how he treats the situation - she can't fit into normal society and he's acting like it's no big deal. On some level, I think her mind is divided between hating all humans and the love a daughter has for her daddy - which Fubuki is hardly mature enough to provide. Now, imagine that if she grew up with someone proven to be really immature such as Fubuki as the main parental influence in her life, I think Michiru would look for some maturity in her life, and so she was attracted to Setsuka. **_

_**The power boost that she got helped to influence her actions, and later a few bits of information helps to clarify exactly what kind of psychic influence Winter does to Setsuka and her minions, but I like to think that Michiru is attached to Setsuka precisely because of the strong behavioural influence Setsuka seems to exert in everyone she meets - i.e. blind terror/fear/wariness. Not to say that Fubuki is a bad parent, but you notice in both anime and manga, Fubuki tends to be very light-hearted and not serious at all, and sometimes teenagers want to be taken seriously. Setsuka does allow Michiru some leeway and freedom and peace, and is to all intents and purposes the first friend Michiru has. **_

_**I think it's like how cults or cliques operate on some level; they find lonely individuals and, through a series of psychological cues, induct them further by a means of peer pressure and friendship, so when there's any backlash against a cult, the members tend to stick together, because it's their FRIENDS they're sticking up for. Putting aside the new revelation of Michiru's changeling heritage, a relative of one of the DA Chancellors is apparently a huge social advantage in the YGO world (or did anyone miss the part where the Manjoume Group wanted to take over DA in GX to complete their domination of the world?) and Setsuka knows this. It might be a deliberate and calculated move, but we already know that Setsuka is a female Lord Vetinari; manipulative to the core. And if she happened to gain a strong ally... yeah.  
**_

_**Of course, I could also be over-analysing the Tenjouin family dynamics. Thank you, Witch of Tragedies, for creating the characters Tenjouin Michiru and Kaname Yuuko. I only regret what I am going to have to make Yuuko do later.  
**_

_**LLS**_

* * *

**XXIX: Ice Tune**

The encounter had been purely by accident. One moment I had walked ahead, and the next I had been alone and caught.

"Good afternoon, missy," the woman opened her greeting. She had dark brown hair reaching her upper back with red highlights in her bangs split to frame her face. She wore a black duster with red lining, along with form-fitting black jeans and a red shirt with a beige scarf. A star-pointed medallion with a leather thong and a red ruby ring on her right middle finger completed her ensemble, and the Duel Band she had on beeped red as well. "I'm Yoshisawa Koyomi. And you're the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement, Kannazuki Seika. Now that we've finished the introductions, shall we have a Duel?"

"W- Who are you?" I nervously stepped back.

"I'm so sorry. Usually I wouldn't Duel children... but, it looks like this time, it'll hurt," she winked. "Now, unlock that DuelDisk, and let's Duel in this forest."

"I see," I whispered as I unlocked it.

"Duel!"

Koyomi: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"Draw!" Koyomi called. "I'll summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Panther [0/200]!"

A warrior appeared, his hair tied back. He waved his hand in a gesture of defiance as he stood. "During the turn this card is summoned, I can tribute him to set a Fire Formation Spell or Trap directly from my deck. I activate the card, Fire Formation – Tensu! The effect of Tensu: during my main phase, I can normal summon another Beast-Warrior Type monster. So, I'll summon the tuner monster Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Spirit [500/200]."

Another monster, this one enveloped in blue flames, appeared. "When this card is summoned, I can special summon from my graveyard a level three Fire Attribute monster with two hundred or less defence power, and my Panther fits the bill. Of course, Spirit cannot be used for the Synchro summon of any other monster than a Beast-Warrior Type monster. Tuning, level three Panther to level three Spirit! The blue flames of revenge burn blue, and the unsuspecting hero releases the hundred and eight stars of the Marsh! Synchro summon! Appear, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Horse Prince!"

A horse of blue flame whinnied as a white-armoured warrior appeared on the field.

"Tensu does more than grant a normal summon, also giving Beast-Warrior Type monsters I control one hundred attack power," Koyomi gloated. "And this Forest is a Duel Field by itself, taking the effect of Forest, so my monsters gain attack and defence of two hundred as well [2200/2200 → 2500/2400]. Horse Prince's effect, allowing me to special summon a level three Fire Attribute monster from my deck, so I'll summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Chicken."

This one wore darker armour, and black-purple flames enveloped his form [1500/100 → 1800/300].

"When this monster is special summoned by the effect of his brothers of the Fire Fist, I can add a Fire Fist monster from my deck to my hand." Koyomi declared. "I shall add another Spirit to my hand. Now, I set two cards, turn end."

"Draw!" I called, noting for once that Koyomi wore her DuelDisk on her right arm. _Future Visions is locked down due to the Duel Field, so... _"I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Arcane Barrier. Now, I'll set a monster and two cards. I end my turn."

"Draw!" Koyomi called. "I'll summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Spirit. This allows me to special summon Leopard from the graveyard. Now, I tribute Leopard to set a Fire Formation directly from my deck onto the field. Activating the set Continuous Spell, Fire Formation – Gyokko. Now, I choose one of your set cards, and while Gyokko is on the field, that set card cannot be activated, and my opponent cannot activate the targeted card in response. I'll choose the one on my left."

"Oh no..." I whispered.

"I construct the overlay network using Chicken and Spirit!" Koyomi called. "Exceed summon! Rage and lead our heroes, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Lion Emperor!"

This warrior was cloaked in white flame, and his face was definitely leonine, edged in gold and grey and he was holding a sword [2200/200].

"Of course, Gyokko will also grant a small boost," Koyomi added as her monsters glowed with power. [2200/200 → 2600/400] [2500/2400 → 2600/2400]. "And it's still my main phase, so by the effect of Tensu, I can summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Dragon [1800/400 → 2200/600]. Once per turn, when I have activated a Fire Formation card, I can set one more Fire Formation trap directly from the deck. I'll activate a Continuous Trap I'd prepared earlier, Fire Formation – Kaiyo."

Blue fire flooded her field. "This turn, Kaiyo allows all my Beast-Warriors to inflict piercing damage."

"W- What?"

"And of course, all Beast-Warriors gain three hundred attack power [2200/600 → 2500/600] [2600/400 → 2900/400] [2600/2400 → 2900/2400]." Koyomi declared. "Quite a lot of damage this turn... Lion Emperor, you lead!"

"Trap card, Damage Diet!" I called. "This turn, all damage I take is halved!"

Lion Emperor led, to reveal Apprentice Magician being destroyed. Next was Horse Prince, and then it was Dragon. Throughout the cycle, it was Apprentice after Apprentice that was destroyed.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 5050

Koyomi: LP 8000

It burnt, hot and sweltering once I had finished.

"Seika!" Nii-chan called as he ran over, but stopped suddenly. "Y- You are...?"

Koyomi's eyes widened, and then her face morphed into a mask of hate. "You... Fudo Ryuusei!"

"Nii-chan... do you know her?" I asked.

"Yoshisawa Koyomi-san was a participant of the Stygian Dirge two years ago," Nii-chan tonelessly answered. "Two years ago, she was a part of Team Illusion. But... after their defeat at the hands of Team Night Sky, and the subsequent deaths of their leader and first wheeler, Team Illusion was dissolved."

"After that disastrous tournament, I dropped out of school," Koyomi laughed. "I survived through the underground leagues for years, going through Duel after painful Duel. My friends were so easily killed. And their easy deaths made me realise... that there was no meaning if I remained like I was. I feel _powerful_ now, Fudo Ryuusei. That you helped kill those two off. Thanks to you, I was able to release this new me."

"Are you listening to yourself?" Nii-chan mildly replied.

"You shut up!" Koyomi snapped. "So, you know this little girl? Then I'll burn her to ashes before you, like what happened to Erika! I'll use the effect of Lion Emperor, detaching one Exceed material to return Spirit to my hand, but this turn I cannot summon him. Turn end!"

"D- Draw!" I called. "I'll flip summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200]! Now, I tribute Arcane Barrier and Lighty to draw up to four cards! I draw four cards! Now, I'll summon Kinka-byo [400/200]. When this card is normal summoned to the field, I can special summon a level one monster such as Lighty back to the field. I shall set a card. Now, I construct an overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon! Appear now, Slacker Magician!"

The magician that appeared had long blue hair, and a pair of goggles set in it. She wore a shirt and knee-length pants, and reclined in the air [200/2100] as she was in defence mode.

"Trap activate, Dimension Slice!" I called. "This card can be activated the turn it was set when a monster is special summoned to my field by Exceed summon. I can banish one monster you control, and I choose... that Lion Emperor!"

"M- My monster!" Koyomi called.

"I activate the Continuous Spell, The Dark Door." I continued. "Next, I'll set two cards, turn end."

"D- Draw!" Koyomi's face flushed. "I'll summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Boar [1100/1400 → 1800/1600]! Tuning, level four Dragon to level four Boar! I construct the overlay network with these two monsters. Exceed summon! Appear now, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Cardinal Commander!"

Flames of red and white rent the air as the warrior appeared [1800/2200 → 2500/2400]

"I can target two Fire Formation cards I control and two cards you control, and shuffle them into the deck!" Koyomi triumphantly declared.

"Got you," I nodded. "Slacker Magician's effect; when this card is targeted by an opponent's monster effect during either player's turn, I can detach one material, negate that effect, and destroy that card!"

"W- What?" Koyomi screamed as her monster exploded. "M- My monster! B- But, I can summon Spirit, and then revive Leopard, and Synchro summon! The blue flames of revenge burn blue, and the unsuspecting hero releases the hundred and eight stars of the Marsh! Synchro summon! Appear, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Horse Prince!"

Another Horse Prince [2200/2200 → 2900/2400] appeared on the field.

"I know now," Koyomi whispered. "Erika's nerves were burnt out by Summer fire. Rowena died because you saw her injured face, Fudo Ryuusei. She was crazy about you, I realised... what is it about you? That anyone who falls for you meets a tragic end? And why did you have to take my friend? I'll take your most precious person!"

She laughed. "I special summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bull [1700/1000 → 2400/1200] to the field! Horse Prince, attack Slacker Magician!"

"Once per turn, Slacker Magician can't be destroyed by battle!" I called as the magician screamed.

"Che... turn end," she scowled.

"Draw!" I called. "My counter-attack begins now! I activate the Spell, Winds of Fortune! Now, when I control less monsters than my opponent and my life points are lower, I can draw five cards."

"That's unfair!" Koyomi shouted.

"But, at the end phase, I must pay four thousand life points," I easily answered. "So, I must defeat you this turn. Draw!"

I glanced at my cards. "The pieces of victory are gathered! I summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200] to the field! Now I activate the trap, Torrential Tribute! All our monsters are destroyed!"

Torrents flooded the field, steam rising as they met flame, and the torrents swept them all away.

"My... Horse Prince..." Koyomi whispered.

"Lighty's effect; arise, Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]!" I called as the darker Lady appeared. "I'll play the Spell, Monster Reborn, and then my trap, Compulsory Evacuation Device activates! I'll return Lighty to my hand, and so appear, Fortune Lady Watery [?/? → 1200/1200]! I draw two cards."

Watery was solemn as she scanned the field, and gave me the cards quickly.

"Now, I activate the quick-play, Emergency Provisions. By sending that set card I can't activate, and The Dark Door, I gain one thousand life points!"

Seika: LP 5050 → LP 7050

Koyomi: LP 8000

"I'll activate Double Summon, and so I summon Lighty again," I called. "And then, I activate the Spell, Different Dimension Gate. With that, Lighty is removed from play, so appear, Fortune Lady Earthy [?/? → 2400/2400]! I activate the Spell, Spellbook of Life, revealing Spellbook of Power in my hand and banishing one Apprentice Magician to special summon another with a level of four. I construct the overlay network with these level four monsters! Exceed summon! Arise, Number 39: King of Wishes, Hope!"

"A Number card?" Koyomi hissed as the winged white-armoured warrior appeared, sword drawn [2500/2000].

"I activate Spellbook of Power on Darky!" I called. "Now, Darky gains one thousand attack power [2000/2000 → 3000/2000]. Next, that card you wouldn't allow me to activate was Skill Successor!"

"What?" Koyomi hissed as I took it out, and Hope glowed [2500/2000 → 3300/2000].

"Hope, direct attack with Hope Blade Slash!" I called. "Darky, Earthy, show her your bonds! Dark Fate, and Cursed Skewer!"

Koyomi: LP 8000 → LP 0

Seika: LP 7050

I had just managed to take the fallen star chip off the ground and set it into my glove when my Duel Band glowed and I felt weak. A cold fire seemed to be spreading through my chest and I sank down, unable to move or to stop trembling.

"Seika!" Nii-chan was there to catch me. "Are you alright? Seika!"

I did not know.

* * *

I wanted to stare anywhere but before me. Worse, I might just dig my eyes out. That would save me the torture of going blind later from-

"_Super_!"

-from flashy former teachers and their colour-blind dressing.

"Shut up!" I yelled at Kajiki Rikuo. "Kajiki-sensei, isn't that just too flashy?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kajiki-sensei demanded. "Princeton, just because you graduated doesn't mean you're guaranteed that internship in Duel Academia!"

"That's not the point!" I hotly protested. "What the hell are you wearing, clueless tourist chic?"

"Hah! And you, suave urbane? That duster will give you heat prostration first!"

"Oh? Then... then that shirt would drive you blind first!"

"Oi!" Youkai snapped. "The Duel Bands are locked on!"

"Oh, looks like it should be a Tag Duel," Kajiki-sensei commented. "No, not with me..."

"Tag Duel...?" I wondered.

"With us!" two men cackled. One was a short man with blue hair wearing yellow-frame bug glasses. The other was a man with long brown hair with a patch of purple sticking out from under a red beanie.

"Hey, that looks like Manjoume," the taller commented.

"Manjoume Thunder?" the other blanched.

"My uncle," I sighed. "Chase Princeton. And you are..."

"Prepare yourself. You're about to fall before the insects of Insector Haga!"

Youkai blinked, holding up his own beeping Duel Band. "I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"I'm Dinosaur Ryuuzaki, the first ever Dino Duelist!" the taller one yelled.

I cocked my head. "Excuse me? I don't know you."

"You'll remember us after we beat you!" They looked identically infuriated. It's incredible, the amount of hate you could get just from pretending to be ignorant.

"Tag team?" Youkai offered, smirking. To anyone else, it would seem like a smile, but Psychic Duelists tended to conceal their expressions. I heard that Shimotsuki once ran a seminar on how to eventually terrify the crap out of your opponent, and it was such a huge success that a book was written on the damned thing.

"Tag team, each with their own field and life point pool, no one can attack on the first turn," they agreed.

"Duel!"

Haga: LP 8000

Youkai: LP 8000

Ryuuzaki: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"Youkai and I will bet one star chip each," I offered.

"Just nice, Ryuuzaki and I have one star chip each," Haga snorted. "I'll begin, draw! And from my hand, I summon Cross-Sword Beetle [1800/1200] in attack mode!"

The enormous brown beetle with two pairs of pincers appeared. I thought it resembled the _Mushi_ _King_ Hercules, but I could be wrong.

"Next I play the Continuous Spell, Verdant Sanctuary. Now whenever one of my Insect-Type monsters is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can bring another Insect from my deck to my hand as long as it's the same level as the bug that was destroyed. Your move, white-hair."

"Draw!" Youkai called. "With that, I'll summon Gusto Falco [600/1400] and two cards."

The green bird chirped in answer. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Ryuuzaki smirked. "I'm gonna special summon Gilasaurus [1400/400] in attack mode!"

The dinosaur growled as it appeared. "Next, I'm gonna shake things up with my Two-Headed King Rex [1600/1200]! And I'll give my Rex a little boost with the Equip Spell, Raise Body Heat, giving him three hundred more attack and defence power!"

Two-Headed King Rex began to flush and swell [1600/1200 → 1900/1500]. "Let's see what you've got! Turn end!"

"Is that it?" I snapped. "Those are old Dino cards! I know Dino Duelists who've advanced way more than that! My turn, draw! I summon Infernity Necromancer [0/2000], and by its effect it changes to defence mode! Now I activate the Continuous Spell, Infernity Launcher. With this, I can discard one Infernity monster from my hand once per turn. I'll set two cards, turn end."

"Draw!" Haga cackled. "I summon Insect Knight [1900/1500] to the field!"

"Trap card, Torrential Tribute!" Youkai called.

"Chain, Infernity Inferno!" I called. "I ditch my last card in hand and one Infernity monster to the graveyard. Thanks to that, Infernity Bishop's effect in the graveyard activates, protecting my monster from destruction!"

Both Duelists stared as the torrents swept their field clean.

"When Gusto Falco is destroyed by any means outside of battle, I can set another Gusto monster of choice on my field," Youkai called. "Well?"

"Verdant Sanctuary allows me to add Insects of the same level as Cross-sword Beetle and Insect Knight," Haga admitted. "I will add Howling Insect and Pinch Hopper. I activate the Continuous Spell, Insect Neglect. Turn end."

"Draw!" Youkai called. "Flip summon Kamui, Hope of Gusto [200/1000], and special summon the tuner monster, Gusto Egul [200/400]. I'll tribute Kamui to summon Overdrive Teleporter [2100/1200]!"

The man that appeared wore a white coat and glasses and was very futuristic-looking.

"By paying two thousand life points, I can special summon two level three Psychic-Type monsters from my deck, so come! Raizbellt the Regulator [800/800], and Psychic Commander [1400/800]!"

Haga: LP 8000

Youkai: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Ryuuzaki: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"When Raizbellt is special summoned, I can increased the level of a select target by three until the end phase of the turn," Youkai continued. "I'll increase the level of Egul to four. Battle! Egul, direct attack!"

The bird pecked him.

"Raizbellt, direct attack!" Youkai called as the new monster leapt into action and kicked. "Psychic Commander, Overdrive Teleporter, direct attack!"

"The effect of Insect Neglect!" Haga called. "I banish Insect Knight to negate the attack from Overdrive Teleporter!"

Haga: LP 8000 → LP 7800 → LP 7000 → LP 5600

Youkai: LP 6000

Ryuuzaki: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"Trap card, Urgent Tuning!" Youkai slyly called. "Tuning, level three Psychic Commander to level six Overdrive Teleporter! Within this isolated sphere of thought, evolve to show the darkness of the heart! Synchro summon! Come, assault the establishment and bring the time for freedom! Hyper Psychic Blaster!"

One of the strongest Psychic-Type monsters of Duel Monsters loomed, guns cocking [3000/2500].

"Holy-" Haga cut off. "That's equal to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"Direct attack!" Youkai called as it fired... at Ryuuzaki.

Haga: LP 7000

Youkai: LP 6000

Ryuuzaki: LP 8000 → LP 5000

Chase: LP 8000

"Oh, didn't you banish Cross-sword Beetle to protect your partner?" Youkai slyly glanced at the field. "Too bad. Tuning, level three Raizbellt to level four Egul. The one who is connected to the world of science, come help us today in a world of whim. Synchro summon, Psychic Lifetrancer [2400/2000]!"

The android-looking monster hiccoughed with sparks as she appeared.

"I banish Raizbellt to gain twelve hundred life points. I'll set a card, turn end." Youkai declared.

Haga: LP 7000

Youkai: LP 6000 → LP 7200

Ryuuzaki: LP 5000

Chase: LP 8000

"Damn... Haga, what the hell!" Ryuuzaki raged. "My turn, draw! I summon Balloon Lizard! Now I play the Spell, Ultimate Evolution Pill to tribute it and special summon Black Tyranno [2600/1800]!"

The ugly dinosaur screamed as it appeared on the field.

"Ha! When there are only defence monsters that my opponent controls, I can attack directly!" Ryuuzaki pointed at me. "Go, Black Tyranno!"

"Like I'd let you!" I growled. "Continuous Trap, Infernity Force! Your Black Tyranno is destroyed and I get to revive an Infernity monster, like Infernity Beast [1600/1200]!"

"Infernity... wait, you don't mean..." Ryuuzaki blanched. "The Handless Demon, Kiryu Kyosuke?"

"That's my master!" I whistled.

"Shit!" Ryuuzaki twitched. "I'll set a card, turn end!"

"Draw!" I called. "I'll reveal this card to special summon Infernity Demon [1800/1200]! And thanks to his searching effect, I can take Infernity Beetle! I summon Infernity Beetle [1200/0] and use its effect: when my hand is at zero, I can tribute him to special summon two more Infernity Beetles! Tuning, level six Infernity Destroyer to level two Infernity Beetle! When the dead and the living meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro summon! Come forth, Infernity Death Dragon!"

No matter how many times, I never got tired of that dragon's roar [3000/2400].

"Tuning, level three Infernity Beast to level two Infernity Beetle!" I called. "When the dead and the living meet at zero, they create an impenetrable illusion that lasts till victory! Synchro Summon! Come,Armades, Keeper of Illusions!"

The Light Fiend appeared, one hand holding a blazing fist, and the other holding an ice fist [2300/1500].

"W- When did you get that?" Youkai called.

I scowled. "Ryuusei's idea of a suitable birthday present and being missing for two years."

"Ah."

"Armades has an effect not unlike the Ancient Gear monsters," I explained. "Except that Armades covers more. So, Armades, Infernity Death Dragon! Direct attack on Ryuuzaki! Infernity Demon, use Hell Pressure on Haga!"

"I use Insect Neglect!" Haga defended.

Haga: LP 7000

Youkai: LP 7200

Ryuuzaki: LP 5000 → LP 0

Chase: LP 8000

"Turn end," I called.

"D- D- D-" Haga stared at the field, and at his fallen partner. "I... I summon Pinch Hopper [1100/1200]... and then I play the Spell, Eradicating Aerosol. I destroy Pinch Hopper, and special summon Insect Queen [2200/2400 → 2400/2400] in... in attack mode." The relief as he studied his hand was palpable. "Now, I set a card, turn end."

"Ironic, is it not?" Youkai commented. "The man who was defeated at the first Duelist Kingdom tournament shall now be defeated again."

"Wait... I thought you didn't know who I was!"

"Who could ever forget the footnote you made at that tournament?" Youkai flippantly commented. "Trap card, Dust Tornado! Destroy that set card. And I activate Mystical Space Typhoon as well, to destroy Insect Neglect. By the way... Hyper Psychic Blaster inflicts piercing damage as well. Battle!"

Haga screamed at the top of his lungs as the Blaster lunged at him in the wake of the scattered DNA Surgery.

Haga: LP 7000 → LP 6400

Youkai: LP 7200 → LP 7800

Chase: LP 8000

"And Hyper Psychic Blaster allows me to recover what you lost as damage," Youkai sighed. "Psychic Lifetrancer, direct attack!"

Haga: LP 6400 → LP 4000

Youkai: LP 7800

Chase: LP 8000

"Turn end." Youkai concluded. "Since Ryuuzaki is defeated, his turn is passed, and Chase will take over."

I nodded. "Draw! Demon, Infernity Death Dragon, Armades. Direct attack."

Haga: LP 4000 → LP 0

Youkai: LP 7800

Chase: LP 8000

The Duel Bands began to flash very quickly. I fell to one knee onto the ground as the holograms faded and a wave of weakness washed over me. I tried to turn my head, and I saw that Youkai was also experiencing the same.

"T- This can't be!" Haga was yelling. "I was supposed to win! This was my chance to come back on top!" His Duel Band then went off, and he too collapsed.

Rei's voice echoed, discordant in the tiredness. _It seems as if these pieces of mortal ferromancy functions close to the Duel circles of my realm. They drain the energy of a ritual Duel and channel it to a different source to be used. The setting is meant to exhaust, and possibly tire, but neither of us should be harmed... though I can only speak for either of us._

"What the hell?" I nearly yelled. "So these things are Bio Bands?"

Rei, being Rei, had to search through my thoughts for what were the aforementioned Bio Bands.

…_similar in construction. They actually do contain an ancillary function of location and containment, if you must know._

"So it's a giant high-tech manacle," I groaned. "That sucks our energy every time we Duel? Oh, come on, are you _serious_?"

"Urgh..." Youkai groaned.

"You okay?" I shot, struggling up before helping Youkai to his feet. He wobbled for a bit before he managed to balance again.

Waves crashed on the shore of Duelist Kingdom... and Kajiki-sensei's body was swept up with them.

"Kajiki-sensei!" I called, shrugging my duster off. There was no rush, I realised; whoever had defeated Kajiki Rikuo had laid him on the beach, at a place where the waves could not carry him off until high tide in ten minutes' time or so, on a very conspicuous part of the beach. It took only a bit to haul him up and onto dry sand, where his Duel Band continued to wink up at us.

I opened my mouth, and groaned. "Are you serious? Is _every_ good plan already taken that they had to rehash one that made the history books?"

"You're currently in danger of having all your energy sucked out, and the first thing you complain about is that the plan is clichéd?" a familiar voice called from across the beach.

I turned towards it, glaring at the older man who could have been my doppelgänger. "No one asked you, Uncle!"

* * *

_**Winds of Fortune**__**  
Type: Normal Spell  
Effect: You can only activate this card when you control less monsters than your opponent, and your life points are lower than your opponent by 2000. Draw 5 cards. At the end phase, pay 4000 Life Points.**_

_**Please review!**_


	32. XXX: Storm Caller

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXX: Storm Caller**

Nii-chan led me slowly to where Rex-nii and the rest of them, even Nakamura-san, had already set up camp. The trip was rather doubtful to me, but I gamely struggled, and I was feeling better after some chocolate from Nakamura-san. Rex-nii sat on a rock, an eyebrow constantly raised as he read the packaging of the food he found in his survival pack.

"Has anyone seen Youkai?" Yamada-san asked.

"He should be with Chase by now," Nii-chan answered. A yell sounded as the two of them returned to camp with a blue-haired man in a bright blue on yellow Hawaii-print shirt and Bermuda shorts with sandals on, complete with DuelDisk, and another man almost identical to Chase-nii.

"Found Kajiki-sensei in the sea," Chase-nii announced as he threw down the extra pack, right when Yuko returned with a few fish. There was a man behind him and Youkai. "Also everyone, this is my uncle, Manjoume Jun. Shut up and sit down."

"Nice, Yuko-san." Nakamura-san took out his knife and began scaling the fish.

"Say..." Ryuusuke mentioned as he and I began to help with scaling. "We already have three days' worth of food in our bags. Why do we still need to forage for more food?"

"The food in our survival packs is non-perishable. It'll last us for a while, so we want to keep that for emergencies." I answered. "On the other hand, I wonder when did everyone become this proficient in camping..."

"Where are the Himemiya sisters?" Yamada-san mentioned, tending the fire.

"I'm _heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere_!" Uzuki called out gaily as she returned with Hazuki-nee, each carrying an armful of root vegetables. "Hey, there are two of Chase-nii!"

"That's my uncle!" Chase-nii yelled in umbrage.

"Thank you, now everyone on the island knows that." Manjoume Jun grumbled.

"I wonder if they have any boars on this island. I'm dying for some red meat," Rex-nii thought out loud.

"Even if there were, you're going to have a very trying time hunting one down." Nakamura-san finished scaling the fish and proceeded to gut them. "The Master used to bring the family out camping."

"_Shimotsuki/Setsuka-san/That woman_ went camping?" everyone echoed in disbelief.

"Yes," Nakamura-san smiled fondly. "I remember... during those trips he taught Missy to throw a tomahawk perfectly. But boar-hunting was one thing the Master was never willing to try alone, unless the Madame was present. Then the boar always ended up suspiciously cooked before even I had touched it. It made for... an interesting dinner."

"So when _is_ dinner?" Youkai enquired.

"It'll take a while, but we'll whip up something filling," I promised.

"But I'm hungry _now_."

"Apple," Chase-nii shoved the fruit at him from somewhere inside Nakamura-san's pack. Youkai bit down.

"So, what do we do?" Manjoume Jun waved the Duel Band as dinner was served. "Chase and I tried these just now. They drain the energy of anyone who's Dueling, and after that the men in suits come and take the losers off the island."

"There is no set pattern again, only that the participants are Duelists," Yamada-san added as he finished half his fish. "The most obvious tactic would be for one of us to lose and follow the men to wherever the defeated are taken. Given the random timing of any given Duel, and the concentration of Duelists on the island, it's possible that it's located on a ship that leaves the island at least once a day, if the ship does not have the capacity necessary to transport all of the participants off, or once a week. Since the tournament lasts on an indefinite schedule, and given that Duelist Kingdom's dock does not allow for many larger ships, I could say that either one large ship or several smaller ships would be employed, with row-boats to... escort the defeated onto these ships."

"What if they're taken into the castle instead?" Nii-chan asked, having already started on the potato roasted in the jackets.

"I don't know... though it might be possible... not really," Yukio frowned. "Even fully staffed, to keep approximately a hundred prisoners fed and imprisoned would be counter-productive and promotes escape risks. However, if the defeated are taken off the island and onto a ship, then escape risks are greatly minimised due to the division of prisoners and the fact that it is on a ship."

"Excuse me?" Uzuki blinked, still biting her apple.

"We're on an island, surrounded by water, and so Duelist Kingdom is easily defended," Yuko translated. "A ship shares many of the island's defences, as well as mobility on the seas. It's suicide to try and row or swim back to Neo Domino or Satellite. That's why escape risks are minimal. And then consider that maybe about two hundred people are on this island. When the concentration is divided, say one hundred each after the first round, there would be a definite division of 'winners' and 'defeated'. By Duelist pride, there would definitely be some dissent involved. But, say that the two populations are now divided on different places, then the dissent would be cut down a lot, which would make it easier on the island management."

"But, the Bio Band changes everything," Yamada-san took over as Yuko continued eating. "Since if word gets out of its use then KaibaCorp's reputation goes down the drain, until the tournament is over they absolutely cannot allow anyone to escape. So it's more likely that the defeated Duelists are taken off Duelist Kingdom and placed on one large ship that would make its way back to the mainland or whatever destination comes to mind. If they are placed in the castle... then they are being imprisoned for a reason. And we should find that out."

"I can try to find a signal, if needed," Nii-chan was clicking on Rex-nii's phone as he ate his potato as well.

Manjoume-san stared at our discussion over food, crunching and planning. "You guys are scary. You're like the Blue Berets O'Brien led before, except way more organised."

"I know Yukio-san once made it to be a Beret," Hazuki-nee answered. "Myself, I was with the Disciplinary Committee of DA Queens under Shimotsuki Setsuka, and I am a disciplinary member of the Arcadia Movement."

"What I do not understand is, why has Kaiba not reacted?" Nakamura-san rumbled. "Surely he must already know of these... happenings."

"When someone knows and does not react, then three possibilities are implied," Ryuusuke was catching up. "The first is that Kaiba is waiting for something to happen. Maybe he's already made a trap, or done something, and we haven't noticed it."

"The second possibility is that Kaiba does not care," Hazuki-nee agreed. "Which is impossible, because Seto Kaiba is infamous for being absolutely paranoid about his tournaments. After the mess with the first Battle City and the KC Grand Prix in Michigan, not to mention the first GeneX and subsequently the Fortune Cup and the WRGP, KaibaCorp tournaments have had a reputation for danger in the past, and it has only changed recently in the past twenty years. The third... and the worst possibility..."

"I got a signal," Nii-chan voiced out as he held up the phone.

"_Seika-chan!_" a familiar voice was talking through. "_Seika-chan, are you there? This horrible man wouldn't let me contact you-_"

"_We've only just managed to hook them up, lady!_" Kaido's voice yelled.

"Y- Yuuko-chan?" I faintly asked. "Yuuko-chan..."

I felt very tired, and very afraid. Setsu-chan was doing something, something that involved Orion-san being injured and this tournament and my participation in it, and now we were all in danger because of these Duel Bands that would force us to Duel someone sooner or later and drain our energy and maybe kill us... and the lives of everyone was dependent on me.

"Yuuko_-_chan_..._? S- Setsu-chan is here... I'm so afraid."

"_Wait right there!_" Yuuko-chan yelled. "_I'm coming right over now! Oi, you, keep in contact-_"

_Bzzt_.

"Duelist Kingdom must have detected that signal," Nii-chan frowned at the phone.

"We could have reported a lot of things," Yamada-san looked irritated. "You have not thought this out calmly. There are more things at stake than your fear, and you should not have given voice to it."

"Yukio!" Yuko-kun snapped.

"Giving that fear a voice will only make it stronger," Yamada-san continued. "When we spoke of our fears to our parents, didn't they throw us out, Yuko? To give a voice to that fear is to weaken. That's what Shimotsuki-sama had drilled, until my body still remembers it. Even if we fear, if we acknowledge it, we do not give voice to it, because the people around us need one who does not fear."

"Y- Yamada-san..." I swallowed.

"I'll be preparing to sleep," Yamada-san turned away, reaching for his pack. He left for the river, and a moment later I sat staring at nothing in particular.

"D- Did I... do something wrong?"

"No," Hazuki-nee assured. "Erm... Princeton-san, could you escort your uncle back?"

"Huh... I see," Manjoume-san nodded. "Alright. Chase?"

"Yes, yes," Chase-nii followed him, as the two of them went into the forest.

"Listen..." Hazuki-nee hesitated.

"It's true, that usually the leaders of the Movement are very competent, very clear-minded, ambitious people, who are very cold." Nakamura-san knelt. "But... that is because there is a lot depending on them. And they cannot let those people down. But... to keep up with these competent people, we of the Movement has already become more than competent, but as you can see... some of us, including Yukio-san, have forgotten how to feel. I think... I think Missy made the right choice. To give the Movement a head who openly shows concern, who shows us that it is alright to feel at a time when it is safe to do so. We Psychic Duelists... some of us have it hard, and so during that time we need competence. But... this time, with you, we need someone to give the voice to things that we Psychics have been forgetting for a long time. Fear... anger... terror... being afraid of shadows."

He patted my head. The gesture was very warm. "You've openly cried. But, even when you're crying, even when you're afraid, and you showed it, you fought. You remind us that we were all that little one who was lashing out, trying to struggle to survive once. And if we remember that... we become more humble for it. We become more human for it. It takes fear to hide ourselves from the world, Seika-ojou... but it take courage to face the world even through that fear."

I sat there, continuing to think, even through encouraging murmurs and packing and sleeping bags being unrolled. Who knows how time had passed before Uncle Crow and another man stumbled in.

* * *

We weren't the only ones who had already decided to set up camp. Judai-san, along with the younger Marufuji and Uncle Jun already had a roaring fire going and fish cooking on it, their camp just a bit further upstream from us.

"Why do you think someone would want to bring back the Bio Band technology?" Sho was asking later.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Uncle Jun shook his head, waving the Bio Band about. "Guys, this is my idiot nephew, Chase Princeton. Idiot nephew, these two are Yuuki Judai and Manjoume Sho. Sho is the short one, and Judai the one with the Kuriboh head."

"Manjoume..." Sho sighed.

"I know," I nodded. "Marufuji-sensei taught at school when I was still in DA Kings, and Judai-san was in Neo Domino recently."

Judai sighed.

"No luck, Aniki?" Sho sympathetically asked.

"I haven't come across Ayame yet," Judai shook his head.

Suddenly, the Ojama Brothers appeared around him.

"_Hey Boss, can we have a bite?_" Ojama Yellow wheedled.

"_Yeah, come on. Just one bite,_" urged Ojama Green.

"You guys are Duel Spirits, you can't even eat." Uncle Jun answered without even missing a beat. The irritants probably grew onto him.

"Oh, yeah," Judai-san murmured as he followed my line of sight. "You can see them too."

I glanced at him. Judai-san was... dark, but not dark-disgusting like Ophion had been, or Bahamut. It felt like Ouroboros multiplied.

_Yubel, _Rei supplied in my head.

"We can hear you too," three voices answered: Uncle Jun, Judai-san, and the creepy female one that I guessed was Yubel.

"Aniki, how come Edo never came?" Sho inquired. "I thought for sure he'd be here."

"You guys know what happened to Saiou, right?" Judai-san answered. "Edo stayed behind to look after him."

"I heard it was brutal," Uncle mentioned.

"Who could do something like that?" Sho seemed worried.

"Well for now, Edo's on the rescue team along with Johan and the others," Judai-san shrugged. "If things look like they're going bad, they'll show up."

"They're _already_ bad," I answered. "The first fact, that we're on an island cut off from all help should already give you a clue. Fact two: the fact that KaibaCorp knowingly invited Duelists from both the professional and amateur leagues, and the Duel Academias, means that at least one higher-up in KaibaCorp knows what's going on. Fact three might be old news to you guys, but these things are killing us and they're literally attached to us."

"Having said it like that, there's no way to make it worse," Uncle Jun snorted.

"Of course there is," I answered. "Seto Kaiba himself is involved."

Complete silence met my declaration. Even the scraping of utensils stopped. This was the very declaration that Hazuki did not want to talk about. This was the one that every one of them had not wanted to even consider.

"People have impersonated Seto Kaiba before," Judai-san quietly murmured, though he did not look convinced.

"Kisara was there," I answered. "A grizzly old dragon like Kaiba won't let the princess out of his sight, and that was definitely Kisara. Any member of the Knights of Arcadia can tell, and I have confirmation from two members."

"Shit," Uncle sat back towards a tree. "I knew that a high-ranking member of KaibaCorp could be involved, but _Kaiba_...?"

Yeah. Knowing that we could be going up against a man who was certifiably one of the patriarchs of modern Dueling was really daunting, not to mention the man with the full power of KaibaCorp behind him. There were politicians who were smaller than Kaiba.

"Willingly, or unwillingly?" I continued. "I had to work with the Movement for two years, trust me, impossible just becomes a word that doesn't exist in the dictionary. If, just _if_, Kaiba was being controlled-" as laughable as the thought was, "-then we should find the controller, which implies that we have to get into that castle. If Kaiba was doing this willingly..."

Sho gulped, the act itself pretty childish. "Oh man. How? The champion who could give even Yuugi Mutou a run for his money? We'll be _wasted_."

"If Kaiba was doing this willingly, there implies a goal for all of this energy," I answered. "And a lot of secrecy, which could be why someone tried to off someone else known for reading the damn future. Given the structure of Duelist Kingdom, the most probable centre of activity would be the castle. So we have to get in anyway. Either way, no matter the course of action, it remains the same ultimate goal."

"Get to the castle," everyone nodded.

"Manjoume, your nephew has more brains than you," Sho happily said.

"He's still an idiot," Uncle scoffed.

"You're the idiot." I muttered. "Who even uses Ojamas anymore? And get some Exceed monsters, advance with the times already!"

"I like my deck just fine!" Uncle set his empty dish on the ground. "I'm going to sleep. I'm on lookout for the second half of the night, so I'm gonna get some shut-eye now."

"Sleeping directly after a meal will kill you later!" I snapped.

"Yes, yes," Uncle scoffed.

"I'll wake you when it's time," Judai-san nodded.

"Right." And with that, Uncle crawled into his sleeping bag and started to fall asleep. Judai and Sho looked at each other for a moment and continued eating as I left before I could give in to the temptation of kicking Uncle.

"Damn bastard," I kicked a stone out of the pathway as I walked back through the forests.

Stars glimmered overhead; Duelist Kingdom was far enough from any major settlement that the light pollution was negligible. It was eerily quiet, mist rolling in from the sea in a murky cloak. By midnight I suppose the critters – and some of the more night-inclined Duelists – would be out and about, ambushing camps for Duels. Cicadas rang out, crickets chirped, everything was quiet and peaceful... maybe too quiet and peaceful.

A flock of crows began a mass exodus. I felt a strong breeze behind me, my duster flapping out. Where the sea was...

… that wasn't right. It was night; it should be land breezes now. So either Duelist Kingdom had very radical fans about, or... or there was someone messing about with the winds.

"_Satsuki_!" a male voice called.

"_Satsuki_!" Another voice joined him, another familiar voice...

"Uncle Crow!" I realised, running towards the source.

As I approached the clearing, I saw that in the middle of the clearing, there was a minor storm brewing. The clouds overhead were being forced into a cyclic motion, and the ring of clouds that formed the front over Duelist Kingdom was rotating.

Three people were there. On my right, was Crow Hogan, the infamous Blackwing Duelist and second wheeler of the former Team 5Ds, and the honorary uncle. The last one, Jounochi Katsuya, was still struggling to his feet.

Across them, to my left, stood Satsuki. She had traded her corset in for a purple coat over a white tube top and fingerless gloves that reached to her elbows. I realised that with contact lenses, she could have passed for her grandmother.

Jounochi: LP 1000, _Continuous Trap: Fairy Box_

Satsuki: LP 4000, _Harpie Queen [1900/1200], Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon [2000/2500] {1}, Continuous Trap: Hysteric Party_

The green-haired Harpie gracefully twirled her claws, her face solemn. The dragon, its chain in her claws, clicked its jaws.

"My turn, draw!" Satsuki called. "Your Panther Warrior has fallen to my Queen. I will declare two direct attack on you. Shall we see if your luck holds, Jii-chan?"

"B- Bring it!" the older Duelist challenged.

"... no, I think not," Satsuki considered. "It is time that I made it absolute. I summon Harpie Dancer [1200/1000]."

The blonde Harpie wore her hair in a similar style, and she carried herself with similar grace to the Queen though she wore little more than a black bikini edged in white down and thigh-high black stockings.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Satsuki called as Harpie Queen and Harpie Dancer were sucked into the vortex. "When the queens of the storms combine with the will of the cold, the result will bring the hailstorm down upon everything! Exceed summon! Soar, Sylphine, the Sub-Zero Siren!"

Snow began to fall. Ice formed on her eyelashes, and her breathed steamed. The temperature dropped several times, and from the skies above the monster spread blocky sharp dark blue wings. Against its light-blue, almost white skin, the female winged monster had dark blue crystalline plates that served as a skirt, as armour on her arms and legs, and all over her head. Her bodice was white, and so pale as to blend with her skin [2000/2200].

"I- it's cold..." Jounochi Katsuya muttered, shivering.

"I've made a promise..." Satsuki sadly answered. "I can't go back. The effect of Sylphine; by detaching one overlay unit, until my next standby phase, I can negate all face-up cards my opponent controls, and she also gains three hundred attack power for each face-up card on the field. Perfect Freeze!"

The winged monster spread its claws, and ice covered the field. Black ice, as in clear ice, the water crystals so impossibly thin as to be able to see the grass underfoot and glimpse the dew itself as perfect little circles on blades of grass. I kid you not. Satsuki was channelling the power of Winter, and now it said to freeze the field as an expression of her power, and that of the queen she served [2000/2200 → 2900/2200].

"Sylphine..." Satsuki's eyes hardened. "Direct attack on Jii-chan! Ice Ray!"

Jounochi: LP 1000 → LP 0

Satsuki: LP 4000

"I win," Satsuki barely had to move as the winged menace hovered and took the two fallen star chips from the older Duelist. "As promised, I shall now take these two star chips. As an eliminator of this tournament, I hereby declare that Jounochi Katsuya is eliminated and to be taken out of the competition forthwith."

Two men melted out of the shadows, hauling a shivering Jounochi up. His Duel Band flashed yellow for a minute, and then he was blinking. "Urgh... Satsuki... tell Jii-chan... who?"

"You were never meant to be here, Jii-chan," Satsuki told him. "Only you, you were never meant to be here."

"What do you mean?" Crow demanded as he shielded Jounochi from them. "Oi!"

"Take him," Satsuki ordered, hardly reacting as the two men advanced, their aura much more intense now... without actually moving.

"Uncle Crow!" I called, and heads swivelled to my direction for a moment.

"Chase!" Crow looked relieved. "That means the rest are around, right?"

"Take the north road, get to the river," I nodded, gulping as I faced two men who individually must have weighed twice my body weight, but together... together there was something entirely wrong about them.

I cocked my head, feeling my own eyes widen in surprise. "Lava and Swamp Battleguard."

Both of them, the two disguised Duel Spirits, growled, advancing. As they did, the black suits melted away into loincloths, bare fists into huge clubs, buzz-cuts into shaggy hair and horns.

Gulp.

Satsuki's eyes narrowed. "Ah. You."

"Any chance of escaping this time?" I hopefully asked.

Satsuki snorted. "Get him, boys."

I began running. The two disguised Duel Spirits ran after me. I was zig-zagging through the forest, and thankfully the paths were cleaner and the terrain steady, or else I might as well have taken a branch to my own foot and saved myself the trouble.

It can be freaking frightening to be walking a forest in the dark. And if that isn't enough, it's dangerous, to boot. You can't see much. There are sounds around you, from the sigh of wind in the trees to the rustle of brush caused by a moving animal. Invisible things touch you suddenly and without warning – tree branches, spider-webs, leaves, brush. The ground shifts and changes constantly, forcing you to compensate with every step as the earth below you rises or dips suddenly. Stones trip up your feet. So do ground-hugging vines, thorns, branches, and roots. The dark conceals sink-holes, embankments, and the edges of rock shelves that might drop you six inches or six feet.

I must have clocked about many metres away when they caught up, and I was just out of air and had enough to shout. I blame the adrenaline.

"Ryuusei!" I called out to the night. "Someone! Where the hell are you?"

I really should have known, that Ryuusei was subject to the same rules that Shimotsuki was. If a spirit-caller called them, then they had to come. It wasn't so much a necessity as much as a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder – this I found out from Rei – and pretty much guaranteed that if their attention was gotten, I could expect some form of reply. Reply, as in eating my face, or actually appearing.

It started raining. A bolt of lightning struck down and hit the ground, blowing up scorched grass and hot earth. A flicker of flame began before the rain put it out.

Light flashed. Something that looked like a butterfly sculpted from pure fire shot over my head like a tiny comet. I scrambled to my feet, to see the blazing butterfly hit the Swamp Battleguard square in the chest. The thing screamed toppling over, front legs thrashing, rear legs entirely limp, as fire exploded over its flesh, burned a hole in its chest, and then abruptly consumed it whole.

I leaned by a tree and panted for a second, then looked around to see Ryuusei. At that moment, the Summer monarch did not look caring or warm or nice. His face held an implacable, restrained anger, and half a dozen of the fiery butterflies fluttered in the air. He stared at the dying Duel Monster until the fire winked out, leaving nothing, not even residual ash, behind.

The Lava Battleguard gave a growl that escalated as a black and white flash passed and Youkai defended me before running off, possibly back to Satsuki.

"You summoned me," Ryuusei quietly murmured.

"I did? Oh," I blinked. "Erm, thanks. I was probably in mortal peril there for a moment."

"You're always in mortal peril," Youkai commented, but hauled me to my feet. Maybe there were a few inappropriate touches involved. You certainly don't need to know.

Ryuusei frowned. "You don't get it, Chase. You, summoned _me_."

The last word slashed through the air, its fury palpable. It struck the nearest tree and broke into a shower of gold and green sparks, that vanished almost instantly. Youkai's breath froze.

When really powerful Psychics, or rulers of fully half of a spirit world, take your pick, get angry and start talking to you, you freaking _hear _them. If you survive it, you hope you can make it to the emergency room in time. That one time I had called to Shimotsuki, she had dropped me with just her words. It's not fun.

Ryuusei sighed, and it was dropped. The aura of power, of summer heat and desert sunlight, died, ozone lingering in the air. The rain died to a drizzle. I looked at him, and so did Youkai.

Ryuusei was... now very tired. "Let's go," he said.

The two of us nodded, following him.

"What happened?" he asked. "I was looking for you already because Uncle Crow ran into our camp with an unconscious man."

"... Satsuki defeated him," I quietly answered.

"The Bio Bands?" Ryuusei asked.

"... Yeah."

"So I guess they tried to persuade Satsuki." It was a statement.

"Yeah. Satsuki won, and then those two came. I spoke, and they were distracted. Uncle Crow took Jounochi and escaped, and then Satsuki sent them after me."

The drizzle died off. "Do you need a jacket?"

"Duster's waterproof."

Ryuusei's mouth twitched, even in the darkness. "Do you realise something?"

"What?" I asked.

"We're walking in complete darkness, and you're following me."

"Oh." Youkai considered. "Did you bring a flashlight?"

"No."

"Why the hell not?" I snapped.

"I don't need it."

"You don't-" I cut off. "Ryuusei, are you telling me that you can _see in the dark_?"

"Chase... Shimotsuki can as well. I suggest you move before she manages to hunt you down."

I wasn't suicidal enough to challenge the ice queen in a place where she could actually freeze it lethally. We followed after Ryuusei quickly.

We passed by the river bank, and there I glimpsed Yukio's unique blue-and-white hairdo. He wasn't alone; standing across him was a brown-haired girl, in a slim red jacket thrown over a shirt, and jeans and sneakers. The Duel Band on her arm glowed red and beeping.

"That's..." I gasped.

"Yuuki Ayame," Yukio gave a bland acknowledgement, confirming my suspicions.

"That's me," Ayame-san answered. The years had aged her somewhat, leaving her beautiful, but there was some hidden weight to her soul as well. It was apparent in the tense set of her shoulders, and how she faced Yukio, as if she expected a monster to appear from the shadows and eat her face.

"Shall we, then?"

"I thought you might never ask."

"Duel!"

Ayame: LP 8000

Yukio: LP 8000

"Draw. I'll summon Gishki Avance [1500/800], turn end." Yukio called.

"My turn, draw!" She called, her honey-coloured eyes flashing. "I'll summon Elemental HERO Stratos [1800/300]! Now I add Elemental HERO Lady Heat to my hand. I activate HERO's Bond, special summoning Elemental HERO Knospe [600/1000] and Elemental HERO Lady Heat [1300/1000]. Chain, Inferno Reckless Summon! Appear, two more Lady Heat!"

Two more of the fiery women appeared, glaring at Yukio.

"I'll set a card, turn end, and at the end phase each Lady Heat will inflict two hundred damage per HERO monster on my field," Ayame called as fire seemed to rage on her field. "There are five HEROes in total, and three Lady Heat, so I'll have you take three thousand damage!"

Yukio: LP 8000 → LP 5000

Ayame: LP 8000

"First turn, already three thousand-?" I noted. "Very cool."

"Draw," Yukio did not seem to disturbed. "Looks like you have me on the ropes, Yuuki-san. You have five monsters, and a set card, and though you have used up most of your hand, it does not seem to have any adverse effect. Truly, that set card could be Super Polymerization, one of the most infamous cards, and if I were to do anything, I suppose then that you would have some measure of counter-attack. In that case... I draw. I'll activate Gishki Aquamirror, allowing me to tribute Evigishki Levianima in my hand to ritual summon Evigishki Soul Ogre. Tortured malice of the Gishki, hold your grudges close and your rage closer, for it will be our salvation. Arise, Evigishki Soul Ogre!"

The monster resembled a cross between a fish and a bird; scaly skin ending with claws and taloned feet, a crested head beaked at the jaw, and overall like some evolved sea-dragon human hybrid [2800/2800].

"Holy shit," I muttered.

"I use the effect of Gishki Aquamirror, to shuffle it back into the deck to reclaim my Evigishki Levianima." Yukio solemnly stated. "Then, I discard Gishki Shadow to reclaim Gishki Aquamirror. I summon Vision Gishki [700/500]."

From the water of the river, the monster burst out.

"Vision can be used for the entire tribute for a ritual summon," Yukio announced. "I activate Gishki Aquamirror, tributing Vision to ritual summon Evigishki Levianima! Swords of the oceans, hear my cry, answer me through the mirror of rituals! Arise, serpentine sword, Evigishki Levianima!"

The monster resembled a sea-serpent with legs and arms, having a beak-like snout and flapping gills. It held a rapier in one hand [2700/1500]. Aside from that, it was something that defied all description other than being that thing only Cthulhu's mother could love.

"Levianima, attack one Lady Heat!" Yukio called. "When Levianima attacks, I can draw a card, and if that card is a Gishki monster, I can look at one random card in my opponent's hand. I drew Gishki Beast, so Yuuki-san?"

Ayame held up her card; Polymerization.

"Anyway, Levianima!" Yukio called. "Attack with your Serpentine Sword!"

Ayame: LP 8000 → LP 6600

Yukio: LP 5000

"Soul Ogre, attack the next Lady Heat!" Yukio called. "Sea Killer!"

Ayame: LP 6600 → LP 5100

Yukio: LP 5000

"And I discard Evigishki Gustkraken to use the effect of Soul Ogre," Yukio held it up. "I shuffle your last Lady Heat into your deck."

"W- What?" Ayame snapped as her Lady Heat disappeared.

"Activating the effect of Aquamirror, I shuffle it into the deck once more to return Gustkraken to my hand," Yukio declared. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Ayame called. "Activating the set card, Mask Change! By tributing Knospe, I can special summon from my extra deck Masked HERO Dian [2800/3000]!"

The blue-robed warrior appeared in a flash.

"And then, I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge [800/900]!" Ayame called. "Now I activate the Spell, Polymerization! I fuse Stratos and Ice Edge! Fusion summon, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!"

The white-cloaked warrior appeared in a burst of cold, and Ayame shivered though she looked hatefully down at her hands afterwards [2500/2000].

"Dian, attack and destroy Evigishki Levianima!" Ayame called. "Diamond Sabre!"

Yukio: LP 5000 → LP 4900

Ayame: LP 5100

"Hmph," Yukio flinched only barely as the sword scored his arm, but other than that he gave no indication of distress.

"When Dian destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can special summon a level four or lower HERO monster from my deck to the field, so appear, Elemental HERO Ocean [1500/1200]!"

The warrior that appeared was blue, and resembled a fish-hybrid thing.

"Absolute Zero gains five hundred attack power for every face-up Water Attribute monster on the field besides himself, and I count two," Ayame declared [2500/2000 → 3500/2000]. "Absolute Zero, attack Evigishki Soul Ogre! Ocean, direct attack!"

Yukio: LP 4900 → LP 4200 → LP 2700

Ayame: LP 5100

"Damn, Yukio's in danger," I commented.

"Draw!" Yukio did not look too disturbed at the prospect of his loss. "I activate the Spell, Card of Demise, and draw until I have five cards in hand. Then, I activate Monster Reborn to revive Evigishki Soul Ogre. I discard Evigishki Gustkraken to return Absolute Zero to your deck, and of course Soul Ogre meets its demise."

As the white-cloaked one disappeared, Soul Ogre screamed as it was frozen into a block of ice and vanished.

"I summon Gishki Beast [1500/1300]," Yukio called as the green-skinned beast appeared. "With its effect, I can special summon a level four or lower Gishki monster from my graveyard, so return, Gishki Shadow [1200/1000]. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters, arise, Evigishki Merrowgeist!"

With flowing red hair, a creature bedecked in fins, a red tail and wings tinged in green, holding a staff topped with the Aquamirror, appeared on the field. The monster waved, beautiful despite its being an aberration to anything resembling normality [2100/1600].

"With that, I play the Spell, Heaven's Lost Property, to allow us both to draw three cards, and discard two," Yukio declared. "I discarded a copy of Aquamirror, silly me, but I can shuffle it back into my deck and return Soul Ogre to my hand."

"Why?" Ryuusei frowned. "Obviously he could have used it on Soul Ogre..."

"Activate the Ritual Spell, Forbidden Arts of the Gishki. I can tribute any monster on the field to ritual summon this turn, in exchange for not conducting my battle phase and that the attack power of the Ritual monster will be halved." Yukio declared.

"W- What?" Ayame sputtered.

"I tribute your Dian, and ritual summon Evigishki Soul Ogre in defence mode! Tortured malice of the Gishki, hold your grudges close and your rage closer, for it will be our salvation. Arise, Evigishki Soul Ogre!"

The monster resembled a cross between a fish and a bird; scaly skin ending with claws and taloned feet, a crested head beaked at the jaw, and overall like some evolved sea-dragon human hybrid [2800/2800 → 1400/2800]. At the same time, Dian gave a moan as he was swallowed by a large wave.

"I discard Gishki Avance to shuffle your Ocean away." Yukio continued. "And then, I play the Spell, Contact with the Aquamirror. I can look at the top two cards of your deck and rearrange them in any order I like."

"W- Wait!" Ayame called as her cards floated up and out into a waiting mirror, a twin of which Yukio glanced into a moment later to rearrange.

"There," Yukio solemnly imparted. "Turn end."

Ayame frowned, taking her draw. "A monster..." she swallowed. "I end my turn."

"Draw," Yukio called. "I summon Gishki Noellia [1700/1000]."

A woman smirked nastily as she appeared, her long red hair elaborately piled on top of her head as she preened in robes edged in a pattern resembling fins and waved a staff topped by an Aquamirror.

"When Noellia is normal summoned, I can reveal the top five cards of my deck, milling any Gishki monsters or Ritual Spell cards into the graveyard," Yukio declared. "I have two monsters and one Ritual Spell, hence I mill three cards while the remaining is shuffled into the deck. I activate the Spell card, Preparation of Rites, allowing me to search my deck for a level seven or lower Ritual monster in my deck to add to my hand and adding a Ritual Spell of choice from graveyard to hand. I choose Gishki Psychelone, and from my graveyard I retrieve the Spell, Gishki Photomirror. I activate the Spell, Gishki Photomirror. This card is the only one of its world. I must pay life points equal to five hundred times the level of the monster I shall ritual summon, which is four. Hence I pay two thousand life points."

He raised a hand. "Dark sorceress of the sea, heed my call!"

The Mirror of Gishki formed beneath his feet, the mirror surface churning like the waves of the sea as a new being arose, this one black and scaly like a lizard, yet beautiful human features could be seen, like a beauty dressed in a costume. In her hand was a staff, its head the Mirror of Gishki [2150/1650].

Yukio: LP 2700 → LP 700

Ayame: LP 5100

"The effect of Psychelone; once per turn I can declare a monster type and attribute, and if one random card in your hand I glanced at is that declared type and attribute, then that card is shuffled back into the deck." Yukio coldly announced. "I declare, Dark Attribute, and Warrior."

Ayame flushed as she glanced down, and showed the Necroshade she held.

"No more left," Yukio just moved Soul Ogre to attack mode. "My monsters, direct attack!"

Ayame: LP 5100 → LP 0

Yukio: LP 700

"Come-from-behind win..." I whistled. "Seriously, against those odds, I wouldn't have managed. He managed to get rid of a huge beater, an Absolute Zero and another monster in one turn."

Ayame's Duel Band flashed yellow, but unlike the others, she remained standing, although her body was sopping wet. "You... win."

Yukio caught the two star chips deftly as the voice spoke out: "Good work, Yukio."

She stood alone, wearing a dark blue halter-neck under a denim jacket, completed with midnight-black short-shorts that should have made any other pair of legs look fat but looked shapely on hers, and I feel disturbed that I had time to notice her legs when I was gay. Her black hair was bunched up, tucked into a French bun with a silvery stick through it. She wore sensible dark boots with these, and her deck-box dangled next to a compact blue DuelDisk, the recent ones KaibaCorp began marketing called D-Pads. Around her neck dangled a silver locket, the snowflake carved into it apparent as it nestled over her heart. Even though she was an un-chaperoned girl standing in the middle of a forest facing a Psychic Duelist and her DuelDisk currently inactive, her blue-green eyes were wide with the certainty that she was armed well beyond the capability of even Yukio to withstand.

"S- Shimotsuki-sama," Yukio turned around as Shimotsuki stepped out of the shadows. In Yukio's teal eyes there was a glitter of respect.

"You did rather well. Although you did a rather risky move." Shimotsuki addressed him.

"I calculated the odds, manipulating her next draw and stealing her monster," Yukio answered, his voice ringing with the utmost respect and fear and hardly daring to look weak even though his own Duel Band flashed yellow. "It was risky, but I considered it necessary even though I have kept my eyes on her graveyard. Time had been of the essence."

"My obedient disciple," Shimotsuki tonelessly stated. "Yuuki Ayame, I see that you are here as well. Champion of Summer, have you come across your counterpart?"

Ayame lifted her chin, her head held high. "I can't say I have. I was too busy participating. This is a tournament, after all."

"And yet I see that you have abandoned your monarch."

Ayame's face flushed. "He is not my monarch," she hotly protested.

"Such rebellion in a champion of the warmth," Shimotsuki observed. "You knowingly made that deal, already knowing the responsibility and pain you will go through. You are the one indebted to Summer, Yuuki Ayame. The recent incursion between us has only proven that you are an inappropriate champion to take the mantle of Summer, and a Duelist weak of heart. How must it feel, knowing that your time is running short? How does it feel to know that you will die soon?"

"Shut up," Ayame snarled. "I have no idea why Kaiba ordered you to be an eliminator in this, but I don't trust you."

"And neither should you," Shimotsuki easily replied. "But I note that you are keeping a wide berth from the King of Summer and the Herald of the Gentle Darkness. Are you so ashamed to face him? Or do you not want to face him?"

"Ryuuki and I have a life," Ayame tightly replied as white flames appeared about her. "And so does Dad. What about it? I'm not answering."

"I never asked," Shimotsuki shook her head. "Poor little girl. Still trying to rescue Daddy even though she's already been told that it's not possible. Still trying against all hope to finish it."

Her eyes glittered. "I know you have a cousin, Nicolette Kurosagi. I know that she too is a cousin of Michiru. How long do you think it takes? Perhaps I should send Michiru, provide an... awakening. Do you think little Nikki would side with Winter if it means freeing you, no matter the cost-"

Ayame threw forth her hands, and a wave of fire flew towards Shimotsuki.

A laugh echoed, and the fire coursed over some obstacle as it curved up and out towards... us.

"Down!" Ryuusei snapped. Youkai dragged me down into wet earth as Ryuusei threw up his hands. The fire parted, and Ryuusei grunted like he was holding back the Red Sea and blew. The fire blew apart. A few trees caught flame, but the humidity of the storm just now meant that there was no way for a forest fire to start.

Mocking laughter rang out, over the bubbling of the river.

Hot air and steam touched my face and grew as Youkai and I got up, Ryuusei moving to cover us. Wisps of orange and scarlet flame floated around Ayame, and the brown-haired girl looked livid.

Shimotsuki looked proud. Before her, Yukio had dug his hands into the earth, and from where I stood, I saw that he had somehow managed to construct a shield of living water from the water molecules itself. It spiralled out, dying as Yukio managed to pull his fingers out of the mud, and I saw a puff of steam wider than my head rise in the air.

"Looks like a shield based on entropy," Ryuusei noted. A little louder, he spoke. "I'd like to know what's going on, too."

The flames died, and Ayame stiffly lowered her hands, glaring at him before moving to glare at Shimotsuki. "You stay away from my family."

Shimotsuki just gave a brief chuckle, before raising her right arm, a single finger in the air. She then pointed it at Ayame. The temperature abruptly lowered, and ice actually formed over the river itself as an Arctic howl and a spiralling blue-white lance of fire sparked in it. Frost formed over Ayame's clothes, hands and face, and her lips turned blue with cold.

"I thank Yukio for keeping you nice and wet," Shimotsuki murmured, her right thumb and forefinger touching now as the lance fired. Ayame sank down, stunned, only just dodging the lance that froze the tree behind her immediately. She was frozen in place, unable to move by her own volition.

"Silly child. I could have protected both of us." Yukio was hauled to his feet, and idly Shimotsuki took his wrist, examining the Duel Band as it blinked. "A favour in exchange for a favour."

"W- What?" Yukio blinked as she glanced at the Duel Band. "How?"

Shimotsuki smiled, and even across the relatively shallow river, I could see her teeth. The temperature lowered again, and more ice crystals formed in the air. Yukio's breath began to steam as Shimotsuki continued to glare at the glowing Duel Band.

A _crack_ sounded, and the yellow glow died.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	33. XXXI: Oval Ice Fire

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXI: Oval Ice Fire**

"Uncle Crow!" I gasped as he stumbled towards our camp, an older blond man with him. Around me, the other Arcadia Movement members jumped into action.

"Chase... Satsuki... someone..." Uncle Crow gasped.

"I'll go with Youkai-sempai," Nii-chan volunteered as Youkai gave a worried cough. They left.

Nakamura-san poured out two mugs of soup as Hazuki-nee and Uzuki settled the blond man, Jounochi Katsuya, with his back to a rock next to the fire. Yuko-kun helped to position Uncle Crow as Ryuusuke added some more wood and checked for injuries. Everyone kept a tense eye on the Duel Bands; they could reactivate at any moment.

"Dammit..." Uncle Crow muttered. "Satsuki... changed."

"What happened, Uncle?" I asked.

"We... found Satsuki," Uncle Crow groaned. "Jounochi-san tried to challenge her, got his ass kicked for his trouble. They were about to throw him off the island when Chase came along. Chase distracted them as I took Jounochi-san and ran here."

"I see," Nakamura-san observed. "Take some soup. The Duel Bands' energy drain must be tiring."

"You have no idea," Uncle Crow sipped at the hot tin mug. "I know that they are about a hundred Duelists left on the island, but I don't exactly know where, and I don't think anyone has actually made it back to the castle yet. Does anyone know what's going on?"

"We know that these Duel Bands drain energy," Hazuki-nee answered in a professional tone. "We know that Seto Kaiba might be involved, whether willingly or being controlled. We know that it's not an imposter, because he brought Kisara Kaiba along and some of us can recognise her on sight. We, and about a hundred others, are currently isolated on an island cut off from outside support, which means that whatever is going on in this tournament, they don't want anyone to know of it, hence the isolation. The defeated are immediately taken somewhere, exactly where we have yet to establish. Going by that same train of thought, it is possible that all of this energy is being channelled from the Duels and towards a primary source, like a well, and that energy is being collected for a purpose."

Uncle Crow paused. "That's... very concise. Thank you."

"Of course, all of these are merely suppositions, however you may attempt to take them at face value if you wish."

"I think you make sense." Uncle Crow sipped some more. "Arcadia Movement investigating?"

"We actually came here because of a tip-off that Shimotsuki Setsuka would be here," Uzuki answered.

"Shimotsuki Setsuka... and Kaiba?" Uncle Crow echoed. "Great. Excellent. What are you guys going to do?"

"We need to enter the castle," Rex explained slowly. "Most likely, whatever plan is being held is centred at the castle. So, we need at least one of us to be the eight to enter first."

"Can't you just pool together your star chips?" Uncle Crow asked.

"No good," Hazuki-nee shook her head. "It's likely that our Duels and opponents are being logged, so any suspicious increase or string of losses might be likely to get us thrown off the island instead. Not to mention that if we're caught by an eliminator, we may also be thrown off the island."

"It's a bit too late to think about the legal way of getting in, and just go for the illegal way..."

A roar sounded. It echoed through the forest, and birds squawked and flocks of them flew out of the trees and around, disturbed by either a rowdy Duel or...

A wave of heat, muggy and humid, wafted down. The trees shivered. The fire flared. A moment later, the cold began. Fire shrank as the temperature grew lower.

It was over in moments.

"What... happened?" Ryuusuke commented.

"Missy," Nakamura-san answered, his eyes upon the cloudy skies. "This power... is Missy."

"Setsu-chan?" I asked.

"Maybe she was Dueling," Yuko-kun suggested. "Boss is... pretty intense."

"But the heat?" Uzuki asked.

The storm just now had been warded off, and the drizzle did not affect a covered fire. Though the ground was slightly wet, a few mats had solved that problem, and the trees around shielded us like a natural umbrella.

The trees shook.

"Someone's coming," Yuko observed.

A moment later, Youkai, Yamada-san, Chase-nii and Nii-chan made it back, their faces pale and drawn.

"You made it!" Uncle Crow gave as greeting.

Chase-nii sank to the ground. "You would not believe what we just saw..."

"Setsu-chan," I supplied.

"Okay, you do," Chase-nii took a deep breath. "She's an eliminator. And she managed to eliminate Yuuki Judai."

"Shit," Ryuusuke swore under his breath.

"She broke my Duel Band," Yamada-san supplied, holding up the broken device on his arm.

"How?" Hazuki-nee demanded.

"Anyway, we need to figure out how to deactivate this," Nii-chan said as he motioned to Rex for his pack, pulling out a battered-looking reinforced laptop from it and plugging the Duel Band to it by a wire. I distantly recognised Calcifer.

"You brought Calcifer?" Chase-nii commented.

"For the last time, my laptop is not Calcifer, and yes, I brought it," Nii-chan replied. The fire flared.

Chase-nii subsided, grumbling as he stared at the flames. "So... what's the rotation?"

Since despite everything, the six-hour rotation meant that some of us had to get up in the middle of the night for a Duel. Therefore, Nakamura-san was to be on first watch, followed by Hazuki-nee and Ryuusuke, and then Yuko-kun, Yamada-san and Uzuki.

It was to be a very long night for us.

* * *

The flush of colour that returned was visible even in the wan moonlight, and Yukio continued to stare at the now-broken Duel Band. "W- What?"

"The how of the matter would not be your concern, and you may ask, assuming your return to the mainland goes well," Shimotsuki purred. "Yukio, my disciple once upon a time. I see you have done well for yourself."

"Is this another plan, Shimotsuki-sama?" Yukio breathed. "And we are to be your pawns?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." she cocked her head. "Call it... an amusement. But you know where your loyalties should lie, as they have for the past two years."

"Yes," Yukio answered. "I will remember, Shimotsuki-sama."

"See that you do." With that, Shimotsuki turned to us. "I suppose you have seen the truth of the matter?"

"Shimotsuki, what is going on?" Ryuusei demanded. "Ayame, get up."

Ayame did not move, still shivering.

Ryuusei's voice hardened. "Ayame. _Get up._"

Her head lolled, and her knees jerked. Stiffly, and making pained noises, Ayame struggled to her feet.

"So proud, King of Summer," Shimotsuki heckled. "So commanding. See, even your champion dares not disobey."

"I am myself," Ayame growled. "I am no one's pawn."

"And yet your father does not come, even though he must have noticed it," Shimotsuki mocked. "See now, what you are. You are a dog of Summer, and you chose to place the collar on yourself. If I wanted, I could kill you. Ryuusei could will you dead. Your life, your body, your soul are all forfeit should we decide to take them."

"At least I still have a father."

Even I had to admit, that was a low blow. Shimotsuki's face shut down, becoming completely expressionless. "You might as well not have. See him, standing behind me. See your father, not even lifting a finger as I do _this_."

Ayame's head jerked, and she gave a high keening sound. Ice formed over her body, and before long, Ayame was frozen into an ice statue, unmoving in defiance. Gold light spilled from her body within the ice.

Shimotsuki raised a fist, as if to strike it like she had the Jinzo, but a whip of thorns caused her to jump back.

"Stop," Judai-san panted. He was still in his red jacket and jeans and sneakers. Over him, wings outspread, was one of the most infamous Fiend-Type monsters in the game, Yubel. "This is in bad taste!"

"This is within my rights, Herald!" Shimotsuki growled. "You know it too!"

Judai-san turned to Ryuusei. "Why? Why didn't you stop her?"

"I..." Ryuusei looked conflicted. "I don't know."

Judai-san narrowed his eyes at Shimotsuki. "Release my daughter."

"I refuse."

"That wasn't a request."

"Does it matter now?" Shimotsuki turned her eyes onto him. "Yubel, Yubel... you should advise him better."

"Didn't she fight off that infection?" Judai-san hissed under his breath.

_She did, _the scary twisted voice answered. _I think... this is her natural state._

"In that case..." Slowly, the slender DuelDisk fanned out with blue-white crystalline spikes, and she stood. Her Duel Band glowed a beeping red, one that matched Judai-san. "It appears that our six hours are up. In that case, shall we Duel?"

"If I win, you'll release Ayame from that!" Judai-san demanded.

"And if I win... then not only do I get your star chips, and the honour of throwing out a professional Duelist, I'll claim a specific card," Shimotsuki's eyes narrowed. "Deal?"

"Deal," Judai-san backed slightly. "You're after Super Fusion, aren't you?"

Shimotsuki gave a theatrical sigh.

"Let's go, then!" Judai-san challenged.

"Duel!"

Judai: LP 8000

Setsuka: LP 8000

"My turn, draw!" Judai-san called. "I play Polymerisation, fusing Elemental HERO Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to Fusion summon Elemental HERO Flame Wingman [2100/1200]!"

With a roar, one of Duel Monsters' iconic cards appeared, right arm raised to aim at her.

"I'll set a card, and end my turn," Judai snarled.

"My turn, draw," Shimotsuki declared. "I'll play the Continuous Spell, Water Hazard. Now, since I control no monsters, I can special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. I'll special summon Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier [1300/0]!"

The monk appeared, snowflake-wands at the ready.

"I'll then activate the Continuous Spell, Curtain of Hail. When this card is on the field, all Water Attribute monsters of level three or lower cannot be destroyed," she declared as the familiar warlock appeared on the field. "And I summon Warlock of the Ice Barrier [400/1000]. When I control another Ice Barrier monster, Cryomancer prevents all level four or higher monsters from declaring an attack. Turn end."

"Dammit," Judai-san muttered. "Draw! I'll summon Chrysalis Mole [700/100]. Now, I play the Spell-"

"Warlock of the Ice Barrier has a Spell lockdown effect," Shimotsuki countered. "While he is on the field, both players must set their Spell cards and cannot activate them until the next turn."

"Dammit..." Judai-san muttered. "So I'll have to wait until the next turn, right? I'll set a card. Turn end."

"Draw." Her face did not change as she considered her cards. "Cryomancer, attack that Chrysalis monster."

The monk jumped, wands aloft, and brought them down to destroy the chrysalis monster.

Judai: LP 8000 → LP 7400

Setsuka: LP 8000

"My Chrysalis..." Judai-san panted.

"I'll set two cards, turn end." she called.

"My turn, draw!" Judai-san called as his breath steamed in the air. "Dammit, it's cold... I'll end here."

"Draw," She glanced at her two cards. "I activate the set card, Moray of Greed. By returning Spellbreaker of the Ice Barrier and Samurai of the Ice Barrier from my hand to my deck, I can shuffle the deck and draw three cards. I shall summon the tuner monster, Geomancer of the Ice Barrier [800/1200]."

"Tuner?" Judai-san echoed as the blue-robed _fengshui_ master carrying the octagonal Eight Trigram mirror appeared.

"Tuning, level three Warlock to level three Geomancer," Shimotsuki called, raising her right arm. "Amidst the howling winds of winter, the roar of the king echoes. Synchro Summon! Ruler of the icy plains, Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier!"

With a roar, the armoured tiger bounded onto the field [2000/1400]. Its deep cerulean armour glistened in the faint light of the moon, and it looked deadly.

"Are you serious?" Judai muttered. "A level six monster..."

"My Queen, it looks like you have chosen a difficult opponent," Dewloren commented.

"You make a very obvious observation, my majordomo," Shimotsuki answered. "I set a card, and then I play the Spell, Aurora Draw. I can only activate this if there are no other cards in my hand. I draw two cards. Now, I use Dewloren's effect; I can return any number of face-up cards I control to the owner's hand, and for every card returned this way, Dewloren gains five hundred attack power. I shall return Curtain of Hail, Water Hazard and Cryomancer."

"No wonder she set that card," Judai-san observed. "It was to make Aurora Draw the only card she had."

"Is this the time to be admiring her?!" I yelled.

"We might as well," Judai-san shrugged. "After all, no matter the occasion, it's a good strategy."

"I feel honoured, to receive such praise, and yet your words hold no meaning to me," was the observation from Shimotsuki as Dewloren glowed with power [2000/1400 → 3500/1400]. "I now activate the set Spell, De-Synchro. I dissolve Dewloren to return his Synchro material monsters to the field."

"Huh?" Judai-san blinked as the Warlock and the Geomancer reappeared.

"Tuning, level three Warlock to level three Geomancer," a howl of wind blew across the river. "The chill of frost spread over the land, the arching spear of the lost people. When this spear is taken up, victory is within grasp. Synchro Summon! Awaken, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

From the river waters burst forth the dragon. It glistened like an ice statue under the moonlight, and with its arrival the river abruptly froze over on the surface. It was serpentine, like a Chinese dragon, with its forelegs and hind legs set far apart on a snaky body plated with glistening crystalline scales. Its spiky jaw opened, and it let out a roar [2300/1400].

Judai-san shivered. "Dammit, I'm numb... but why would she swap out the more powerful Dewloren for Brionac?"

"The effect of Brionac," Shimotsuki declared. "By discarding any number of cards from my hand, I can send an equal number of cards from the field to its owners' hands. I discard Curtain of Hail to bounce your Flame Wingman, Water Hazard to bounce the set card, and General Gantala of the Ice Barrier to bounce the set Spell, Contact. Spear of Victory!"

"So her aim was to inflict more damage by getting rid of Judai-san's field presence," Ryuusei observed as Judai-san's card disappeared.

"Your field is empty now," she announced. "Brionac, direct attack with Ice Spear!"

Judai: LP 7400 → LP 5100

Setsuka: LP 8000

"Ah... that's just cold," Judai-san shivered. "No good, the cold's making me numb."

"Just freeze," she murmured. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Judai-san called, glancing at the frozen Ayame. "I play Spellbook Inside the Pot, allowing us to draw three cards each."

He grinned as he drew. "Yes! Now, I summon Card Trooper [400/400]! I will send three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, and for each card Card Trooper will gain five hundred attack power [400/400 → 1900/400]. Now, I play the Spell, Cocoon Party! Since I milled two Neo-Spacian monsters, I can special summon from my deck two Chrysalis monsters, such as Chrysalis Chicky [600/400] and Chrysalis Pantail [800/300]!"

Two blobby things appeared, one containing a smiling bird and the other containing a smiling panther. I automatically distrusted them; things with sharp weapons and smiling were definitely up to something.

A cold wind blew. Shimotsuki did not react at all.

"Now to play the Spell, Contact!" Judai-san announced. "By sending all Chrysalis monsters to the graveyard, I can special summon Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird [800/600] and Neo-Spacian Dark Panther [1000/500]!"

I felt vindicated; the monsters that appeared now was a giant hummingbird and a panther. The panther wore a _cape_. Like Krypto.

"Dark Panther's effect!" Judai-san called. "Once per turn, I can select one monster my opponent controls, and until the end phase, Dark Panther takes on the name and effect of that monster! Of course, I'll choose your Brionac!"

"Great!" Ryuusei hissed as the panther howled, melting. Its form reassembled itself into the very form of Brionac itself.

"I discard a card to return your monster to your hand, or your extra deck, Brionac!" Judai-san called. The Dark Panther turned Brionac howled as the real Brionac's form disappeared from her field.

"I can use Air Hummingbird to regain five hundred life points for every card in your hand!" Judai-san continued.

Flowers bloomed from her hand, but then she glared, and they wilted and died as the Hummingbird approached. The Hummingbird looked stunned until she turned her glare onto him, and then he shrugged, dug the seeds out of the wilted remains and scattered them in the air.

Judai: LP 5100 → LP 7100

Setsuka: LP 8000

"I offer both Dark Panther and Air Hummingbird as a sacrifice to summon Elemental HERO Neos [2500/2000]!" Judai-san called as his signature monster, the white-suited muscled alien hero, appeared. "Neos, direct attack with Wrath of Neos!"

"Trap card, Ice Barrier." Shimotsuki countered. "The attack of Neos is not only negated; his attack power becomes zero [2500/2000 → 0/2000], his effects, if any, are negated, and he cannot change his battle position."

Ice trapped the mighty hero, and his groans could be heard as a faint echo.

"Ayame hadn't done anything wrong," Judai-san whispered. "Why should she pay for my mistakes?"

"You should not lodge the complaint to me," she chided. "Ryuusei was the one who accepted her as a champion."

"You persuaded her," Judai-san's voice turned harsh. "You essentially lied to her, to bind her to you guys."

"I cannot lie," Shimotsuki honestly answered. "Michiru told your daughter that the Courts grant great power to their champions, and that is true. I never said that the power would free you, from either your duties or your time. Yuuki Ayame never noticed the distinction. It is a wonder how she became the Duelist she is today. But, I suppose, a filial daughter loves her father enough to risk many things for him."

"Don't you feel any guilt?" Judai-san asked.

"Why should I?" she crossed her arms. "I am what I am. I chose that day when I made the contract with Dewloren and the Ice Barrier spirits. I am the one on the Silver Throne, and I reign over fully half of the Gensokyo. In what way should I feel guilty that your mortal descendant chose to take the mantle of Summer's champion? She _chose_ to. She knew the risks. She _knew_ what awaited her. Free will is always her choice, and she chose to bind herself to our endless struggle. Why should I feel guilty when I did not coerce her into that choice? If anything, Ayame herself should feel guilty for not making the most of her power! Herald, you know as well as I that we serve powers much higher."

"You tricked my daughter!" Judai-san yelled. He did not seem rational at all, as his eyes flashed gold. "You threatened one of mine!"

"She _chose_!" Shimotsuki snapped back. "She chose to give her free will, her right of choice, in exchange for power. I can't do anything about what she chose. Ryuusei can't do anything about what she chose, other than bend her to what is needed yet he does not."

"You have no authority over Ayame!" Dark pressure seemed to rise from him, a presence of overwhelming power.

"_Yet_," growled the Winter Queen, her own icy aura of cold and death rising in answer. "And I would take it as a boon if you continue to presume so. It would make my job so much the _easier_."

"I'll set a card, turn end." Judai-san called.

"Draw!" she called, still calm. "I activate the Continuous Spell, White Night Fort!"

Icicles protruded from the ground, arrayed like a mass of spiky buildings behind her, and the air grew even colder.

"Now, neither player can activate Trap cards during their opponent's turn," she snarled, or coldly spoke. "You should be familiar with this card, since DA Queens' Chancellor Tenjouin Asuka had played this card against you before."

"Yeah, I know," Judai-san frowned.

"I play the Spell, Medallion of the Ice Barrier!" she called. "This card allows me to search my deck for an Ice Barrier monster and add it to my hand, such as Strategist of the Ice Barrier. I shall summon Strategist of the Ice Barrier [1600/1600]."

The old man appeared, his expression set as he bowed to the Queen of Ice.

"The effect of Strategist allows me to discard an Ice Barrier monster to draw a card," she called. "I discard Prior to draw a card. Now, I play the Spell, Surface, to revive Prior of the Ice Barrier [1000/400]. I tribute Prior to revive General Gantala of the Ice Barrier [2700/2000]. There is nothing truly wrong with your counter-attack, Judai-san... with that, I shall activate the Spell, Salvage, and retrieve Warlock and Geomancer. Now, shall we? I activate the Field Spell, Umiiruka!"

The floor was flooded with water immediately as her monsters loomed on the space [1600/1600 → 2100/1200] [2700/2000 → 3200/1600]

She smiled at Judai-san's stricken face. "Gantala, faithful one, destroy the champion of the Herald!"

"_Yes, Your Majesty!_" I heard a proud roar as the general's fist shattered the icy statue.

Judai: LP 7100 → LP 3900

Setsuka: LP 8000

"Strategist, attack him directly!" Shimotsuki called as the Strategist struck true.

Judai: LP 3900 → LP 1800

Setsuka: LP 8000

"I end my turn." Shimotsuki's glare was at full force. "At the end phase, Gantala will special summon Geomancer of the Ice Barrier [800/1200 → 1300/800] from my graveyard in defence mode. As long as Gantala exists on my field, I will always revive a monster."

"Draw!" Judai-san called. "Activate Call of the Haunted to revive Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird. I then play Monster Reborn to special summon Neos from my graveyard. Right now, Contact Fusion!"

We stared as the Air Hummingbird and Neos bumped fists, combining into an avian bipedal entity [2500/2000].

"The effect of Elemental HERO Air Neos; while my life points are lower than my opponent's, this card gains ATK equal to the difference." Judai-san informed us as the monster glowed with power [2500/2000 → 8700]. "And your own White Night Fort prevents you from activating Trap cards! Air Neos, attack and destroy General Gantala!"

Shimotsuki might have done something, but she stood there to take the attack.

Setsuka: LP 8000 → LP 2000

Judai: LP 1800

"I equip Air Neos [8700/2000 → 2700/2000] with Instant Neo Space, so Air Neos will not leave the field," Judai-san declared.

"No way..." we stared as she giggled.

"As expected of a Duel King." she looked at her next draw, and smiled. "I summon Penguin Soldier [750/500 → 1250/100]. Tuning, level two Soldier and level four Strategist to level three Geomancer!"

"Two, three, four... nine," Ryuusei breathed. "Level nine..."

"Since you have brought to bear your ace monster, it is only fair that you face my strongest servant," Shimotsuki gloated. "Trident of the cold death, the swing of the pendulum is ever frozen. May the three thousand worlds linger forever in winter! Synchro Summon!"

There, right in front of them, rising from the Synchro rings, was an enormous monstrosity arising in the great hall. The creature was almost snake-like, its long tail partially visible compared to its great size. It had a pair of short limbs that ended in enormous claws, and three triangular, snake-like heads, with a pair of wide, wide leathery wings. The monster was a solid silver-blue scaled creature, like a creature made from the very ice itself.

"Touch the three worlds, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

The icy maw cracked open, and a thunderous roar tore through [2700/2000 → 3200/1600] from a clearly inhuman throat.

"When Trishula is Synchro Summoned, its effect triggers, causing one card to be banished from my opponent's hand, field and grave." Shimotsuki called, her eyes wide. "Three World Spear!"

Spears of ice stabbed through the Air Neos, through one card in his hand, and through the ghost of Dark Panther in the graveyard.

"When the monster with Instant Neo Space equipped to it leaves the field, from my hand, deck or graveyard Elemental HERO Neos will return!" Judai-san called as the monster knelt down [2500/2000].

"Trap card, Call of the Haunted," she hardly looked disturbed as Gantala arose once more. "Gantala, show him who you serve."

"_As you command!_" Gantala made short work of him.

"You are evil... you've made him into your slave!" Judai-san bellowed. "Duel Spirits aren't meant to be treated like this!"

"_I chose to serve!_" the general bellowed.

Even we were taken aback by the answer. "You chose... to be a slave?" Judai-san echoed.

The dark-skinned general stood ramrod straight in a sense. I didn't mean it literally, it was more of a Bruce Lee sort of stance.

"_Do not be ridiculous, Herald,_" the monster I had identified as a Duel Spirit rumbled. "_For centuries before, the Ice Barrier have served the Queen of Air and Darkness. We of Winter prospered under her rule. We hold that pride in serving the Queen, and we will carry out her will, to the death if necessary. I have been a servant for many centuries, and ages more I will yet serve. I will not allow you to lay a hand upon my lady Queen._"

"You speak too much, Gantala," Shimotsuki snapped. "If you are my faithful champion, then destroy Neos!"

"_Yes, my lady!_" Gantala's ice-covered fist made short work of the hero once more, leaving Judai-san vulnerable.

"Trishula, direct attack with Ice Age Panic!" she called as Trishula bellowed and Judai-san was covered in its icy blast.

Judai: LP 1800 → LP 0

Setsuka: LP 2000

"She beat... a former Duel King..." Youkai stared in disbelief as the holograms faded. This is a classic moment where I realise that we are completely screwed and there's no way about it.

"As promised, one card," Shimotsuki slowly walked over to him, first slotting the fallen star chips, three in total, into her glove, and then looking through... the extra deck?

"What?" Judai-san stirred as she held up the card. "E- Elemental HERO Absolute Zero? Why...?"

"For a Queen of the White Night, I am still not a match for the Herald," she acknowledged. "And... Super Fusion is your cross to bear, your sin to shoulder. It would be remiss of me to take it, no matter how powerful the card. Rather, why should I not take what is the crystallisation of my power, to fell my enemies in a single stroke?"

Judai-san had a pinched look about his face.

"And, Yuuki Ayame," she raised her hand once more, as if about to smash the frozen champion and be done with it.

"Stop!" Judai-san called in panic. "Ayame's done nothing! Ryuusei, stop her!"

"Why?" Shimotsuki chuckled, her hand still raised. "He knows, that the more Summer's champion dithers, the more Summer remains weak. He needs the mantle of Summer operating on his orders, not being obstreperous. He knows that this may be the only chance he has of recovering the mantle of Summer in time to match Winter, of finding another champion ere Samhaine, the next and most vital of conjunctions. You of all people, Judai-san, should know how the rulers cannot tolerate this. You know what we must do. So... will you do it? Will you interfere, and then doom the mortal plane to an era where Winter rules with its endless cycles of predator and prey? Or will you step aside, so that the natural order of the world may continue?"

"Why?" Judai-san demanded. "You could just steer clear of this whole matter. You know that you just targeted my daughter for your amusement, Shimotsuki Setsuka!"

"And what fun would that be?" Shimotsuki answered. "I am who I am, too. I love violence. I love treachery. I love your pain – and the best part, the part I love most, is that I am doing this for your own good." One incisor showed itself. "This is me being one of the good guys."

I glanced to my side, and saw Ryuusei conflicted once more. I had seen what he was; he was her equal, the warmth to her cold, the life to her death. He was the counterpart, the other side. The Courts were old, and inhuman. They obeyed laws that humans could never understand, could never grasp. Shimotsuki's words rang with truth; with Ayame's rebellion, I guessed that Ryuusei was stuck in a quandary as well, torn between the two sides of the coin.

The ruler of Summer would have done it, stepped aside and said nothing as Ayame was slain and the mantle transferred to someone else more obedient. Ryuusei was fighting the ruler who was screaming for it.

"You can choose," I hissed to him.

"I..." Ryuusei swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing in a way that had me slightly distracted. Don't look at me like that; Ryuusei's an attractive man. "I... I am supposed to be the ruler. I... the mantle of Summer is telling me not to."

"Lies," I hissed. "It cannot change who you are."

There was a pause, and then Ryuusei began laughing. It was a warm, welcoming auditory sensation, a sense of light and warmth that suffused from Orion and blazed from Shinamori now spilling out of him. It was like standing before rolling grasslands, feeling the wind on your face and standing under the cool shade of a tree in a warm summer day and feeling small and insignificant and at peace all at the same time.

Shimotsuki's expression went blank. She stared with wide eyes, her face void of anything, not even cold, haughty arrogance. Judai-san just looked too stunned for words.

"He's right, Setsuka," Ryuusei chuckled. "And I don't need an obedient champion. I don't need a thug. I need a champion who knows herself."

He lashed out. Fire flared, and ice met it with equal force.

"You lie," Shimotsuki glared at him as the steam evaporated. "You know that this is necessary. You know what must be done."

"In another time, in another scenario, maybe I would have," Ryuusei easily answered. "But tonight is not Midwinter. Tonight is not autumn, tonight is nowhere close to Halloween. Tonight is a summer's night." Fires gold and green flared, will of' wisps easily controlled and shining like fireflies. "You don't want to fight me tonight."

She gave a snarl. "In the coming night, if you would place yourself before duty... so be it."

She vanished.

The tension ceased. Ryuusei sighed, shaking his head as one of the fox-fires set the iceberg that Ayame was trapped in alight. The ice steamed in answer, but Summer fire flared and with a crack, a gasping Ayame was released from the shattered icy prison into Judai-san's arms.

Judai-san just held the shivering Ayame closer, glancing at the three of us, and especially the paling Yukio and at Ryuusei. "Thanks."

"You... are welcome," Ryuusei uneasily replied. "Our interests meet here. I think you should take her off the island now, though, since..."

Judai-san nodded stiffly. "I'll try. Is there...?"

"Not without a sacrifice," Ryuusei answered. "You know as well as I do what is needed."

"True," Judai-san shook his head, looking much older all of a sudden despite his young-looking face. "If only... if only, I could say. But it would do nothing."

"I believe that people should be free," Ryuusei quietly answered. "And she will, until I have need of her once more. Good night, Judai-san, Herald."

I could see the tear tracks glistening, as the Herald of the Gentle Darkness left in a gust of wind, carrying Ayame with him. The night seemed very cold in that moment.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	34. XXXII: Iceberg Ocean

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXII: Iceberg Ocean**

"Alright!" was the first greeting of the day as I awoke facing the dull green ceiling of the tent. Somehow, I had not been awoken at all.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I poked my head out. "W- What?"

Jounochi-san glanced up from his DuelDisk to me as I climbed out of the tent to stare. "Oh, good morning! Nakamura-san was just letting me take over the shift, and I got my first Duel of the day!"

I blinked. "O- Oh..."

Jounochi-san turned back to his opponent. She had knee-length silver hair done into a high ponytail that hung over purple eyes. She wore a Gothic Lolita dress even though it was quite impractical in the muggy heat of dawn approaching Duelist Kingdom, and she had a white and blue DuelDisk that unfolded in the shape of a dragon's wings.

"It's an honour for Lily to Duel you, Jounochi-san," she nodded. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Lily is Lily Brady, nice to meet you. Well, shall we?"

"Yep, Lily!" Jounochi-san smiled despite the situation.

"Duel!"

Jounochi: LP 8000

Lily: LP 8000

"Lily shall begin, draw!" Lily called. "Lily will summon Masked Dragon [1400/1100] in attack mode! Lily will then play the Spell, One Day of Peace. Both players can draw one card, and then neither player takes damage until the end of the opponent's next turn. Lily activates the Continuous Spell, Heart of the Underdog. Lily will then set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" Jounochi-san called. "Oh, an old friend! I'm summoning Zombrya the Dark [2100/500] in attack mode!"

A large red cloth appeared and it spun around to reveal a warrior in black with bones for armour and a large high-collared cape. "Zombrya, attack Masked Dragon with Dark Rush!"

Zombrya the Dark leapt into the air and struck the dragon with both feet, knocking it to the ground and the dragon shattered.

"Lily will special summon another Masked Dragon from the deck by Masked Dragon's effect," Lily called as Masked Dragon reappeared. "Lily takes no battle damage due to One Day of Peace. Furthermore, the attack power of Zombrya decreases by two hundred each time Zombrya destroys a monster by battle [2100/500 → 1900/500]."

"It won't matter," Jounochi-san smirked. "I'll set one card, turn end."

"Lily draws," Lily declared. "Heart of the Underdog activates; when Lily draws a normal monster, Lily can reveal that card and draw again. Continuous Trap activate, Solemn Wishes. Each time Lily draws, Lily gains five hundred life points."

Lily: LP 8000 → LP 8500

Jounochi: LP 8000

"Lily reveals Alexandrite Dragon to draw again," Lily called. "Lily reveals Red-Eyes Black Dragon to draw again. Lily draws no more normal monsters, hence Heart of the Underdog stops. But, Lily plays another One Day of Peace to let us both draw a card."

Lily: LP 8500 → LP 10000

Jounochi: LP 8000

"What a combo," Jounochi-san joked.

"Now, Lily summons Troop Dragon [700/800]," Lily declared.

"Seriously?" Jounochi-san blinked.

"Battle! Troop Dragon, attack Zombrya!" Lily called. "Troop Dragon is destroyed, but no battle damage is taken. Another Troop Dragon arises."

"Three monsters," I whispered as Zombrya was weakened further [1900/500 → 1500/500].

"Now Masked Dragon, attack!" Lily called as another dragon dashed itself. "Lily special summons Red-Eyes Black Chick [800/500]! Troop Dragon, attack Zombrya!"

"What is she thinking?" Jounochi-san frowned as Zombrya was weakened further [1500/500 → 1100/500].

"Lily tributes Chick to special summon from her hand to special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon [2400/2000]!" Lily called as the black dragon appeared on the field.

"Oh man," Jounochi-san commented as the dragon roared. "Red-Eyes? Kind of odd... but never mind me."

"Lily admires Jounochi-san and the Red-Eyes," Lily answered. "Lily... was like the Red-Eyes. Lily's sister was always taking the attention of the family, so Lily was always playing alone. But... Red-Eyes, and Jounochi-san... your way of Dueling gave Lily strength. Even if the Blue-Eyes brings victory... the Red-Eyes brings the potential for victory. Lily... Lily came to Duelist Kingdom, to take that chance! Lily will set a card, turn end!"

"My turn, draw!" Jounochi-san called. "I'll tribute Zombrya to summon Maximum Six [1900/1600]! Now I roll a dice, and Maximum Six gains attack power equal to0 the dice-roll times two hundred! Come on..."

The dice of fate fell and bounced on the field... and Jounochi-san was grinning...

The dice landed on three [1900/1600 → 2500/1600].

"Yes!" Jounochi-san called. "Maximum Six, attack Red-Eyes!"

"Because of One Day of Peace, Lily does not take battle damage!" Lily called as her dragon was destroyed.

"I'll set another card, turn end!" Jounochi-san declared.

"Draw!" Lily called. "Lily plays the Spell, Monster Reborn and revives Red-Eyes! Now Lily tributes Red-Eyes to evolve it! Arise, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

Bladed wings fanned out as the monster appeared, and growled. It was black, with red stripes along its flank, and it bared its jaws at Jounochi-san. There was no mistaking the aura of malice and possession it held; it stank just in its very presence [2400/2000]. And a familiar, very dark undercurrent of power, dark and cold power I had only sensed once, ran under it.

Lily smiled, her expression no longer sweet. "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gains three hundred attack power for every Dragon-type monster in my graveyard. Including the Red-Eyes itself [2400/2000 → 4800/2000]."

"Oh crap," Jounochi-san swallowed.

"Furthermore, Lily can still summon, so Lily summons Alexandrite Dragon [2000/100]," Lily called as the gleaming dragon appeared. "Lily must prove herself as the next mistress of Red-Eyes, so... Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack Maximum Six with Darkness Giga Flame!"

Jounochi: LP 8000 → LP 5700

Lily: LP 10000 → LP 10500

"Alexandrite Dragon, direct attack!" Lily called. "Shining Blast!"

"Quick-play Spell, Scapegoat!" Jounochi-san called as four Sheep Tokens [0/0] appeared on his field.

"Continuous Trap, Dragon's Rage!" Lily called. "Alexandrite Dragon, attack one Sheep Token!"

Jounochi: LP 5700 → LP 3700

Lily: LP 10500

Lily giggled as Jounochi-san was blown down by the blast. "Dragon's Rage ensures that you cannot hide behind your wall monsters. Therefore, Jounochi-san, it looks like you're in quite the pickle."

"A true Duelist won't give up!" Jounochi-san retaliated.

"In that case... Lily can see why Satsuki-sama would send Lily to Duel Jounochi-san," Lily gave a sincere smile despite the declaration that caused Jounochi-san to pale. "Jounochi-san is indeed a fierce Duelist. But, Lily will not disappoint Her Majesty."

"So, that card...!" I stared at the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon in horror.

"Her Majesty granted Lily this card as recognition for Lily's entrance into Her champion's Court," Lily explained. "Lily is grateful to Her Majesty. For taking away Lily's pain, for soothing all of Lily's hurts, and for giving the chance to unleash Lily's potential."

Lily gave a beatific smile. "Therefore, Lily cannot disappoint Satsuki-sama and Her Majesty, who have given Lily this chance to Duel her idol. Lily must defeat Jounochi-san and get him off this island as quickly as possible."

"What? Me?" Jounochi-san coughed. "Why?"

"For that, Lily does not know," Lily cocked her head. "I only know that Her Majesty is returning a favour done, and so Lily's services are required. Turn end."

"Draw!" Jounochi-san called. "Why? Why wouldn't Satsuki face me? Who's Her Majesty? Is it that woman? Is it Shimotsuki Setsuka? Answer me!"

Lily's eyes lidded. "If Jounochi-san can win... Jounochi-san will be drained of energy. That is the unfortunate fate. Her Majesty is Her Majesty, the Queen of Winter. Aside from that, I cannot answer."

"I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Jounochi-san announced as the swords stabbed into the ground. "I'll summon Gearfried the Iron Knight [1800/1600] next. For three of your turns, you can't attack. Turn end."

"Lily draws," Lily called. "Lily reveals Curse of Dragon to draw another card! Now Lily ends her turn. This will be the first turn."

Lily: LP 10500 → LP 11500

Jounochi: LP 3700

"Draw!" Jounochi-san called. "I summon The Little Swordsman of Aile [800/1300]! And I tribute three Sheep Tokens to increase his attack by seven hundred points per tribute this turn [800/1300 → 2900/1300]. Swordsman of Aile, attack Alexandrite Dragon!"

Lily: LP 11500 → LP 10600

Jounochi: LP 3700

"Turn end," he panted.

"Draw!" Lily called. "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon's power increases [4800/2000 → 5100/2000]. Solemn Wishes will heal Lily's life points every turn, and I reveal Blackland Fire Dragon to draw again."

Lily: LP 10600 → LP 11600

Jounochi: LP 3700

"Turn end. This is the second turn."

"Draw!" Jounochi-san called. "I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that Solemn Wishes. Now you can't gain any more life points! Turn end!"

"Draw!" Lily called. "Lily will summon Spirit Ryu [1000/1000] to the field. Lily set a card, turn end." The Swords of Revealing Light shattered. "If, Jounochi-san cannot draw this turn..."

"True..." Jounochi-san swallowed. "Draw!" he stared at the card.

"_Yes_!" Jounochi-san grinned. "I'll tribute The Little Swordsman and Gearfried to summon the monster all dragons are terrified of! Arise, Buster Blader [2600/2300]!"

"B- Buster Blader?" Lily screamed as the armoured warrior appeared, glowing.

"For every Dragon-Type monster my opponent controls and in the graveyard, Buster Blader gains five hundred attack!" Jounochi-san called as Buster Blader glowed. "And I count eleven [2600/2300 → 8100/2300]! Buster Blader, attack Spirit Ryu with Destructive Sword Flash!"

The Warrior leapt, swinging its sabre as it beheaded the groaning blue dragon.

Lily: LP 11600 → LP 4500

Jounochi: LP 3700

"H- He turned the tables..." I gasped. "Buster Blader..."

"W- Why... do you have that card...?" Lily gasped.

"Yes!" Jounochi-san grinned. "I'll set a card here, turn end!"

"D- Draw!" Lily called. "...Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon cannot handle Buster Blader... not like this. Like this..."

Lily stilled, closing her eyes. A hint of cold power glanced through the air, and when she opened her eyes once more, her eyes were still, unmoving. "Very well. Shall we continue? I'll activate the Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted to bring back Red-Eyes. I'll then set a card, turn end."

"Yes!" Jounochi-san grinned. "Buster Blader, attack-"

"Trap card, Burst Breath!" Lily called. "By tributing Red-Eyes Black Dragon, all monsters with defence power lower than twenty-four hundred are destroyed!"

"What!" Jounochi-san complained as orange fire flooded the field and destroyed all monsters. "Well... then I set a card. Turn end."

"Draw!" Lily called. "Lily drew Luster Dragon, so Lily will draw again! Lily will play the Spell, Monster Reincarnation, to discard Luster Dragon and take back Red-Eyes! Next, Lily activates the Spell, Swing of Memories to revive Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and tribute him to special summon Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon once more [2400/2000 → 5400/2000]!"

"Dammit..." Jounochi-san muttered.

"Red-Eyes, direct attack with Darkness Giga Flame!" Lily called.

"Quick-play, Nutrient Z!" Jounochi-san called. "I gain four thousand life points!"

Jounochi: LP 3700 → LP 7700 → LP 2000

Lily: LP 4500

"What luck... I declare turn end!" Lily called.

"Please, gods of the Duel..." Jounochi-san muttered as he reached for his deck. "I... draw!"

For a long moment, he did nothing, before he hissed. "Yes! I play my own Monster Reborn! Revive, Buster Blader [2600/2300 → 9100/2300]!"

"Right at the last minute... he revived that monster..." Lily hung her head.

"I'll equip Buster Blader with Lightning Blade to increase his attack power by eight hundred." Jounochi-san declared as the blade crackling with power appeared [9100/2300 → 9900/2300]. "Buster Blader... attack Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon with Destructive Sword Flash!"

Again, the slayer arose, and the dark dragon fell for the last time in battle.

Lily: LP 4500 → LP 0

Jounochi: LP 2000

"Thanks, Yuugi." I heard Jounochi-san whisper as he packed his deck away before facing Lily. "Satsuki sent you? Where is she? Why is she working with them? What did Shimotsuki Setsuka do to my grand-daughter?"

Lily held herself together. "I... I do not quite know the circumstances. But... every one of us who sided with the Queen of Air and Darkness did so because of a wish. I think... Satsuki-sama made a wish that only the Queen could grant, and so Satsuki-sama became the Queen's champion. Satsuki-sama is the servant of the Queen of Air and Darkness now."

"Don't screw with me!" Jounochi-san insisted, beginning to shake her. "Why? First Mai... and just when she recovered...!"

"Lily doesn't know!" Lily insisted. "Lily is just a servant of the Queen, of Satsuki-sama. Lily wouldn't know everything! Lily already told you!"

"Stop referring to yourself in the third person!" Jounochi-san snapped. "And what is going on? What-" His Duel Band glowed, and Jounochi-san shivered as he fell to one knee.

"Here," Lily sniffed as she handed him five sparkly things, her own Duel Band glowing.

Jounochi-san flinched as he caught the five star chips. "These are..."

"As an eliminator, Satsuki-sama took all but one of your star chips," Lily answered. "Because you won, you get Lily's star chips. Lily still has star chips, but Jounochi-san is on his way to enter the castle. Satsuki-sama might be eliminated, but in the end she would be there one way or another. Her Majesty, Michiru-dono and Satsuki-sama would be there with the employer. That's all Lily knows."

"I see..." Jounochi-san doubtfully accepted it. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"Lily will not lie to Jounochi-san," Lily answered, before she turned around and walked into the forest once more.

"Oi, wait- she disappeared!" Jounochi-san yelped as he stared back at the now-empty forest. "She disappeared? Is she a ghost?"

"Missy sent an eliminator?" Nakamura-san murmured, walking up to us as dawn broke over the Duelist Kingdom. "I see... then we can expect a visit to our camp at any time soon."

"Missy... that Shimotsuki?" Jounochi-san grumbled. "You guys are Arcadia Movement, right?"

"Yes, Jounochi-san," I answered. "I am Kannazuki Seika, the current head of the Arcadia Movement."

"...eh?" Jounochi-san blinked. "Oh... you guys... erm, thanks for saving me and everything, but well, you understand if I don't trust you, right?"

"I am aware that Setsu-chan's actions has not endeared you to the Movement," I answered slowly. "But, we are truly trying to stop Setsu-chan."

"Setsu-chan?" Jounochi-san asked.

"Shimotsuki Setsuka was my friend," I distantly replied.

"Oh... I'm sorry," Jounochi-san sighed. "I know... what it's like to lose a friend. At least... hey, so, you're a participant in the Duel Royal as well?"

"Yes, Jounochi-san," I bowed. "We have decided that we must enter the castle. Since our aims are the same, shall we join forces?"

"Well, that sounds great," Jounochi-san smiled. He looked like the grandfather he really was in that moment. "So... do you guys know what's going on?"

I filled in everything about our suppositions, with Nakamura-san giving the occasional interjection. By the end, Jounochi-san was unusually grave.

"Kaiba?" He frowned. "Well, the cold fish is actually a doting guardian, but... Kaiba? Really?"

"There could be someone behind Kaiba, controlling him," Nakamura-san volunteered.

"Not likely," Jounochi-san snorted, but looked thoughtful. "If he's doing this willingly... then it's got to do with Kisara. Kaiba's been... _strange_... ever since Mokuba died. We all thought it was a mid-life crisis, but Kisara improved him. After... Yuugi, Anzu... Bakura, Marik..."

He had a pained look on his face, but continued. "We're the only ones left. I had Shizuka and Mai, and then Satsuki, and Honda still drops in with Miho. Kaiba.. Kaiba only has Kisara left. Kisara's always been sickly, even when I first saw her, and she's a Psychic like Satsuki, so Satsuki always kept an eye on her. If Kaiba was doing anything like this, I guess Kisara's involved one way or another. Could Kaiba... be blackmailed? Could Kisara be kidnapped?"

"Kisara Kaiba was at the opening of the Duel Royal," Nakamura-san answered.

"Then... I don't know," Jounochi-san grumbled as his stomach growled. "I'm hungry."

"The Yamada twins have gone to scavenge for firewood, and the fire is starting," Nakamura-san answered as he held up an apple to each of us. "An apple to start the day, Seika-ojou, Jounochi-san?"

* * *

The stench of burnt flesh filled my nostrils again. Under me, there was a faintly struggling presence. I opened my eyes, and a flash of yellow on the cloud-cover answered as I did so. I was dreaming, I realised. We were back on the hill of the Table.

Kiyoshi's eyes were wide and sad under me. "W- Wait."

His eyes were unfocused, voice weak and somehow very young. He didn't look mad now. He looked like a frightened young boy, albeit a feminine-looking one. "Wait. You don't understand... I just wanted it to stop. Wanted the hurting to stop."

I felt very tired. "The only people who never hurt are dead."

The light died out of his eyes. He whispered, barely audible, "I don't understand."

"It's fine."

A tear slid from one eye and mixed with the blood and rain-

-and I blinked, coming face-to-face with the tent-ceiling. I was crying, I realised.

Something that's always bugged me was how much the game of Duel Monsters had become; it started as a normal – if popular – card game, to a game that you can actually go to a specialised school to learn how to play, to something so all-encompassing, everything from street games to the _police_ are based around it. There's absolutely no explanation for this increase of importance, and the longer it goes on, the more overblown and permeable it became.

It didn't make sense... until I started looking at the mystical aspects of the game, and realized that it grew alongside the game's importance – starting out as an obscure Sealed Evil in a Can, then to a hidden alternate universe that only certain people can see and interact with, then to whole public cults and Psychic powers devoted to the game, and then to the shit blowing up that was Ryuusei, Shimotsuki and the Courts. Clearly, there was, is and would be a connection, and with the revelation that one alternate future involved the end of the world as we knew it in the game, the implication was quite clear: the mystical aspects of the game were taking over, and as a result, is corrupting the world to make it more inhabitable for the Eldritch Abominations that lie just beyond the ink and paper.

In the case of things like Illusion Fairies and Mystical Elves, it might not seem to be such a bad idea. When it involves things like _the_ Despair of the Dark and others... think about it. A single piece of card is the only thing standing between you and the monster about to eat you. Dissect that thought, and you begin to wonder if children should really be playing this game.

Beside me, Youkai grumbled. "Again?"

"Yeah," I sighed. Nightmares were par for the course and had been for since I could see spirits.

"Mmm," Youkai sleepily nuzzled. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"... how do you deal with it?" I asked softly.

"It's not long enough, but we call this PTSD," Youkai mumbled. "I ran away from home to Satellite once. Then Boss smacked me down and dragged my ass to the Movement, and Tsu-nii helped out. I had a lot of issues; I still do. I didn't want to stay. I wanted to run free, and I let loose. I couldn't hang around other people without any stares, not with this..."

He waved to himself, indicating his scarlet eyes and white hair. I understood, people sometimes thought Youkai was actually his name, because of his resemblance to the legendary demons of the Japan peninsula. More than once a spirit sought to possess him because of that resemblance and the hereditary curse in his blood.

"So I hung around Baa-sama." Youkai continued. "The winds... the winds were softer, kinder, gentler. And during that time, Neo Domino faced more storm warnings than any other year in history. It was only when Boss threatened that I'd be the next ice statue at her parties that I wound down out of self-preservation. Then I met you, Boss arranged things with Carly-san, and we..."

We've stayed together for five years. Hung around, on-off dates, had sex together. Did things together, went on three-day weekends which involved doing unbelievably dangerous shit which may or may not involve spirits.

"I keep seeing him... Kiyoshi, up close," I whispered. "It's... it's not the first time I've seen death, but... he was burnt alive. And he may still be alive."

Youkai nodded. The Movement's history was spotted with violence. Death had been all too common since the shag-nasty.

"But... it's just sad. That he had so much to live for... and he died," I whispered. "That... that could have been me."

Rei must have been very sensitive today, for I felt his presence stir only momentarily before it subsided. Rei might not empathise, but I guess that he knew closure.

"So angry at everything, so desperate for it to stop hurting," I continued. "Desperate enough to team up with eldritch abominations and then realise that it could be a lot worse, and back out by destroying everything."

How long had he been beaten down until he fought back? What kind of horror had Kiyoshi gone through to make omnicide seem like a good idea? He and I were completely different, and yet we had the same ability to see spirits. For me it was a rather indifferent gift; for him it had been a curse. And I knew it, the way I could imagine what being completely different at six years old could do amongst kids. Rex had whispered it once; he had mentioned that Ryuusei had been given a wide berth after the Black Rose Dragon. Of course, he was given a wide berth for the completely opposite reason in middle school, but that was neither here nor there. Even a charmed life of being loved like Ryuusei carried its own fridge horror.

My boyfriend looked pensive. He then did something completely unprecedented. He took my sweater, the blood-red one, and pushed it in my face.

I blinked into the soft cotton-rayon mix thing. "Mmm?"

"You idiot," Youkai murmured. It was a soft admonishment. "Face it. Kiyoshi is different from you. Kiyoshi grew up all his life without people, and then he never relied on anyone, not even Yuuki. He took this way because he didn't want to die alone, because he probably thought that no one would miss him. He never spared a thought for Yuuki. You have all the privileges of being born as part of the Manjoume, and you took your mother's name, volunteer at Martha's house, and chose to run away at eight years old, risking life and limb to find something, anything to justify yourself. So put on the sodding sweater, get out, get some food in you, and go on your way. Your way of the Infernity."

It's possible, I thought as I shrugged on the sweater and pants, that he knew me too well.

This might be news to you, but Duelist Kingdom was a fairly temperate island. Even through the cold crisp air of morning, the sun overhead looked like it was going to be humid and hot on the damn island itself.

"Not a morning person," I grumbled, but climbed out to get grub. It was an admittedly unpleasant way to start, but I soon realised that it hardly matched up the utter mortification required to face a curious Uzuki.

The younger Himemiya tilted her head to stare at me as I sat on a rock with Nakamura-san's manna from heaven. "Are your morning activities always so loud?"

Beside her, Hazuki's plate dropped with a clang as she hurriedly caught it again. Yuko coughed. Ryuusuke choked on his sandwich. Youkai flushed beet red, Seika gave a sigh, and Nakamura-san kept a stoic face. Ryuusei and Rex gave twin shouts of laughter, and Uncle Crow and Jounochi-san joining them in mortified amusement at me. Yukio, or Ice-face, looked away, distancing himself from the conversation with a single motion.

I blinked. "Huh?"

Youkai winked. "Only when I'm around." Then, and only then, I realised what sharing a tent, loud noises at night with two people in the same place and a habit of sleeping shirtless could do to one's reputation.

"I did _not_ need to hear that," Yuko and Ryuusuke moaned. "My virgin ears. Ow, my ears."

"Uzuki..." Seika paused, as if uncertain how to continue. "That... well, Chase-nii tends to be loud... even at night-"

I sputtered. "Seika!"

"You sleep over once a week," Ryuusei severely answered. "We notice."

"If Reina ever asks, I'm directing her to you," Rex accused.

"Oh, come off it," I grumbled, flushing beet red as I finished and went to the river to wash my tin mug. My duster was slick with dew by the time I actually decided to put it on, so I decided to survive only with my blood-red sweater and my pants today, and put it away in the tent on my way to the river.

The river was nearby, swollen by the storm last night, so I took a bit of water and washed quickly, took a sip, and paused. Duelist Kingdom was oddly silent, the trees soaking up the sounds of any Duel. There's something very, very eerie with the fact that there was _nothing _within earshot. No cicadas. No birds. Not even a frog croaking.

Silence is not a good thing, not in the natural world. Aokigahara, the forest at the foot of Mount Fuji, is well known for being dead quiet due to its general lack of wildlife and the wind being blocked by the densely-packed trees. That might not sound too bad on its own, but the place is also known for being a favourite place for suicides and rumours of abandonment as late as the nineteenth century abounded. The eerie silence, coupled with such a strong association with death can be extraordinarily unnerving, like right now. Duelist Kingdom had had its fair share of incidents, last but not least the rumours of Pegasus's ghost in the castle. If there was silence, it just meant-

"...behind you."

I jumped about a foot, and my own foot lashed out. It kicked out, and the man rolled over.

"Wait! Wait! I'm sorry!"

My Duel Band beeped, and I glared at it. "You couldn't have come with a vibrate function?"

"E- Excuse me?"

"Not you," I crossed my arms, trying not to pant openly as I glared at him. It was a sign of weakness.

He was about my own height, and more heavy-set. His skin tone was a light tan, like someone who didn't sunbathe regularly but still saw a fair share of outdoor activity. Dark green eyes glimmered under black spiky hair, long enough to cover his eyes. He wore a black hoodie with Stardust Dragon drawn and printed on it, matched with dark blue baggy jeans. An Academy DuelDisk hung from his arm. I guess he was fairly handsome, but then my sense of aesthetics could be skewed due to regularly hanging out with the prince type (Rex), the reliable and attractive type (Ryuusei), the pretty boy type (Youkai) and many others. The Arcadia Movement really attracted many different types, and a fairly fit body was standard amongst the Psychic Duelists trained for possible combat under Shimotsuki Setsuka.

"So... who are you?" I started.

"Erm... Kit, Kit Sakumo," he offered with the complete honesty of the trusting or the seriously naïve, or the kind of man who would give you kindness but could still kick your ass if you offered him violence.

"Chase Princeton," I introduced myself, staring at his beeping Duel Band. "If we have to Duel, can I put my stuff away first? I only have the one set."

"Erm, okay," Kit offered as I packed away the cleaned utensils and tin crockery. I had once made the mistake of asking why the tin stuff was needed, and Kaido demonstrated several ways of using them as weapons. I got lost somewhere around the static generator. I also resolved never to ask why Kaido knew a very painful way to use a spoon, for the sake of my appetite. "How many star chips?"

"Two. For now." I quickly took my gun DuelDisk, rolling it about the trigger with one finger before unfolding it. Kiryu-sensei once covered the whole DuelDisk aspect. As Kit unlocked his own DuelDisk as I put mine together, a thought suddenly struck me.

It was concerning the Battle City, the second largest tournament after the first Duelist Kingdom itself. So... Seto Kaiba very obviously have the money, power and connections to essentially lock down the original Domino City for as long as he needed, to divert traffic where he wanted it to go, and basically become its ruler. And he had the power and connections to claim the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards for himself, even making deals with the Mafia in one case and – so the rumour mill claimed – driving one former owner to commit suicide in another case. His power had only grown as time passed, I realised.

True, he used all that power to run a tournament based on friggin' _card games__,_ but if Kaiba ever actually felt malicious enough to do so, he could use all of those assets to become an Evil Overlord and hold Domino City at minimum in an iron grip _without breaking a sweat. _Yet, we were on a private island, Dueling for our lives. Why, instead of doing this in a place that Kaiba could quite essentially monitor very easily, were we doing this on an island that used to belong to his former arch-enemy? That, despite all accounts, probably held a host of really bad memories for the Kaiba patriarch?

"Duel!"

Kit: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

The Disk beeped. _Duel Field activated: Fairy Tale Prologue: The Dawn of Departure._

What. The. Hell?

"I'll begin, draw!" Kit called. "I set a monster and a card. Turn end!"

"Wait, wait!" I called. "What is this-" I read the holographic flash-up. "-oh. Crap."

Conjunctions don't just happen in space. They happen in time as well. So this was the time-based Duel Field... dammit, dammit, why now?

And how did Shimotsuki know where to choose her field when she challenged Ayame and Judai-san? Answer: she was an eliminator. She probably knew all the Duel Fields and the best times to go all out.

"Draw!" I called. "I'll summon Infernity Knight [1400/400] to the field in attack mode. I then play two set cards, turn end."

"Draw!" Kit called. "I'll flip over Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Wolf [0/1900]. Because he's flipped face-up, I can set a Fire Formation Trap directly from my deck, and I can set a Fire Formation Spell from my deck onto the field. Like Wu Song of the legends, our friends will not go from want of support. Now, I activate the Continuous Spell I just set, Fire Formation – Tenki, which allows me to add a level four or lower Beast-Warrior Type monster from my deck to my hand, and all Beast-Warrior Type monsters I control gain one hundred attack power [0/1900 → 100/1900]. I choose Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Dragon. With that, I shall summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Dragon [1800/400 → 1900/400]."

About nine flaming gold dragons appeared with the helmed warrior that appeared. The Wolf, or Wu Song, already present actually greeted him with one of those palm-over-fist gestures, and he returned the greeting.

"I activate another Continuous Spell, Fire Formation – Tensu," Kit announced. "With this, during my main phase I can normal summon another Beast-Warrior in addition to my normal summon or set. Also, all Beast-Warriors I control gain one hundred attack power [1900/400 → 2000/400] [100/1900 → 200/1900]. I will summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Gorilla [1600/1000 → 1800/1000]!"

"Question," I asked as an armoured warrior bearing one of those large flaming halberd things appeared in a burst of red flame. "Why are all of these monsters named after animals?"

"They aren't, it's an animal motif thing," Kit corrected, his eyes seeming to gleam gold. "For example, Wu Song bears the title of Wolf, and he's the star of harm. Gorilla is actually Guan Sheng, who is another key figure of the Liangshan outlaws. Likewise, Dragon is named for Shi Jin, or the Nine-tattooed Dragon as he was nicknamed for."

"Ah," I nodded. "So instead of being actually named for animals, they're nicknamed for animals. _Water Margin_, right?"

"Right. Dragon, attack that Infernity Knight!" Kit called.

The dragon warrior did one of those _wuxia_ moves I'd be damned to describe, involving a punch. My Knight fell.

Chase: LP 8000 → LP 7700

Kit: LP 8000

"Huh?" I blinked down, and then I read the effect of the Field Spell. "All battle damage is halved... oh."

"No matter, the conjunction should be over soon," Kit shrugged. "I had to Duel in the Battleground of the Setting Sun yesterday. Gorilla, attack him directly!"

"Sorry, I tend to get shirty with things like that," I smirked. "So I'll activate this card; Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. I pitch a card, and Gorilla is blown to the top of your deck."

"It's exciting, don't apologise," Kit placed the card, grinning. "Don't you feel it? To fight for justice? Well, actually I'm doing this to give my sister Serena a chance at a better life, but still, the thought counts."

"Haven't you met any of the eliminators?" I had a sudden vision of Kit's warriors battling against the Ice Barrier tribe and Shimotsuki. Well, as much as it was nice to Duel like this... Kit did not seem to be that type of Duelist who could live with himself if anything untoward happened to his opponent. I saw the Duel Band on his wrist; it remained the same blinking red.

"No, not really," Kit frowned. "But I've heard that Kaiba employed some really good ones this time. I think I saw another Fire Fist user, but she was another participant."

I glanced at the cards in my hand, and at the field, and especially at the Duel Field Spell. I had to get away with effect damage, because there was no way in hell I was going to do this with battle damage alone. Right now, the odds were stacked against me, and there was frankly nothing stopping Kit from running me over.

"Draw!" I called. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Infernity Launcher. I discard an Infernity monster with its effect, and then I summon Infernity Mirage [0/0]. I set a card, and I tribute Infernity Mirage to special summon from my graveyard Infernity Knight [1600/1200] and Infernity Necromancer [0/2000]! I set a card, and use the effect of Necromancer; when my hand is at zero, once per turn, I can special summon an Infernity monster from my graveyard. Be revived, Infernity Demon [1800/1200]!"

It was strange, but as Infernity Demon appeared on the field, I felt much better. It was almost cathartic.

"When Demon is special summoned, I can add an Infernity card from deck to hand, and I then set the card I searched, Infernity Barrier. I'm not done," I smirked as Kit stared at my monsters. "I construct the overlay network with these two monsters, Exceed summon! Come, Leviair the Sea Dragon!"

The blue and green dragon was a present from Youkai. It floated onto my field, seeming undisturbed [1800/1600].

"I activate the Trap, Infernity Break!" I called. "Now, I banish Infernity Mirage from my graveyard to destroy Dragon!"

"Shi Jin!" Kit called in concern as lightning struck through his creature.

"I can now detach one material from Leviair to special summon Infernity Mirage again." I declared as Mirage reappeared. "Now, the effect of Infernity Queen in the graveyard activates when my hand is at zero. She allows me to choose one monster and that monster hits you directly! So go, Leviair!"

"Argh!" Kit called as it swung at him.

Kit: LP 8000 → LP 7100

Chase: LP 7700

"Turn end," I called.

"Draw!" Kit called. I could see him smiling in joy, not in calculation. "I summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Gorilla [1600/1000 → 1800/1000] again! Now I activate the Continuous Trap, Fire Formation – Tensen! I choose Gorilla, and this turn he gains a complimentary seven hundred on top of the three hundred granted to all Beast-Warrior monsters I control [1800/1000 → 2800/1000] [200/1900 → 500/1900]. Battle! Gorilla, destroy... Infernity Mirage!"

"Trap card, Infernity Force!" I gleefully admitted. "This card can only be activated when my hand is at zero. I can not only destroy your monster, but I can also revive an Infernity monster, and I think Infernity Queen would do it again."

Kit ducked. "I see... so your cards all require your hand to be at zero? Isn't that dangerous?"

"The Infernity archetype is... not for the faint of heart," I admitted.

"I see," Kit frowned. "I set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" I called. "I tribute Infernity Queen to summon Infernity Destroyer [2300/1600]! Now, battle! Infernity Destroyer, attack that Wolf and cast down his protections! And then, the effect of Destroyer activates. When this card attacks and I have no cards in hand, and it destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, you take sixteen hundred damage!"

Kit: LP 7100 → LP 5500

Chase: LP 7700

"My monster!" Kit cried.

"I'm not done!" I called. "Infernity Demon, Leviair, direct attack!"

Kit: LP 5500 → LP 3700

Chase: LP 7700

"With that, I end my turn," I panted. So far, I was leading in life points, but I knew

"My draw!" Kit called. "My deck finally pulled through! I summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Spirit [500/200]! He allows me to special summon Wolf from the graveyard. Tuning, level three Wolf to level three Spirit. The flames dance across the marshes, whether it be the fierce fires of passion of the ghostly wisps of the underworld. Synchro summon! Open the box, Hong Xin, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Horse Prince [2200/2000 → 2700/2000]!"

The horse of blue flame gave a whinny as it clopped onto the field, its rider sternly staring at my monsters.

"When Horse Prince is Synchro summoned, I can special summon a level three Fire Attribute monster from my deck," Kit explained. "Appear, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Chicken [1500/100 → 2000/100]! When Chicken is special summoned by the effect of a Fire Fist, I can add a Fire Fist monster from my deck to my hand, and I choose another Spirit. Battle!" Kit called. "Horse Prince, defeat Infernity Destroyer!"

Chase: LP 7700 → LP 7500

Kit: LP 3700

"Chicken, attack Infernity Demon!" Kit called as my monster was horrendously smashed.

Chase: LP 7500 → LP 7400

Kit: LP 3700

"Main phase two, I send Tensen to the graveyard to set another Fire Formation from my deck," Kit called [2700/2000 → 2400/2000] [2000/100 → 1700/100]. "I set another card. Turn end. You have a monster of zero attack and defence power. If you cannot draw..."

"I draw!" I studied the field of flaming monsters. "I discard an Infernity monster, and I tribute Infernity Mirage to special summon Demon and Necromancer!"

"Trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole!" Kit called.

"Counter Trap, Infernity Barrier!" I shouted as the trap was negated. "Now, I can use Demon's search effect to take an Infernity Barrier and set it. I use the effect of Necromancer to revive the tuner monster, Infernity Avenger [0/0]! Tuning, level four Demon and level three Necromancer to level one Avenger! When the dead and the living meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro summon! Come forth, Infernity Death Dragon!"

The familiar presence loomed as Infernity Death Dragon [3000/2400] appeared.

"Now, I use the effect of Infernity Launcher!" I called. "By sending it to the graveyard, I can revive another Demon and Necromancer, and search for Infernity Barrier and set it. Now I revive Avenger once more, and then I tune Demon and Necromancer to Avenger. Against the backdrop of darkness, many eyes open... open the truth of the gates! Synchro summon! Take flight, Hundred Eyes Dragon!"

Kit actually stepped back at the sight of the dragon, and I couldn't blame him; Hundred Eyes Dragon was, according to a poll, one of Duel Monsters' oddest dragons [3000/2500]. But by thunder, ever since I got this as a graduation from the school of Infernity (teacher and student population one each) it was mine. It was ours. And it was pretty ridiculously useful.

"Continuous Trap, Fire Formation – Tensen!" Kit called as Horse Prince glowed with strength [2400/2000 → 3400/2000] [1700/100 → 2000/100].

I smirked. "I see... I activate the effect of Hundred Eyes Dragon. By banishing Infernity Destroyer from the graveyard, for this turn it gains the effect of Infernity Destroyer. Now, using the effect of Infernity Death Dragon. When my hand is at zero, I can blow up one monster you control and deal you half its attack power as damage. Infernity Death Dragon, show them our Death Fire Blast!"

"What?" Kit covered as Horse Prince was swallowed in the smoky black

Kit: LP 3700 → LP 2000

Chase: LP 7400

"Are you feeling lucky, punk! Are you?" I shouted. "My deck has answered me all this time! And right now, Hundred Eyes Dragon, attack that Chicken with your Infinity Sight Stream!"

As Chicken imploded, so did the rest of Kit's life points.

"The effect of the fallen, Infernity Destroyer!" I called, as the ghost of Infernity Destroyer cackled overhead and blasted Kit.

Kit: LP 2000 → LP 1500 → LP 0

Chase: LP 7400

The thrill of victory sang in my ears, and I savoured it, the siren song of all Duelists. I couldn't help it; I laughed. "Nice Duel!"

"You too," Kit nodded, grinning. "I should have destroyed Infernity Mirage, huh... well, here's my star chips."

I took the four star chips, placing them into my glove. Six of them winked at me. Excellent, was my first thought, and my mood abruptly soured as the explosion happened as Kit began to leave.

Oh, for crying out loud.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	35. XXXIII: Thunder Crash

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXIII: Thunder Crash**

Under our collective gaze, Yamada-san unrolled the map.

"We're here, five kilometres or so south of the castle," he pointed to a specific clearing. "The stream runs from the Mountain down through this valley to the seas, and the castle is around the Mountain. If there are Duelists waiting to ambush others, the best time to do so would be around night-time, at which we would have to enter the castle. Word is that only eight people are able to enter, and if we calculate that to include Eliminators, then our percentage margin of getting in is much, much lower."

"Erm..." I swallowed.

"Basically, we need to get there while it's still daylight and fast, because if we're competing with both contestants and Eliminators we might be run out of the competition early." Yuko interjected.

"It's a reasonable assumption," Hazuki-nee nodded. "True, with two former Queens of Queens there, and especially Setsuka-san, we might not be able to enter."

"Hmm..." Youkai glanced at his Duel Band. "Nakamura-san? You haven't spoken a word at all."

Nii-chan and Rex-nii both turned to the oldest member as well, the man having somehow managed to accumulate five star chips in a single night.

"I am thinking that by this time, at least half of the participants would have already been eliminated," Nakamura-san slowly said. "We know that these eliminators force Duels, and by doing so drain energy from us Duelists. We know that the defeated are taken away, possibly isolated. We know now, at least, that Missy is involved in all of this, and by extension Satsuki-san and Tenjouin-san."

"Thank you for the repeat," Ryuusuke asked. "How does that help us?"

"It helps me," Nakamura-san easily answered. "Because I have raised her, and so I know the ways in which her mind would work."

His eyes drifted to one of the tents, where Tenjouin-sensei, Kajiki-sensei, Jounochi-san and Uncle Crow were catching a nap. "Whatever our conclusions, we can only assume that our only way out would be to get out of the island. Under any other condition, I would imagine that to be impossible, but there are over a hundred famous Duelists on this island. Even Seto Kaiba cannot suppress them fully, not without crippling his own customer base in this modern age. Likewise, Missy would not approve of large-scale attacks unprecedented since Professor Cobra, if only because mass attacks draw too much attention. If we are guessing as to the intention of the masterminds without drawing public outcry, then I suppose that it is Missy's intention. As to why Missy is doing this at all, I can only imagine it to be the repayment for a debt."

"Debt?" Uzuki echoed in disbelief.

"Kaiba has placed a lot of trust and investments in the hands of Missy, and for that has increased the power of the Movement," Nakamura-san answered. "Missy owes him a debt of honour. It would not be beyond the pale for Missy to return the favour no matter what. After all, as Seika-ojou and the rest of you have pointed out, Missy has more than enough power and she is a fugitive from the law, and yet she is here. I can only imagine her direct involvement to be after all other options have been exhausted."

_Promises must be kept, _was Setsu-chan's voice. I nodded.

"So it's probably a debt that's the reason for Shimotsuki's presence," Nii-chan thoughtfully interjected. "If that's the-"

He paused, his head turning. "Michiru is about... two klicks away. Why is she projecting-"

I could almost feel it from here, the cold wave of power that seemed to accompany all eliminators.

"The only person that's not around is... Chase," Youkai's eyes widened. "Chase!"

All three of them stood as a figure burst through the trees. I met the wide eyes of Nikki-chan, who was sniffing. Her Duel Band glowed yellow, and she was shaking.

"H- Help me," she shivered as another crash came.

"Someone has to get Chase-nii," I whispered. "N- Nakamura-san-"

"I will remain to keep the camp and keep watch," Nakamura-san stoically nodded. "I shall also prepare the first-aid kit, Seika-ojou. I recommend that Ryuusei and Atlas-san secure their friend, and some of us follow Kurosagi-san to her camp."

Nikki-chan blinked. "H- How-"

"There was an explosion," Nakamura-san replied. "And explosions on an island are not a good thing."

Another explosion sounded behind us.

"Seika-chan!" Yuko-kun pulled out his DuelDisk as Nikki-chan screamed.

"What, it's you," I heard the voice laugh.

From the trees appeared a tiny young girl, her long hair silvered and matted, hanging loose to her waist. She was dressed in a neat, pleated dress of white, and her shoes shone black. Her hair was tied up in a blue ribbon, but otherwise her grey eyes were listless, devoid of life despite her smile. On her arm was a silver DuelDisk, and on her other arm was a bulky Duel Band set under a Duel Glove, the sides already nearly full.

"My star chips~! Don't run~!" she sang.

"Kannazuki-san!" Ryuusuke blocked me from the silver-haired girl.

She smiled as she lifted a card to play. A horn sounded before the orange mechanical winged creature rushed us.

"Harvest, Angel of Wisdom. She's a rogue!" Yuko shouted as Ryuusuke and he rushed the other.

"What? Harvest!" the monster picked her up and jumped back, dodging Ryuusuke and Yuko as the girl glared. "You, you really don't know your place, do you?"

Vines sprouted from the ground, and the Harvest jumped back some more.

"You're the one who came here first," Hazuki-nee sternly scolded. "I remember you... one of the missing Psychics, Yukina Suiren!"

The girl, Suiren, pouted. "So what, Titania?"

"T- That girl's one of the eliminators!" Nikki-chan shivered, pointing at Suiren. "She was with that really cold girl, their leader. N- Nearly all of DA Kings' students was defeated... by her..."

"Not just me," Suiren smirked. "Will you Duel, and face an honourable defeat? Or will you continue running, like the rest of the trash that Setsuka-sama is eliminating right now."

"E- Eliminating..." I frowned, before turning to Nikki-chan. "Nikki-chan, do you think they're still at the camp?"

"I- I think so," Nikki-chan hesitated. "I... I managed to escape with Marufuji-sensei, but he distracted a Shore Knight and a Familiar Knight so that I could get help. I actually wanted to find Shinamori-san, but... Kannazuki-san, I'm so glad I found you!"

Two Duel Bands beeped red. Ryuusuke and Suiren exchanged glances as they held theirs up.

"I have three star chips," Ryuusuke offered.

"I have seven, just as well," Suiren nodded. "Shall we make this an all-for-nothing battle?"

While they were distracted, Nikki-chan, Yuko, Yamada-san and Youkai left with me.

* * *

"What was that?" Kit asked.

"Maybe it's a Duel?" I looked around. The trees should have muffled any noise, meaning that it was close by-

From the trees he erupted. I recognised the man, blue hair reaching past his shoulders, teal eyes, a sharp face with cheekbones probably visible from the moon. Although on the surface Marufuji Ryou had not changed, I knew him as one of Duel Academia Kings's teachers.

"Marufuji-sensei?" I called.

Marufuji-sensei twitched, turning to me. "You're... Manjoume? No, Princeton... run!"

I had no time to ask when they erupted as well. An armoured Familiar Knight, clad in the shining armour and red cloak, carrying sword and shield, and wearing a full-face helm came from the trees. That sword looked awfully sharp.

At the same time, from the river itself, the warrior charged out, swinging sword and shield. I could see dark hair waving in a breeze as the Shore Knight stood, facing the Familiar Knight despite the blindfold around his eyes. A Water Attribute monster, and I knew only one person on the damn island who would use a Water Attribute Duel Spirit.

Rei gave a warning. Marufuji-sensei began running. The Familiar Knight began to move as I tugged at Kit's hand and the three of us began to run away.

"Move," I hissed as the sword of the Familiar Knight began to swing, and a well-timed tug was the only thing keeping his head on his neck. So much for hoping that it was a pantomime.

"What the-" Kit dodged to one side. "They're... Duel Monsters? But that's not real... right?"

I didn't want to answer, not while we were running for our lives, but my mouth apparently disagreed. "Well, try telling those imaginary monsters that."

A tree fell to the Familiar Knight. I muttered curses and invectives as I ran up river.

Kit tripped, nearly falling. The Familiar Knight was looming, sword drawn, and he brought it down.

Marufuji-sensei kicked it aside. I was really impressed; it took guts and a serious aim to do that. My opinion of Marufuji-sensei rose when he socked the Familiar Knight and lugged Kit to his feet as the Familiar Knight's form slumped. Marufuji-sensei: one, Familiar Knight: zero.

"Oh shit," he swore, teal eyes widening. "The kids."

Excuse me while I boggle. "Wait," I paused. "You brought DA Kings students _here_?"

On hindsight, it was a really stupid question. If Central students were here, it was a safe bet that the other schools were going to be sending representatives too. The GeneX would have accounted for quite a few testimonials, as would the subsequent inter-school tournaments.

Marufuji-sensei waved the Duel Band in my face. "The kids," he was breathing. "The kids. New... programme. Didn't know... Bio Bands. Dammit. The player-killers are here."

Player Killers. Known as Eliminators in most of the world, the term 'player-killer' was one I guessed was unique to Japan and Neo Domino. It was derived from the original Duelist Kingdom, where eighty star chips were issued but only four Duelists allowed into the castle. Rumours of Pegasus Crawford hiring actual killers to eliminate players after winning a Duel to retrieve the remaining forty star chips spread, and it became part of Tournament History (by all accounts a really boring module of Duel History, until we had Kaido teach it as a supplement class. Then we began to wonder why the _heck_ do people actually teach these things to schoolchildren).

"Who?" Kit asked.

Marufuji-sensei stiffened. "M- Michiru..."

I thought so. If Shimotsuki was the Big Bad, then Michiru was the psycho-nut. Tenjouin Michiru was the type to live to pull the wings off flies.

A rush of a sword being swung, and a tree fell. The Shore Knight loomed over us, intimidating with his large sword and armour. It was pretty obvious, everything considered, that it had no intention of letting us get away. Behind us, we heard the sword again.

"Well, well," a laugh like tinkering glass bells spread. "Who do we have here, Ryou-san."

Michiru sat on a low-lying tree branch suspended about the Shore Knight. Her cardigan was worn loosely, showing her tight crop-top. Her smile was positively vulpine.

"Michiru," Marufuji-sensei acknowledged, struggling to even remain standing. "What are you doing?"

"Well, the other eliminators of the island are converging upon all the students on this island," Michiru giggled. It sounded as psychotic as I had heard last. "And I'm sending a signal out now, so if Summer realises that I am here, most likely someone will come soon to pick you guys up."

That gave me pause. Marufuji-sensei must have realised something as well, because his eyes widened. "What the hell are you people thinking of?"

Michiru's eyes widened comically. "You can't guess? Oh, Ryou-san, your placement on this island, the careful pruning of all other teachers of Duel Academia Kings on this island, was for a reason. All of this has to do with the Kaiba family."

"Kaiba?" Marufuji-sensei echoed, coughing. "W- What?"

"Duel Monsters attacking a camp of students?" Michiru scoffed. "Did you really think that we are so ruled by our instincts? There were only two, the knights that the Queen has commanded, and both distracted by only one man? For all your power, Ryou-san, you are only one. Winter are many, and Her Majesty has already determined so. Do you feel it? The pain in your chest, your labouring heart? Do you remember?"

"What did you do, Michiru?" Marufuji-sensei groaned.

Michiru gave a tinkering laugh that turned into a groan as a gout of fire narrowly missed her. The Shore Knight shielded the rest of the blast, but ultimately it fell and shattered, like a hologram.

Scowling as she landed, Michiru plucked the remains of a burnt card out of thin air. "What was that for?"

"I realised... that you were here," Ryuusei panted as he entered on our right with Rex. "Michiru..."

"Bitch!" Rex rushed her, and she lashed out quickly, jumping back to gain some space.

Rex might have the advantage in height and reach and strength, but Michiru was obviously more nimble on her feet. She could dance circles around Rex, laughing hysterically as she did. Rex, in his grey bomber jacket and blue shirt and grey slacks, pinched together with a grey belt, might as well be a pole she was dancing around.

Finally, as Rex was about to land a punch, both their Bands beeped.

They paused, eyeing it. Normal people might have just faced off, but those two were Duelists. Their instinct for the Duels was even stronger than their eye for strategy. I could almost see any violent instinct become lashed to the same identical desire to excel and Duel.

Duelists are very strange creatures, and I speak as one of them.

"I have two star chips," Rex informed her, letting his fist loose and stepping out of her lunge reach.

Michiru considered, grinning suddenly. "Sure. I can bet two. Shall we, then?"

They jumped, standing opposite each other as both held up their respective DuelDisks, one grey and one white, and the sun shone overhead.

"Duel!"

Rex: LP 8000

Michiru: LP 8000

_Duel Field activated: Fairy Tale Second Chapter: The Mad Sun_

"Draw!" Rex called. "I'll activate Allure of Darkness, drawing two cards and then banishing a Dark Attribute monster. Then, I'll summon Trance Archfiend [1500/500]. Once per turn, I can discard a card to have him gain five hundred attack power until my end phase [1500/500 → 2000/500]."

"Eh... but you can't attack on the first turn," Michiru noted.

"I discarded Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, hence I can draw a card," Rex called. "I'll set two cards and end my turn here [2000/500 → 1500/500]."

"Draw!" Michiru laughed. "I summon The Fabled Kokkator [1700/1500] to the field."

A giant green chicken, and I kid you not, appeared, gnashing its beak. "Kokkator, peck that Archfiend to death!"

"Continuous Trap, Escape from the Dark Dimension!" Rex declared. "Arise, Archfiend Empress [2900/2100]!" Rex's favourite monster appeared, smiling wanly.

"Heh... so, what?" Michiru snickered. "Kokkator, continue attacking that Trance Archfiend!"

"I use the effect of Archfiend Empress to banish Broww and protect Trance Archfiend!" Rex roared. "Dark Aegis!"

Rex: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Michiru: LP 8000

"What? Battle damage was doubled?" Rex shouted.

"In this field, Fairy Tale Second Chapter: The Mad Sun, the sun is very, very hot, hot enough to make even Duels tiring," Ryuusei answered him.

"Both players' battle damage doubles." Michiru agreed. "But, it looks like I've drawn first blood, if nothing else... I'll set two cards, turn end."

"Draw!" Rex called. "I activate the effect of Trance Archfiend, discarding a Fiend for it to gain five hundred attack power [1500/500 → 2000/500]. I discarded Ceruli, Guru of Dark World [100/300], so I can special summon it to your field in defence mode."

"What?" Michiru exclaimed as the squat monster in a blue cloak appeared.

"With that effect, when Ceruli is special summoned by the effect of a Dark World card, such as itself, I must discard one card," Rex's eyes twinkled. "I discard Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World [2300/1400], and its effect activates, special summoning it and then destroying two cards my opponent controls."

"Trap activate, Waboku!" Michiru snarled as the three priestesses appeared before her.

"I destroy Kokkator and Ceruli," Rex declared as her monsters imploded. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Michiru called. "I'll discard a Fabled monster to special summon The Fabled Nozoochee [1200/800], and then because of its own effect, I can special summon a level two or lower Fabled monster from my hand, so I summon The Fabled Cerburrel [1000/400]. I discarded Fabled Krus, allowing me to special summon The Fabled Kokkator from the graveyard. Now, I summon the tuner monster, Stygian Security [100/600] to the field. Tuning, level two Nozoochee to level two Cerburrel. Legends hidden under the veil of secrecy, finally lift the curtain to show the lies! Synchro summon! Come, The Fabled Kudabbi!"

As the Synchro rings died... there was a moo. It was a giant bull, wearing a gold-edged white veil over its head. Its saddle was a red carpet, and a red banner hung over its neck. On its back, a white imp cackled as it held onto the reins [2200/1100].

"... and I'm supposed to be scared, why?" Rex asked.

"Oh, you will," Michiru smirked. "Now, I tune the level four Kokkator to level one Stygian Security. When the darkness in my soul is revealed, a frozen demon appears within the shadows towards the light! Hearts grown cold with this terror of the ancient tales of winter! Synchro Summon! Freeze everything, Frozen Fitzgerald!"

It grew very cold. Even the intense sunlight seemed weaker in comparison, as if the sun itself were hardly enough to ward it off. The trees stood in absolute silence. Ice formed over the field, cracking as the monster appeared.

It looked like a humanoid figured, stuck in ice, arms stretched out and legs together like being nailed to a cross. Ice enveloped its arms and legs, chilling and weird. It carried a smile on its face, as if under a very tolerant joke no one else understood [2500/2500]. There was an intense sense about it, and I distantly thought... I felt... that Hundred Eyes Dragon knew it, and my dragon was screaming distantly...

"Frozen Fitzgerald was once a Dark Synchro monster," Michiru delightedly informed us.

"Dark Synchro monster?" Rex echoed. "I think... I've heard them before."

"The Dark Synchro monsters were seven monsters that were a tier below of the Earthbound Gods, servants of the Dark Signers and their servants," Michiru giggled. "There were only seven ever known, all contracted in the name of Darkness. As proof of my service to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Frozen Fitzgerald was awarded to me. Isn't it pretty?"

She raised a hand, just like I had seen Shimotsuki do. "Frozen Fitzgerald, attack Trance Archfiend with your Blizzard Strike! And then, when this card attacks, you can't activate Spells or Trap until the end of the damage step! Go...!"

Icy tendrils froze the Trance Archfiend in a parody of horror, before the statue shattered... and Trance Archfiend remained intact.

Rex: LP 7600 → LP 5600

Michiru: LP 8000

"Dark Aegis still works, on any other Dark Fiend I control," Rex panted.

Michiru smirked. "Kudabbi, attack that Archfiend Empress! And I activate my set card, Horn of the Phantom Beast [2200/1100 → 3000/1100]! Go, attack with Calamity Prediction!"

Kudabbi mooed loudly as it rammed into the dark monarch, who screamed in a horrible parody of pain as she shattered.

Rex: LP 5600 → LP 5400

Michiru: LP 8000

"You'll still take battle damage!" Michiru smirked, clapping. "And because of Horn, I get to draw a card. I set a card, and I end here." Her smile turned nasty. "You're not that lucky, punk."

"Draw!" Rex called. "Continuous Trap activate, Dark Smog. I discard a Fiend to banish a monster in your graveyard, and I think Fabled Cerburrel fits the bill. And then because I just don't like you, I discarded the boss of Goldd, Grapha, and his effect activates by having your Kudabbi go boom!"

"Does Rex remember that Michiru's hand is currently unfilled?" I muttered as Grapha tried to eat the cow, to no avail.

"The Veil of Secrets," Michiru chuckled. "When my hand is at zero, Kudabbi can't be destroyed by battle or card effect."

"Do I know it," I muttered, remembering all the pain went to getting rid of it.

"I return Goldd to my hand to special summon Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World [2700/1800]!" Rex called, clearly being unable to think straight from the sheer cold. "Grapha, attack that Frozen Fitzgerald!"

"Trap card," Michiru whispered, a finger to her lips. "Mirror Force."

Ryuusei and I winced for his sake as Grapha imploded.

Rex studied his hand, shivering. "I set a card. Turn end."

"Draw!" Michiru was all smiles, even thought it must be about nine degrees in the clearing. "Do you know the difference between you and me?"

"N- No..." Rex was still shivering.

"It's power," Michiru cocked her head. "Fall before the Claíomh Solais, Rex Atlas, and remember that it was I who defeated you. Kudabbi, attack him directly!"

"If he takes that... he'll lose!" Ryuusei and I exclaimed as the Kudabbi lowered its horns.

"Trap card, Red Screen!" Rex called. "For this turn, your monsters cannot declare an attack. Looks like your power was for nothing."

"Cheap tricks," Michiru sniffed. "Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Rex declared. "I use the effect of Dark Smog, and discard Goldd to special summon him and banish The Fabled Nozoochee. When my opponent controls a face-up Synchro monster, I can special summon Synclone Resonator [100/100] from my hand. I play Card of Demise, allowing me to draw up to five cards, but in five turns I shall have to discard my entire hand. Now, I summon the tuner monster, Phantom Lord Hide Ride [1500/300]. Hide Ride can be treated as a non-tuner monster, so I tune level three Hide Ride to level one Synclone Resonator."

"Level four Synchro-" Michiru cut off.

"Soldier of the king, rise to defend! Our lives are protected by the great sword of this warrior of darkness! Synchro summon! The dark knight, Balmung, Fighter of the Demon World!"

The giant sword was swung, the blade sharp and promising... as the dark knight took the stand, silence was commanded [2100/800].

"It's weaker than my own monsters!" Michiru broke out in laughter. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'll set two cards and end my turn," Rex declared. "At the end phase of this turn, I must pay one thousand life points to keep Red Screen on the field."

Rex: LP 5400 → LP 4400

Michiru: LP 8000

"Draw!" Michiru snorted. "I'll pass. I want to see you struggle some more."

"Draw!" Rex called. "Turn end, and I pay the cost."

Rex: LP 4400 → LP 3400

Michiru: LP 8000

"What? Is that it?" Michiru sniffed. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" Rex called. "I set a card, turn end. I shall pay the cost of Red Screen."

Rex: LP 3400 → LP 2400

Michiru: LP 8000

"Draw!" Michiru's nose wrinkled. "I'll set a card, turn end. The odds are really against you. Even though you have a lucky break for now, I have Kudabbi, who is indestructible should my hand be at zero, and Frozen Fitzgerald, which can prevent your activation of Spells or Traps when it attacks. And Setsuka promised me another card soon... but, anyway... if you can't manage it this turn, you'll be down to a paltry four hundred life points. You can't win."

"Tell me that when I'm dead," Rex snarled. "I will win. And, even if I were to lose, I'm not losing to a psychopathic megalomaniac like you! I draw!"

A sudden hush fell upon the field as Rex stared at the card.

"Yes!" Rex hooted. "I summon Dark Resonator [1300/300]! Tuning, level five Goldd to level three Dark Resonator. The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! The king's soul, Red Demon's Dragon!"

A grand fireball erupted upon the field. Pure power flooded the clearing. The temperature climbed from freezing to burning hot, and I saw a leaf on the ground catch fire. The dragon was horned. It was more muscled than any other dragon I knew, the largest of the Signer Dragons. Heavier than Stardust. Wider than Ancient Fairy. The reverse colours of Black Rose. More solid than Black Feather. More powerful than any of them. The ace monster of the World King, Jack Atlas... and one of the five legendary dragons that once saved the world, the Red Demon's Dragon [3000/2000].

If I have to describe it to you, obviously you've grown up under a rock.

It opened a lantern-jawed maw, tiny yellow eyes gleaming, baring teeth that were really too sharp to be comfortable, and let loose a single bellow that sent birds scattering around the clearing and teeth chattering from fright.

"Trap card, Dust Tornado," Rex's head was low as Horn of the Phantom Beast shattered [3000/1100 → 2200/1100]. "Another Trap card, Red Carpet. When I control a Dragon-Type Synchro monster, I can special summon Synclone Resonator and Dark Resonator from my graveyard once more."

"N- No way..." Michiru stuttered. "Y- You? Could you even summon it?"

"Let's face it..." Rex drawled. "Under normal circumstances, Scar-Red wouldn't give me the time of day. But Father's not here, and I'm probably fighting for my life here. I'm doing this in a really vague hope that Scar-Red would actually listen and not abandon me to some unknown fate. But, if two years travelling the world had taught me something..." and here his eyes gleamed. "It's how to beat down demons."

He raised a fist, from which wisps of what I realised to be power radiated from him. Rex's grey eyes widened, and I could distantly recall feeling what Rex had felt those two years ago. Desperation. Helplessness. Despair.

I could see spirits; I could keep tabs on Ryuusei. Rex was, for all intents and purposes, human. He was unable to cross that boundary between worlds, he did not have the technical intelligence to actually help, he had none of the skills beyond a slightly better mechanic skill set and more common sense and manners that Uncle Jack could have given him. Rex should have been dead or enslaved several times over for the past two years. Time is a funny thing, and Rex definitely inherited something from Jack Atlas; he was a stubborn son of a bitch (nothing about Carly-san here), and a resourceful one.

"This is my soul... Double Tuning!" Rex called. "I tune level eight Red Demon's Dragon to level three Dark Resonator and level one Synclone Resonator! Roll out the red carpet for the star of the show!"

"You can't..." Michiru choked. "You... can't..."

"The King and The Devil... here and now shall become as one." Rex's words were accompanied by a sudden tense silence. "A raging Spirit! Lift up the very cries of Creation itself! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Scar-Red Nova Dragon!"

Now it grew hotter, and Red Demon's Dragon gave an answering roar as the new monster appeared, bearing more plates of red and black. Its wings resembled metal plates hammered into shape and bent into wings. Its skeletal body stood out amidst the scarlet flames of its power, as if its body had been eroded away by the sheer power of the beast [3500/3000 → 5000/3500]. Around it, a thousand or more dancing scarlet flames leapt up, burning in defiance of Winter. I cowered back slightly as the heat threatened to roast any exposed skin. Ryuusei remained calm, but his eyes glittered that eerie blue-green as well in answer to overwhelming power.

"Phantom Lord Hide Ride is a tuner as well..." Ryuusei realised. "Rex must have been attempting this all along."

"Five thousand..." Michiru stared. "Immunity to destruction by spells or traps- oh shit. I activate the trap, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast!"

"Counter Trap, Dark Bribe," Rex pointed down. "And I activate Riryoku, targeting your Frozen Fitzgerald to decrease its attack power by half and add it to Balmung [2500/2500 → 1250/2500] [2100/800 → 3350/800]. Battle, Balmung, slay that unsightly frozen Popsicle with Demon's Sword!"

Balmung charged, and beheaded the fiend, who screamed and died in a shatter of ice shards.

Michiru: LP 8000 → LP 3800

Rex: LP 2400

"Scar-Red Nova Dragon... attack Kudabbi with Burning Soul!" Rex called as the dragon roared, made a fist, and punched.

"Quick-play Spell, Pandemic of Madness!" Michiru snarled. "Even if I take damage, twenty-five hundred damage should be enough to drive you off!"

Michiru: LP 3800 → LP 0

Rex: LP 2400 → LP 0

"We... drew..." Rex wobbled slightly as the heat and the holograms faded, trying to keep standing, anything.

Motes of light gathered in Michiru's hands, and she looked plenty pissed off. "You-"

She paused. Her eyes glazed over. She glanced at the skies as she gave a manic grin. "Oh. I see."

"EH?" We blinked as her DuelDisk folded back and she gave a sweet, sweet smile.

"It looks like Her Majesty needs help subduing the rest of the students from Kings and Queens," Michiru sweetly informed us, tipping her head as if she wore a hat. "So, _arrivederci_."

Between one footstep and the next, and one heartbeat and the next, Michiru disappeared in a shower of light-puffs. Poseur.

"The students!" Marufuji-sensei gasped, but then clutched at his heart, struggling.

"Where?" I demanded slowly. "I can get there."

Marufuji-sensei slowly nodded. "Mouth of the river. Some of them... wanted a beach vacation."

"Rex!" I turned. "Need-"

"Not now!" Rex snapped. He was a bit more hyper-alert, and I saw the tendons in his neck tighten. He was holding himself in check. "I... Adrenaline rush... a bit, just a while. I'll get Marufuji-sensei back to the camp with Ryuusei."

"We can take Marufuji-sensei back to the camp, and maybe I can see about getting first-aid or Nakamura-san," Ryuusei nodded. "Rex, I need some help moving Marufuji-sensei. Erm, I don't think I've gotten your name?"

"Kit, Kit Sakumo," Kit rapidly introduced himself, transfixed under the intense stare. If the situation wasn't currently an emergency, Rex would have leapt to defend Ryuusei immediately.

"I'm so sorry we've gotten you involved," Ryuusei murmured as Kit tagged along by me.

Between one heartbeat and the next, they were gone. I stared; obviously magic was at work, but Ryuusei...

I shook my head, before turning to jog back to the river and downstream with Kit tentatively following me. We needed to get there.

* * *

_**Pandemic of Madness**__**  
Type: Quick-Play Spell  
Effect: Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack. **__**Inflict damage to your opponent equal to half that monster's ATK at the same time you take Battle Damage. **_

_**Please review!**_


	36. XXXIV: Localized Tornado

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXIV: Localized Tornado**

"This is way beyond school programmes," Nikki-chan commented as we ran through the jungle.

"Yes," I panted. "Exactly what has happened, Nikki-chan? Your camp was under attack?"

"Well, we all thought it was harmless until one of them actually injured a student with their powers," Nikki-chan shivered. "Then we all realised that they weren't joking when they said that our lives were on the line. We thought they were other people, but... but they were legal eliminators! H- How? Why? I couldn't find Uncle Judai or Ayame-neesan-"

"Judai-san was eliminated by Setsu-chan last night," Seika panted. "He took Ayame-san with him off the island, as both were injured."

"Oh," Nikki-chan froze as another presence appeared behind us. "What-"

"Seika!" Uzuki complained. "Queens' students being attacked, and you left me behind?"

"Sorry, Uzuki, I forgot," I panted as we continued. "I think we-"

We came into a jungle field, and then Uzuki's Duel Band beeped red.

"Oh, welcome," the voice murmured as the woman stepped out of the shadows of the trees. Her DuelDisk bore a spiderweb pattern, and she wore mostly black, gauzy like nets around her slim figure and dark hair. "Little flies have fallen here. How interesting."

"S- She's one of them!" Nikki-chan pointed.

"Interesting... I'll Duel!" Uzuki challenged, smiling.

"What a brave little fly..." she laughed. "You may call me Jorogumo."

"Duel!"

Jorogumo: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" she laughed. "I'll set a monster, and then I activate the Continuous Spell, Stumbling. With that, during the turn a monster is summoned, it is changed to defence mode. Next, I set two cards, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Uzuki called. "I'll summon Madolche Mewfeuille [500/300]! Now when this cute kitty is normal summoned, I can special summon a Madolche monster from my hand, so come, Madolche Messengelato [1600/1000]!"

A loud meow echoed through the air, as a pop of pink smoke billowed. Almost immediately, the smoke dissipated to reveal a sleepy, small, fluffy pink kitten with a purple vest and a feathered yellow cap atop of its head. A four-leaf clover glimmered on its forehead. This was followed by a whoop, and a teal-haired postman in red-brown uniform appeared, taking his cap to make an elaborate bow.

"Chain quick-play Spell, Demise of the Land!" Jorogumo called. "This card allows me to activate the Field Spell, Spider Web from my deck!"

Instantly, a sphere surrounded us, plied with webbing that scattered in a loose web pattern, trapping us here.

"When Messengelato is special summoned when I control a Beast-Type Madolche monster, I can search my deck for a Madolche Spell or Trap and add it to my hand." Uzuki called. "I choose Madolche Ticket! Now, I'll activate my own Continuous Spell, Madolche Ticket, and set a card. I end my turn."

"Draw!" Jorogumo called. "I flip-summon Anti-Aircraft Flower [0/1600]. Now, by tributing an Insect-Type monster, I can inflict eight hundred damage to my opponent. I summon Pinch Hopper [1000/1200], and I activate the set Multiplication of Ants to tribute Pinch Hopper and special summon two Army Ant Tokens [500/1200] to the field. Pinch Hopper activates, allowing me to special summon the Insect Queen [2200/2400 → 2800/2400]!"

"Not to mention, when my graveyard contains only Insects, I can tribute two Defence position monsters my opponent controls to special summon the Mother Spider [2300/1200]!"

"My monsters!" Uzuki yelled as the two disappeared, and a giant red and black spider, not to mention a giant purple spider, appeared on the field, leering.

"But, Stumbling places them in defence mode," Jorogumo yawned. "So I'll tribute both Army Ant Tokens for Anti-Aircraft Flower to take a pot-shot [2800/2400 → 3000/2400 → 2600/2400]!"

Uzuki: LP 8000 → LP 6400

Jorogumo: LP 8000

"Ah!" Uzuki shied away as she was blasted. "You... You're a Psychic Duelist as well?"

Jorogumo clapped. "Isn't it fun? Next turn I'll finish you and your dessert buddies, girl."

"Are you sure?" Uzuki asked. "My Madolche aren't just sweet, they're hard candy as well! I draw! I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Stumbling! Now, I summon Madolche Hootcake [1500/1100]."

A hoot echoed with wings, and soon the monster appeared, it was a cartoonish owl with a hotcake on its head, and wearing a shirt and pants with highly polished shoes. It cooed as it appeared.

"I use the effect of Hootcake, banishing Mewfeuille from the graveyard to special summon Madolche Cruffsant [1500/1200] from my deck." Uzuki continued as a cute brown and white beagle wearing a tiny hat appeared. "Now, I use the effect of Madolche Cruffsant to bounce Hootcake back to my hand and for it to gain one level and three hundred attack power [1500/1200 → 1800/1200]. The effect of Madolche Ticket activates, allowing me to add a Madolche Magileine to my hand when Hootcake is returned to my hand. Activate Continuous Trap, Ultimate Offering. By paying five hundred life points, I summon Madolche Magileine [1400/1200]!"

Several bright sparkles began to flutter around the field, until they crashed into the ground, creating an even larger explosion of sparkles. From the sparkles she appeared, her fancy purple dress billowing slightly, along with the white ribbon hem and her long violet hair. The witch spun around as a large broad-brimmed hat popped atop of her head and a long fork-like staff appeared in her hands. The cute witch stopped spinning around and winked.

"When Magileine is normal summoned, I can add any Madolche monster from deck to hand, such as one more Magileine. I pay to summon another Magileine, and repeat, and pay again to summon Madolche Butlerusk [1500/800], who allows me to add the Field Spell, Madolche Château from my deck to my hand."

Uzuki: LP 6400 → LP 4400

Jorogumo: LP 8000

"I construct the overlay network with Magileine and Butlerusk!" Uzuki called. "Exceed summon! The fairy that rules the sugar kingdom, come! Begin the haunting dance of the night! Exceed summon! Queen of the kingdom of sweets, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!"

As the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' began playing, the throne appeared. It was made of a confection of opera cake, and primarily decorated with cappuccino-coloured whipped cream at its head and white chocolate at its arms, carved into a curve. It stood empty for a moment... and from stage left entered the queen. Her hair was grey-white and spun, like cotton candy, to hand on either side of the beaming, rosy face. She was dressed in a frilly gown with overcoat, the gown being white on ochre, and the coat edged with brown lace on ochre, complete with a bodice tied with laced liquorice ropes around her waist. The overall effect reminded me of a tiramisu cake. Her crown was perched on her head, delicate as sugar spun into that shape, and a horned staff was held in one hand [2200/2100].

"I overlay two Magileine to Exceed summon Fairy King Albverdich!" Uzuki called as the elfin monster appeared, dressed in long robes of white with a red scarf, and a sprite dancing on one shoulder. His pointed ears were clearly displayed as fanning out on either side of his head [2300/1400]. "Now, I activate Madolche Lesson! By shuffling Madolche Messengelato back into my deck, all Madolche monsters on the field gain a permanent eight hundred attack and defence power [2200/2100 → 3000/2900] [1800/1200 → 2600/2000].

"Ah..." Jorogumo stared.

"With that... shall we have a change of scenery?" Uzuki smiled as she activated the card. The web disappeared, and was replaced by a forest of cotton candy trees.

"I activate the effect of Fairy King Albverdich, detaching one Exceed material to decrease the attack and defence power of all non-Earth Attribute monsters on the field by five hundred [2300/1200 → 1800/700]. Now, I activate the effect of Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!" Uzuki called. "I can detach one Exceed material, and shuffle up to two Madolche monsters from my graveyard into the deck, and shuffle two cards from your field into your deck! Crown of Confections!"

Giggling, the Queen banged her staff, and the two Magileine cackled as they flew past, perched on their brooms as they buffeted the giant spiders back to her deck.

"But, due to Madolche Château, any Madolche cards returned to the deck by a card effect would be added to my hand instead," Uzuki announced. "And all Madolche monsters gain five hundred attack and defence power on their own field [3000/2900 → 3500/3400] [2600/2000 → 3100/2500]. Now, I pay another five hundred life points to summon Magileine [1400/1200 → 1900/1700]!"

Uzuki: LP 4400 → LP 3900

Jorogumo: LP 8000

"Magileine, attack Anti-Aircraft Flower!" Uzuki called as the flower fell. "Now... Queen Tiaramisu, King Albverdich, Cruffsant, direct attack!"

Jorogumo: LP 8000 → LP 0

Uzuki: LP 3900

"I... lost?" Jorogumo sputtered. "My strategy..."

"I never guessed that sweets would be so powerful..." Nikki-chan stared as Uzuki gave us a cheerful thumbs-up and laughed.

"Let's go!"

As we ran, there was a chatter of screams, and then a couple of awfully loud explosions. Nikki-chan and I caught up to Uzuki as we came into sight of the camp, and I let her take the lead.

The area was in a shambles. Folding tables had been knocked over. Blood and breakfast cereal lay scattered on the rocky ground. I could see two kids on the ground, one screaming, one simply doubled over in a foetal position, shaking. Others were lying flat, faces in the dirt.

The first one I saw was Alexianna-san. She was finishing off a Duelist, her DuelDisk out and a Darklord Asmodeus floating above her. As she saw us, she motioned, and the Fairy charged at us.

"Wait!" I called.

"Get down!" she snapped.

The three of us dived as Asmodeus stabbed the Blade Knight behind us, shattering it. Alexianna-san sighed as we scrambled back up and towards her. "Looks like we got more help."

"W- What?" Nikki-chan began shaking.

Another crash sounded, and I ran towards it. After a moment, Alexianna-san fell in step, and so did Uzuki and Nikki-chan. We turned a corner, past a row of tents, and we saw Shinamori-san and Uncle Crow confronting Kujaku-san.

"What's going on?" Shinamori-san argued, fairly vibrating with anger. "You... these are students! You didn't need to charge a whole battalion like this!"

"West Academia's students are infamous for having received military training." Kujaku-san answered. "If not now, then when?"

"Satsuki..." Uncle Crow looked stern. "What happened? These... these are students!"

"They have been defeated," Kujaku-san answered. "They will be removed from the island. Their star chips are to be handed over."

Shinamori-san bared his teeth. "I'll show you what-"

"As a master, it is my responsibility to teach my student," Uncle Crow stepped in as both their Duel Bands clicked, beeping red to signal the lock-on. "And I won't go down easy."

* * *

Kit and I had split up as Kit went to attend to another camp under fire while I tried to find the DA Kings camp. On hindsight, I should have gone with him.

"Where the hell am I going-" I paused as I skidded to a stop. Infernity Beast, or Killer, materialised, tugging at my pant leg towards a different direction.

"What the hell...?" I paused, sighing as I looked around. The trees did not look familiar; in fact, my surroundings looked like a tropical rainforest. "At this rate... where the freak am I, anyway? Rei!"

_This is the sometimes place. Another path between worlds. Suffice it to say... at the moment, there is a dimensional imbalance between planes. No wonder most of the Duel Spirits we have met here have a solid form._

"Dimensional- you mean they're taking a solid form because of this dimensional imbalance?" I demanded as Killer continued to whine. I wiped his forehead. Instead of the cool ocean breeze of Duelist Kingdom, the air was now hot and muggy. Yep, different ecosystem.

_I think... we are where Fire meets Ice. We are between the planes of Winter and Summer at the moment._

"That doesn't answer my question."

Before I could get a response, I stepped out of the trees and was suddenly greeted by a great burst of hot sunlight that caused me to shield my eyes. Once I had adjusted to the new light, I looked around at my surroundings.

Wherever I currently was, it was definitely not Duelist Kingdom. We were now walking through a village made up of stone houses. Mountain peaks could be seen in the background. I thought that the term 'mountain' was being charitable, but then I realised from just breathing that the village itself was on a mountain, and that the land on which I stood upon was sloped. Looking down, I could see terraces carved into the mountain itself. A look up the slope revealed more terraces, and a whole _lot_ more mountain. There were tiny dots around the terraces, doubtless people or Duel Monsters.

"Situation had been upgraded from Code Alpha to Code _what the fuck_."

At my feet, Killer whined.

_I take it that the hound wishes for us to proceed._

"Try to keep up, shouldn't I be getting out of here?" I snorted down, before continuing behind it.

The village was empty, though I could see signs of recent inhabitation. Scattered pots of drying foodstuffs, clothes hung out to dry, that sort of thing. I climbed the stone steps as I followed the dark hound through it, up another narrower path, and close to the summit. We had reached the summit when I saw it.

Surrounded by the entire mountain range was... well, think of a sphere of distorted space, occupying an entire valley that could probably be the size of Switzerland. As I watched, the space turned dark, and a cry rang through as a body hammered upon it. The being was orange on black, orange defining the features of spindly wings, a long beak, and huge eyes, as well as huge talons, tail feathers and body. It continued to cry as it pecked at the space with the utmost ferocity.

Hummingbirds are technically some of the smallest birds in the world, and were herbivorous. They survived by not only fine motor control of their wings, but also some other trick I hadn't quite managed to figure out. During a long, long lecture on the Quechua in Duel Monsters, it was taught that hummingbirds represented messengers.

I didn't really care at the moment. The giant hummingbird with fine motor control was just a few metres away, trapped in a distorted space, and was staring at me. Black space surrounded by orange was strangely alive, and oddly glaring at me. I wouldn't have imagined it to be malicious, just a drawing, and yet somehow malice was conveyed in its every gesture. The dark energy from it, and the shadows behind it, hissed and oozed through the air, as if sheer malice and vicious will had been distilled into an unseen mist that surrounded a badly-drawn picture turned alive.

It gave a shriek of rage that had me stumbling back, nearly tripping and falling to my death.

"T- That's..." I swallowed. "That's..."

_The Earthbound, _Rei supplied. _Aslla piscu._

I made the mistake of looking down. Due to long experience with Youkai, vertigo had pretty much given way to adrenaline thrill. It didn't quite prepare me for the rest.

For one thing, I realised that there were ropes anchoring down on the spherical space, slender white ropes that spread out in a net around it, isolating it. Spider-webs. After the spider-web barrier was a series of doors, each rotating about in a spherical manner, showing a single space that was each different from the next. Behind _that_ was a slender sphere of mirrors, glowing pink and blue. Basically, the third barrier was like a mosaic of silvered mirror that I could still see through. Around _that_ was a forest of trees, dark and forbidding and thick.

From the doors jumped through several Duel Monsters. I watched as the monsters waged a constant siege on the sphere. At one point, the web began to fray, and a series of tiny spiders, which had to be freaking _huge_ if I could see them from where I was standing, leapt over. Hands sprouted from the sphere, trying to fight them off, but some bit down on the phantom limbs and other jumped over the biters, spinning their webs quickly to seal the space. I saw legs snap off and spiders being crushed, but in the end the web was sealed with the biting spiders alive.

That was only one part of what kept coming through the doors, which I realised that it was a series of Field laid out on Field: Spider Web, Future Visions, Mirror Labyrinth and what was probably Closed Forest.

At the foot of the sphere, various land-bound forces fought the darkness's limbs too, turning it to stone or lashing out with their own claws or burning it with artillery fire. At the apex of the sphere, something turned. It looked like a golden replica of the sun with a face carved into it. I stood in awe of its radiance until four red dragon heads rose up from it and roared. The heads, serpentine in nature, twisted and coiled in a poise, with tongues licking leathery lips as they prepared to strike.

Dark force that lashed out smashed it, and the dragon gave a dying scream. At the same time, golden fires turned the dark force to ashes and smoke.

A moon arose, and surrounding it were four serpentine dragon heads as well, though they were blue. It seemed dark and forbidding until another phantom limb lashed out. This time, a curtain fell over the field and its monsters, and as the moon left the sun rose again.

"If..." I found my voice cracked and dry. "If this is where the Earthbound are... and those are Field Spells, then... they're all here. Spiders. Fortune Lady. Reactor. Reptillianne. Apes and monkeys. Inca."

"_AND_," I heard the voice behind me. "_INFERNITY_."

I turned around. The being was tall, thin, and mostly dressed in black and blues. Its arms looked too long to be proportionate to its body. Its face was thin, and resembled a goat, right down to the stubbed horns on either side of its head. There was a halo about it, a dark, dark blue against the hellish dark reddish-black that were the skies here. A shock of orange hair topped its head.

"I- Infernity Demon." I stuttered. By my feet, Killer whined.

The Demon cast a look at it. "_PERHAPS NOT."_

"What?"

"_NOT TO YOU."_ The Demon cast tiny orange eyes at me, as if curious. "_LET US CONVERSE ON THE WAY DOWN."_

Silently, I followed. In any other situation, maybe I wouldn't have, but Infernity Demon had been the biggest help in my deck for a long time, and he still continued to. I owed the guy at least that much. And I didn't want to linger around any space containing a force that could only be described as evil. As the sphere faded over the mountain ranges and we descended, I put the whole sight behind me. Out of sight, out of mind... right?

"Why?" I asked. "Why go away?"

"_YOU HOLD THEIR STRONGEST VASSAL._" the Demon merely answered. "_THEY REMEMBER. THEY WILL COME. THEN OUR WORK WOULD BE NOTHING."_

"Hundred Eyes Dragon," I realised.

The Demon's feet did not even seem to move as it floated down. "_SO YOU CALL IT_."

"What... is this?" as I asked it, I felt dumb. It was pretty obvious what was in there, after all.

"_CONTAINMENT._"

"Uh... of... that?" I motioned.

"_THE LEAST._"

I stared at it. Then I looked back at the nightmare sphere that took four Field Spells and a standing army to contain. "That's... the _least_? What... what else is there?"

"_NIGHTMARES. DARK GODS. NAMELESS THINGS. IMMORTALS._"

I felt a giggle come up. "Containment. Dammit, _containment_." I tried to stuff it down. "This isn't any battlefield. It's a prison. It's a prison so hard that the Earthbound Gods are under freaking _minimum security_."

"_CORRECT,_" it answered.

"So you guys... guard it?" I asked.

"_YES_. _THE GUARD. THE WALLS. THE BARS. WE ARE __ORDER._"

"You are not the first law-person I'd ever want to be involved with," I said, wincing. "The things in here. Are they dangerous where they are?"

"_THEY ARE ALWAYS DANGEROUS. THEY HAVE THE LEAST OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS IT HERE._"

"They... escaped. Once." I pointed out. "They can get loose."

"_NOT WITHOUT OUTSIDE INTERVENTION_," the Demon said. "_OR AUTHORISATION._"

"Damn," I breathed. "Uh. You mean... someone could turn these things loose?"

It did not respond. Why say yes when silence would do?

I swallowed as we continued walking. "So... where are we going?"

"_RETURNING TO THE MORTAL WORLD._" Came the helpful reply. "_YOU. THE DRAGON OF THE VOID THAT RESIDES WITHIN YOU. TAKE OUR HOUND WITH YOU. DANGEROUS THINGS STIR IN THE TWO WORLDS._"

Overhead, a burst of lightning suddenly crashed. I heard the roar, and saw one of Duel Monsters' most iconic dragons fly overhead. It was charging straight for the sphere... until my Infernity Death Dragon appeared, roaring in defiance as it charged. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon roared in pain and defiance, but Infernity Death Dragon tore its throat out, not before taking a Burst Stream of Destruction straight.

"Infernity Death Dragon!" I shouted as the dark dragon fell down. I barely felt the thud and the shudder, but I knew it.

"_OUR DRAGON SHALL BE FINE._" The Demon answered. "_THEY WILL COME FOR __THIS. __STOP THEM.__ OR SOON THE PRISON FALLS._"

I swallowed. "Uh, so... how soon is soon?"

It just stared at me.

Right. Inhuman, wholly-focused-on-holding-evil-horde-still-forever sorts of creatures don't have a real solid grasp of the concept of time. From what I've guessed, I've begun to understand that linear time is a uniquely mortal perspective. Other things aren't attached to it nearly as tightly as we are. They were not compatible with stopwatches or day planners, not when their lifespans could reach indefinitely.

"What exactly is going on?" I asked.

"_THE PRIEST WORKS HIS MAGIC. IT IS ONE THAT DEFIES DOMA ITSELF. IT WILL RUPTURE THE PRISON, THE WELL. HE DOES NOT KNOW THE PRICE NECESSARY._"

"Doma? What is Doma?" I asked.

"_DOMA IS DOMA, THE ANGEL OF SILENCE._"

"A normal monster..." I frowned. "Why would defying Doma-"

_Remember what your language calls Doma? _Rei sharply interjected.

Doma. Doma the Angel of Silence. Angel of the Silence of Death, Doma.

The Demon gave a nod. "_THE ONE OF THE VOID SPEAKS TRUE. THERE ARE THINGS WHICH SHOULD NOT BE NAMED. OR THEY COME FOR US._"

I wouldn't want their equivalent of a Grim Reaper to come either. "So... he's... raising someone from the dead?" I frowned. "Who is this priest?"

"_A PERSON OF POWER. YOUR MORTAL WORLD KNOWS OF HIM, THE ONE WHO HAS THE BLUE-EYES AS HIS SERVANT._"

"Seto Kaiba," I nodded. "So... Kaiba is... a priest? How does that work?"

"_IT IS HIS STORY. SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT YOUR WORLD KNOWS THE STORY OF THE MEMORY TABLET._"

I distantly recalled the faded photograph in History. Who knew, the things you learnt in school would actually be so useful. "I don't understand."

_The Fiend means to say that Kaiba is the reincarnation of the High Priest Set depicted, _Rei curtly replied. _And that the High Priest is attempting a form of rite, intended as a... resurrection rite. There is no such thing that should be possible, and the backlash of power has begun to rupture the veils of worlds. Should he not be stopped, the prison would be affected, and the basic ward that holds the prison in place would be unravelled, triggering the fail-safe._

"_THAT WHICH SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED SHALL._" the Infernity Demon added.

I blinked. That were some of the most nuanced, and most complex sentiments the spirit had expressed. Which meant that we were speaking about something important – which only made sense. The Demon didn't care about friends or enemies or the price of tea in China. It cared about its inmates, period. Anything else, everything else, would be judged based upon its relevance to that subject.

Well, I could tell what's another consequence of what happens if we don't solve the situation. "You're telling me that the Queen of Winter doesn't know of this? That what they're doing has the unintended consequence of... interrupting here?"

"_SHE KNOWS, AND I IMAGINE FAR MORE THAN YOU_,"the Demon answered.

"So why is she siding with Kaiba to gather the energy if this would happen and she knows it?" I paused. I mean, no matter what, Shimotsuki was hardly omnicidal. Even if she was, she could easily have not interfered and let Kiyoshi hold free reign over causing an ice age.

"_I CANNOT CONFESS TO UNDERSTAND THE MIND OF SHE WHO IS WINTER._" Which was basically admitting that the Demon had no clue what was the grand plan of Shimotsuki Setsuka.

I sighed. "So my monsters are the warden, guards and prison to a whole horde of Earthbound Gods, and probably worse things, the key to which is in the form of Hundred Eyes Dragon. Right. The prison is being affected by Kaiba, who is gathering Duel energy for some purpose, and Shimotsuki is helping him, again for an unknown purpose. And I have a cuff on that would drain my energy when I Duel, and I have to stop Kaiba somehow, which involves taking on Shimotsuki and a man who could match the King of Games, which is more than likely to kill me. Considering the aforementioned veils between worlds being weakened, I take it that the mortal world has an impact as well? What happens if I do nothing?"

"_FIRE_." It agreed. "_DESTRUCTION. WIDESPREAD RUIN. BUT IT IS A REPRIEVE. A WINDOW TO MARSHAL FORCES BEFORE THEY STRIKE. JUST A DELAY BEFORE IT ALL ENDS._"

Well, talk about a downer ending. "If the key and the cage are on different worlds, it doesn't matter. So I can just put it away and never come here. But I've got to get back because there's a group of students probably facing an attack by the eliminators as a result right now, which ties in with the stopping Kaiba thing."

"_SENSIBLE PRIORITIES_."

"So glad you approve. A bit of help would be nice," I groaned, but shrugged. "I'm on it."

"_WITH NOTHING LEFT TO LIVE FOR, HERE WE MAKE OUR STAND_." The Demon agreed. "_GOOD._"

I muttered darkly as Killer tugged on my pant leg and I followed it, thinking of all the problems laid out against me. Between one footstep and the next, I disappeared.

Let me tell you, being forcibly relocated is never fun. It was just like I stepped from one place to the next, but the transition was so sudden that I might as well be doing the transition from earth-gravity to zero-gravity. I stumbled, falling down flat on my face. At least I landed on soft sand, and my mouth was closed, so I got up in time to see Ryuusuke and a familiar silver-haired girl confront each other on the shore of Duelist Kingdom.

"Yukina Suiren?" I recognised the Duelist who had been in Martha's foster home before. "What's going on?"

I took a slow look around. It looked like a Duel Academia camp: there was a DA banner. I saw men in dark suits surrounding the camp, which was actually surrounded by a Field that looked like an isolated garden of briar roses. Smart; I guessed that they had a Psychic Duelist in their midst. Ryuusuke was standing with his back to the Black Garden, clearly defending it from the other Psychic who could have it torn down. The men were patient, waiting with cautious steps about it. Most of them looked old enough to remember the Black Rose Witch, and to be afraid of any sign that may lead to her reappearance.

"There are injured people in there," Ryuusuke was saying to Suiren. "Don't you care about them? We can arrange for the star chips at a different time! They need medical attention!"

"We _will_ provide medical attention," Suiren answered. "You are in our way of performing the necessary duties."

"You guys don't act like it, attacking camps and injuring others!" Ryuusuke retorted.

"But the promise for medical assistance has been rendered, and so we shall," Suiren insisted. "If you persist, I shall simply defeat you and go along my way."

"Very well," Ryuusuke nodded. "Let's do this."

"Duel!" they both cried.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	37. XXXV: Against the Wind

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXV: Against the Wind**

"You know the price for Dueling here and now?" Satsuki asked. She had not moved at all when Uncle Crow was standing.

"I do," Uncle Crow nodded.

"You know that he effect is offset by me?"

"Doesn't matter," Uncle Crow snorted. "Bring it."

"Duel!" Two DuelDisks unlocked simultaneously.

Crow: LP 8000

Satsuki: LP 8000

"As expected, Master has fast hands," Satsuki commented.

"Heh, don't underestimate Crow the Bullet!" Uncle Crow shook his head. "Just wait, Satsuki! I draw! Now, I activate the Continuous Spell, Black Whirlwind!"

"What, Master. You're already beginning for a rush?" Satsuki commented.

"Just watch!" Uncle Crow snapped. "I summon Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame [1800/1200]!"

There was a shimmer, and the monster appeared. It was fairly humanoid, resembling an ostrich. Its arms hung very long on either side, and its wings spread widely, a dark blue against black.

"With that, I can add Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr to my hand, and that way, Breeze [1100/300] is special summoned!" Uncle Crow retorted. "Tuning, level four Shura to level three Breeze! Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! Synchro Summon! Blackwing Armour Master!"

From the light a man appeared, covered in a black armour with orange stripes. In the mouth of its beak, there was a single red scope for an eye, and it had great black wings [2500/1500].

"A wall monster? I'm flattered, Master." Satsuki nodded.

"Che, no appreciation, huh?" Uncle Crow snorted. "I'll set two cards, turn end."

"My turn, draw," Satsuki faintly declared. "Do not worry, Master. I will not sully the name of the Blackwing here. I summon Harpie Channeler [1400/1300] to the field."

An orange-haired Harpie with her hair done in looped pigtails, a staff in her claws and with black wings appeared, smirking in her slinky white dress with matching stockings. A chain dangled from her staff.

"I'll use her effect right now, by discarding a Harpie card, I can special summon another Harpie monster from my deck in face-up defence mode," Satsuki called. "I'll discard Harpie Queen to special summon Harpie Dancer [1200/1000]."

Harpie Dancer was blonde, with white-feathered wings. Her talons parted in the face of the monster.

"I activate the Spell, Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation," Satsuki called. "I can destroy monsters up to the number of Harpie Ladies I currently control, and on the field and in the graveyard, Dancer and Channeler are treated as Harpie Lady. I destroy Armour Master. Although Armour Master has immunity against destruction by battle, it does not have it against card effects. You take twenty-five hundred damage as part of the effect of Phoenix Formation as well, Master."

Crow: LP 8000 → LP 5500

Satsuki: LP 8000

"When a Blackwing monster is destroyed, I can special summon from my hand Blackwing – Kogarashi the Wanderer [2300/1600]!" Uncle Crow announced. "Your gambling blood is overflowing again, Satsuki!"

"The Jounochi luck is only a bonus," Satsuki politely answered. "I prefer to hedge my bets. But, during the turn Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation is activated, I cannot conduct my battle phase. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters. Exceed summon! Raise the thunder, Lightning Chidori!"

Wings of electricity spread as the monster appeared, crackling with power [1900/1600].

"When this card is Exceed summoned, I can bounce a set card to the bottom of your deck," Satsuki motioned as one card was sent back. "Now, by detaching one Exceed material, I can send Kogarashi back to your hand."

Crow twitched as Kogarashi was shocked back to his hand. "Dammit..."

"I shall activate the Continuous Spell, Hysteric Sign, which allows me to add Elegant Egotist to my hand," Satsuki announced. "I set two cards. Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Crow called. He was definitely angry. "If my opponent controls a monster and I don't, I can summon without tributes Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn [2000/900]! Black Whirlwind allows me to add Gladius the Midnight Sun to my hand. Next, since I control a Blackwing monster, I can special summon Blackwing – Gladius the Midnight Sun [800/1500]!"

"How interesting," Satsuki remarked.

Uncle Crow snarled. "I then activate Card of Sanctity, which allows both players to draw until the both have six cards in their hand! Now, I can special summon Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind [1300/400]! Next, I activate my face-down card: Card Destruction!"

Satsuki had no change in expression as she discarded her hand and drew six new cards.

Uncle Crow continued. "I use the effect of Gale to halve the attack and defence power of Lightning Chidori [1900/1600 → 950/800]. Then, I banish Armour Master and Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honour in the graveyard to special summon Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant! Gust fiercely, storm! Gain the will of steel and the speed of light to sublime your form! Synchro Summon! Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant!"

Another tall bird-man appeared, dressed in grey armour and carrying a long katana [2800/2000] in the wake of two ghosts that left the field.

"Tuning, level three Gladius to level three Gale!" Crow called. "Pitch-dark power, lodge in its great wings and stir up the divine winds! Synchro Summon! Gust fiercely, Blackwing – Armed Wing!"

An exploding flash of light appeared, and from it a bird-man like creature with grey feathers, black armour and a shotgun appeared [2300/1000].

"Trap card from the hand, Delta Crow – Anti-Reverse!" he called.

"I activate the Trap, Three of a Kind!" Satsuki defended. "Chain, Continuous Trap, discarding Harpie Lady One to activate Hysteric Party!"

Three Harpies rushed to defend her, the oldest and crimson-haired Harpie Lady One, the green-haired Harpie Queen, and now the Harpie Channeler [1300/1400 → 1600/1400] [1900/1200 → 2200/1200] [1400/1300 → 1700/1300].

"Because now I have no set cards, your Delta Crow is wasted by the end of the chain," Satsuki noted. "Also, Three of a Kind can only be activated when I control three or more monsters of the same name, and I doubt I need to go into the details that govern all Harpie Ladies. It allows me to choose three cards my opponent controls, and destroy them! Of course, I choose all your monsters!"

"My monsters!" Uncle Crow yelled as his monsters were destroyed. "Satsuki... they are your monsters too!"

"I must continue on this path I have chosen," Satsuki quietly answered, her expression resolved and saddened. "It is still your turn, Master."

"I'll set a card, turn end!" Uncle Crow spoke through gritted teeth.

"As I said, I like to hedge my bets," Satsuki murmured. "My turn, draw! I summon Harpie Queen [1900/1200 → 2200/1200], and I discard Harpie Dancer to special summon Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon [1200/600]! Not only is it a Wind Attribute monster, but since I control more than three Harpies, all three of its abilities activates; it directs all attacks to a Harpie to itself, it doubles its original attack and defence power, and once per turn it can destroy a card my opponent controls [1200/600 → 2700/1200]!"

Uncle Crow stared as Satsuki showed off her five monsters.

"When I control a Dragon-Type monster, Harpie Channeler will have a level of seven," Satsuki declared. "But, I use the effect of Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon to destroy your set card!"

"Dammit!" Uncle Crow muttered as his card imploded.

"I construct the overlay network with two Harpie Queens and Harpie Lady One!" Satsuki called. "Exceed Summon! Take to the skies, Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon!"

The blood-scarlet dragon that appeared was slimmer, with the same decorated headpiece and collar as the original but somehow more malicious. A chain slid down for the Channeler to hold [2000/2500] as the other dragon whined [2700/1200 → 2400/1200].

"Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon, direct attack with Mirage Fire Giga!" Satsuki called as the blood-red dragon unleashed its fire. "Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, attack directly with Saint Fire Mega! And Harpie Channeler, direct attack on Master with Prayer to the Winds!"

Crow: LP 5500 → LP 0

Satsuki: LP 8000

Blood flowed and burns sizzled as Crow stared at the wounds on his stomach. "S- Satsuki..."

"Sorry... Master..." she whispered as he fell. "But... I made a contract with her. I can't back out... and no one can save me from it. That's why... please, don't come after me anymore. I don't want any of you to die."

"Very good, my champion," I turned my head to see Setsu-chan, walking slowly towards us. Lying in her wake were many, many Duelists who had fallen, their prone forms covered in a light frost.

Utterly calm, and yet her eyes gleamed with promised bloodlust, Setsu-chan inclined her head towards Satsuki. "I will see you later, my champion."

Satsuki lowered her head. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Where are you going?" Shinamori-san demanded.

Setsu-chan tilted her head fractionally to glance at him, and then looked away. "Towards the next encampment."

"I'm not going to let you attack any more people!" Shinamori-san hotly replied as he unlocked his DuelDisk in an unspoken challenge.

"You?" Setsu-chan echoed, as if in disbelief. Yet, Setsu-chan put on her D-Pad. "Very well, then. Shall we?"

"Duel!"

Satoshi: LP 8000

Setsuka: LP 8000

"My turn, draw!" Satoshi-san called. "I'll summon Flamvell Magician [1400/200] in attack mode. When I control him, I can special summon Inari Fire [1500/200] to the field."

"Chain," Setsu-chan announced as the magician and the fox appeared in a burst of flame. "I discard a card to special summon Dragon Ice [1800/2200] from my hand."

"Doesn't matter," Shinamori-san defended. "Tuning, level four Inari Fire to level four Magician! In brightest day, in darkest night, behold the core of the true might. To those who worship oppressive might, beware my power of fire-light. Synchro summon! The soul of fire, Blazeus – Dragon of the Roaring Flames!"

Blazeus's head, torso, wings, forelegs, lower legs, claws, and the point of his tail looked like in was plated in molten rock armour, while the rest of his body were covered in red scales upon which flames of blue licked [3200/2700].

"When he's Synchro summoned, you take five hundred points of damage!" Satoshi-san pointed as Blazeus spat a gout of flame at Setsu-chan, who ignored it as the flame splashed against her form. "And I send Laval Lancelord from my hand to my graveyard, to use his second effect and deal one thousand and fifty damage to you!"

Setsuka: LP 8000 → LP 7500 → LP 6450

Satoshi: LP 8000

"Blazeus cannot attack on the turn this effect is used. Now, I'll set two cards and end my turn." Satoshi-san declared.

"My turn, draw," Setsu-chan declared. "I summon the tuner monster, Deep Sea Diva [200/400] to the field. This allows me to special summon Reese the Ice Mistress [800/800] from my deck in defence mode."

As she spoke, the mermaid that she had summoned sang a high note, and a woman covered in icy-looking armour appeared, taking a kneeling position. "Tuning, level five Dragon Ice to level two Deep Sea Diva. Winter sweeps the land as the epilogue begins. Its icy clutches upon the earth make themselves apparent. Synchro summon! Ice spear of the one-eyed, Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

The dragon this time looked icy, but glowed orange and blue as the sunlight glistened, pale like wan sunlight on a patch of ice. It was more solid, forepaws and hind legs weighted down and its entire body thicker, plated with glistening crystal-like scales. Its jaw was more beak-like, wider, but there was no doubt whatsoever that it was just as dangerous, maybe even more so, than its brothers [2500/1700].

"The third dragon, Gungnir, the never-miss spear," Shinamori-san breathed, his breath steaming in the cold.

"I can discard up to two cards to activate his effect," Setsu-chan declared. "I choose both your set cards. Gungnir, lock-on!"

The dragon roared, freezing both cards and causing then to shatter.

"I'll then set a card and end my turn," Setsu-chan declared.

"My turn, draw!" Satoshi-san called. "I activate Treasure Cards of Magic Sealing, allowing me to draw two cards for the cost of not being able to activate Spells or to set this turn. I use the effect of Blazeus to send Flamvell Commando to the graveyard and inflict one thousand and one hundred damage to you. Turn end."

Setsuka: LP 6450 → LP 5350

Satoshi: LP 8000

"Whoa, Satoshi-san is lowering her life points..." Alexianna-san's eyes were wide. "I've never seen that actually happen until now..."

"You're not invincible!" Shinamori-san defended. "Ice will melt if the flame is hot enough! It's your turn!"

"I draw," Setsu-chan declared. "I activate Card of Demise, allowing me to draw until I have a hand of five cards. Five turns later, I shall have to discard my entire hand. Now, I set a card and a monster. Turn end."

"Draw!" Satoshi-san called. "Blazeus, attack Gungnir!"

"Quick-play Spell, Twin Pillars of Ice," Setsu-chan declared as two icy pillars appeared. "When this card is activated, two Ice Pillar Counters are placed upon it. When an attack is declared, I can remove one Ice Pillar Token to negate the attack."

"Che... turn end," Satoshi-san muttered as one pillar crumbled.

"Draw," Setsu-chan declared. "Flip summon, Penguin Soldier [750/500]."

A short little penguin appeared on the field, holding a tiny sword. It seemed disproportionately tiny, but there was something about the penguin that made it too malicious to be cute.

"Flip effect," Setsu-chan declared. "Up to two monsters will be returned to the hand. I choose Penguin Soldier himself and your Blazeus."

Satoshi-san gaped as the two monsters vanished in a swirl of icy cold. "I will never look at penguins the same way ever again."

"Why, I am flattered. But, I am a queen of the ice and cold," Setsu-chan nodded. "I tribute Reese to summon Mobius the Frost Monarch [2400/1000]. Though your back row is neutralised, Mobius can still attack. So, my judge, Gungnir, attack him directly!"

It was a punishing assault. There was no semblance of mercy, not in how daggers of ice rained down on Shinamori-san, not in how Gungnir blasted him.

Satoshi: LP 8000 → LP 3100

Setsuka: LP 5350

Shinamori-san staggered, shivering openly.

"I activate Call of the Haunted to special summon General Gantala of the Ice Barrier [2700/2000]," Setsu-chan declared as the second of the three generals appeared. "It is still my battle phase. Gantala, strike this one who dares to challenge my rule."

"_Understood, my queen,_" the brave general laid a palm strike.

Satoshi: LP 3100 → LP 400

Setsuka: LP 5350

"Now I set two cards, and at the end phase Gantala will special summon Samurai of the Ice Barrier [1800/1500] to my field," Setsu-chan called as the ice-armoured samurai appeared. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Satoshi-san called.

"Trap card, Diamond Dust," Setsu-chan declared. "This card destroys all Water Attribute monsters on the field and inflicts five hundred to you. My servants, it pains me to destroy you, but victory had been long at hand. Your fires are not enough to ward off the season of cold and death."

Gantala, Gungnir, the Samurai, and Mobius, they bowed in acknowledgement of Winter's ruler as they disappeared and a howling blizzard coated the fallen Shinamori-san.

Satoshi: LP 400 → LP 0

Setsuka: LP 5350

"Those star chips, I'll have them," Setsu-chan murmured as she removed them from his iced glove and attached it to her own. "Well, I have ten already. The remaining... I'll leave them for anyone to take it, I suppose. It feels particularly apt that the lions feed the vultures in the end."

"Dammit," Shinamori-san struggled, but could not seem to move. "What... did you do to me?"

Slowly, she paused, and her hand reached out to his face. Shinamori-san recoiled, but he could only do so much when weakened. "You are afraid," she whispered, her voice low, tense and hungry.

"No," Shinamori-san protested. "I'm not."

"But you are," she whispered. "I think... you'll be a monster." She burst into girlish giggles, that sounded wrong to my ears. "Little guardian. Little mortal Duelist. Afraid to embrace that destiny. Afraid to embrace the fire."

She looked him up and down again, her eyes dancing, and nodded firmly. "You know that I am right. You know that it approaches. It is a very human urge, and it drives us all. The urge for destruction is well within you. Monster. They'll write books about you."

Satoshi-san opened his mouth, and closed it again.

"Goodbye, Shinamori Satoshi," Setsu-chan murmured as she turned her back and began walking off with Satsuki.

"Wait!" Alexianna-san was there, holding up her DuelDisk. "S- Setsuka..."

"Alexianna LeRouge, the one who holds the power of glamour," Setsu-chan spoke, a low purr that caused the air to vibrate in sheer stunned _silence_. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your appearance?"

"I- I will defeat you," Alexianna-san kept staring, though her teeth chattered and her hand never left her deck. "With Takeshi."

"And where is the champion of the Aesir now?" Setsu-chan asked pleasantly. "I see that you are alone, and protecting two powerless ones and one inexperienced Psychic. Considering your temperament, it is not a thought I relish informing you of, believe me."

"I've changed," Alexianna-san defended.

"What bravery, and yet I shall not accept you on your offer, not yet." Setsu-chan answered, consulting her DuelDisk. "Not now, though?"

"What?" Alexianna-san stared.

"It's my lunch break." Setsu-chan answered.

"...Huh?"

"It is my lunch break," Setsu-chan repeated, as if speaking to a small child. "I am hungry. I am not in the mood for a Duel when I could be having lunch, thinking of my strategies and then continuing as to the logistics of eliminating. We shall take a rain check, then? I shall find you soon enough."

"W- Wait!" Alexianna-san snapped, but Setsu-chan had disappeared with Satsuki in the blink of an eye. "Dammit!"

A loud boom sounded, echoing across the shore. Alexianna-san heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, he's fine..."

"What?" I blinked. "A- Alexianna-san-"

"Takeshi's fine, and he's probably got North Academia's and West Academia's students to the camp," Alexianna-san shrugged, though her eyes betrayed her concern. "We were at the Central camp, and the East camp is already relocated, so... any of you seen the South students?"

"No," I shook my head. "The Arcadia Movement also have a few injured, though. Should we relocate ourselves to a larger camp with the rest of the DA students?"

"That... might be a good idea," Alexianna-san nodded as she clicked the Multi-Voice System on her DuelDisk on. "I'll contact Takeshi. Takeshi, are you there?"

A groan. "_Lexi. North and West made it, Jimmy Cook came in with the South students, and East is secured along with the remains of Kings and Queens. How's Central?_"

"The entire camp decimated, I'm estimating about seventy percent defeated and all of them are drained," Alexianna-san looked back at the ruined camps. "About... seventy students. I guess this was a camp spearheaded by a teacher."

"_Yeah, good call. We found an injured Marufuji-sensei and the others from the Movement. Since the Movement was near, we've combined most of the camps, and Fudo Ryuusei has managed to figure out something to deactivate the Active Mode temporarily._"

I heard footsteps crunch behind me. I paled, and exchanged glances with Nikki-chan and Uzuki as I turned around to meet the approaching Duelist.

His blonde hair was raised, pointing upwards behind his head with two locks in front of his ears turning and pointing forward. He wore a muscle shirt and hard-wearing dark pants and boots under a Blue blazer from Central. His expression was unusually stern, though his blue eyes were warm and kind.

I swallowed, trying to reconcile it with what I knew. "R- Rafael-san?"

He blinked. "How did you know my name?"

* * *

You know, there's that pesky little view that sometimes, good is nice. Wrong. If you have to look down the business end of a gun barrel, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. The evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you're going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat. They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar. So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. I have known many good men who would kill with hardly a word.

So Ryuusuke and Suiren faced each other. Their DuelDisks out, and instincts raging. One had the aura of something calm and wide and undefinable, and the other that chaotic desire to inflict pain being barely guided along by will.

"Duel!" both called.

Ryuusuke: LP 8000

Suiren: LP 8000

"Draw!" Ryuusuke declared. "I'll activate the Field Spell, The Sanctuary in the Sky! I'll then summon The Agent of Miracles – Jupiter [1800/1000] to the field. I'll set a card, turn end."

"Sanctuary?" Suiren blinked, before nodding. "Too bad... I draw! Now, I activate the Continuous Spell, Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. With us being both Fairy Duelists, I trust that I don't need to tell you what it does, right?"

"No," Ryuusuke stiffly answered.

"I special summon Bountiful Artemis [1600/1700] for this effect!" Suiren declared as a monster resembling a top, with a mask on it, and sprouting wings, appeared. "I'll then summon Meltiel, Sage of the Sky [1600/1200] to the field. I set two cards and end my turn."

"Draw!" Ryuusuke called. "Counter Fairies, huh...?"

"What the hell?" I yelled, causing them to look to me. "Is this a mirror match or what?"

"This is a Duel!" Ryuusuke retorted, turning back to the field. "I draw! Now, I'll summon The Agent of Creation – Venus [1600/0]! With that, I'll activate her effect to pay fifteen hundred life points and special summon three Mystical Shine Balls [500/500] from my deck!"

"Counter Trap, Divine Punishment!" Suiren yelled.

"Reveal Counter Trap, another Divine Punishment!" Ryuusuke countered. "Your Divine Punishment is destroyed!

"But, Bountiful Artemis allows me to draw a card due to the resolution of your Divine Punishment," Suiren declared. "And I gain one thousand life points due to the effect of Meltiel, and should The Sanctuary in the Sky be face-up on the field, I can destroy one of your cards! So goodbye, Jupiter!"

Ryuusuke: LP 8000 → LP 6500

Suiren: LP 8000 → LP 9000

Ryuusuke blinked as his card exploded. "Well... I guess Venus, attack Meltiel!"

"You'll destroy your own monster!" Suiren retorted.

"No, I won't," Ryuusuke flashed the Honest in his hand as he discarded it into the graveyard slot [1600/0 → 3200/0]. Venus somersaulted, beams of light flashing from its hands to destroy the other winged entity. "Though you'll take no damage, at least one threat is gone. Turn end [3200/0 → 1600/0]."

"Draw!" Suiren called. "I'll set two more cards, and then I use Bountiful Artemis to attack one Mystical Shine Ball."

The ball imploded as Artemis blasted at it.

"Turn end," Suiren called.

"Draw!" Ryuusuke called. "I set a monster, and end my turn!"

"Draw," Suiren declared. "I activate Cards from the Sky, banishing one Light Attribute Fairy in my hand to draw two cards. I set a card and end my turn."

"Draw!" Ryuusuke called.

"Activate Continuous Trap, Miraculous Descent!" Suiren interjected suddenly. "Descend, The Splendid Venus [2800/2400]! Chain Continuous Trap, Synthetic Seraphim!"

The six-winged Fairy was elaborately dressed, and glared at Ryuusuke.

"Well... I banish Venus to special summon Master Hyperion [2700/2100]," Ryuusuke called. "And I flip summon Night Assailant [200/500]!"

"Counter Trap, Kickback!" Suiren declared. "I negate the flip summon of Night Assailant and send it back to your hand. Because I activated a Counter Trap, I draw a card thanks to my Artemis, and Synthetic Seraphim special summons a Synthetic Seraphim Token [300/300] to my field in defence mode."

"So, not only does she net a monster, but she also has hand advantage due to Bountiful Artemis," I whistled.

"Damn... I summon the tuner, Herald of Orange Light [300/500]. Tuning, two level two Mystical Shine Balls to level two Herald!" Ryuusuke declared. "Synchro summon... Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth!"

This knight held a lance tightly as it appeared [2600/800].

"I use Hyperion to blow up Artemis and Venus by banishing Jupiter and Herald," Ryuusuke retorted. "Since I now have exactly four Fairies in the grave, I can special summon this monster from the hand! Come, Archlord Kristya [2800/2300]!"

"Counter Trap, Black Horn of Heaven," Suiren interjected. "I can destroy Kristya. Of course, due to the combo of Synthetic Seraphim, I now control a token."

"Gaia Knight, Hyperion, attack the tokens!" Ryuusuke snapped. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Suiren called. "Due to Valhalla, I can special summon Athena [2600/800] to the field. I then summon Hecatrice [1500/1100]. By the effect of Athena, you take six hundred damage."

Ryuusuke: LP 6500 → LP 5900

Suiren: LP 9000

"I now use the second effect of Athena, to tribute Hecatrice and special summon The Splendid Venus once more." Suiren called as the Artemis appeared on the field. "You will take another six hundred damage."

Ryuusuke: LP 5900 → LP 5300

Suiren: LP 9000

"I set a card. Your next card will be Kristya, due to its own effect, and so your draw is locked." Suiren declared. "Battle! Venus, attack that Master Hyperion! And Athena, attack Gaia Knight!"

The Greek goddess charged, and both lances met the other wielder's heart soon as they committed suicide. In the meantime, Venus had finished her opponent off with a single bolt of light.

"Turn end." Suiren declared, her silver hair waving as a sea breeze blew.

"Draw!" Ryuusuke called. "I set a monster. Turn end."

"Draw!" Suiren called. "Well, looks like your lucky day. I play the Spell, Heaven's Lost Property, to let us both draw three cards and discard two. With that, I summon Harvest, Angel of Wisdom [1800/1000]."

Ryuusuke: LP 5300 → LP 4700

Suiren: LP 9000

The orange angel appeared, blowing a horn. "That's another six hundred damage. Battle. Harvest, attack the set monster!"

"Night Assailant!" Ryuusuke countered. "And then, your Venus is destroyed!"

"Cheap tricks," Suiren commented. "Bountiful Artemis, attack him directly!"

"Trap card, Call of the Haunted!" Ryuusuke commanded, as Master Hyperion graced the field once more.

"Che." Suiren scoffed as the replay began. "Stop. Turn end."

"Draw!" Ryuusuke declared. "Why? Why are you attacking us?"

"Because we are told to," Suiren automatically replied. "Because the Queen wishes it so."

"The Queen doesn't control you!" Ryuusuke protested.

"Really?" Suiren murmured, an empty glazed look in her face. "The Queen gives us everything. We who chose to side with the Courts, we are powerful. We need not care of mortal prospects. We are ourselves. Why would we side with humanity, the ugly organism it is that destroys by its very presence?"

That voice was accusing in my ears, even as many more would repeat it, in different variations.

She'd understand, sooner or later. When she changed. When she stopped thinking in mortal, human terms. When love and family and safety and what it meant to be a person with free will and the right to choose for herself became words, bargaining chips. When she had to disappoint someone who loved her, break her old promises and old bonds because someone owned her... she'd understand. She wasn't understanding now, but she would.

Like Satsuki probably felt, having to attack her own grandfather because of her obligation. Like Ayame felt, unable to control her own fate because of a deal she made for power. Like how Shimotsuki kept betraying Jimmy, over and over again.

"I... I use Hyperion to banish one Mystical Shine Ball and destroy that set card!" Ryuusuke called. "Now, I play... The Seal of Orichalcos!"

Instantly, the Sanctuary shattered, and a circle flared acid-green on the ground. Lines cut across, diagonally, and vertically to form a six-point star, and then the star shone. There was a pause between the field now, as if they Duel Field had become a space all of its own. I felt the thrum of power, like high-voltage cords, around my very skin itself.

_The Barrier of Orichalcos? _Rei sounded interested. _Oh? This is the first time I have actually seen it with mine own eyes._

The same sigil appeared on Ryuusuke's forehead. "When this card is activated, all special summoned monsters I control are destroyed. So I'll see you later, Master Hyperion."

The Master nodded as it left in a burst of shards.

"Now, I special summon Archlord Kristya [2800/2300]," Ryuusuke declared as the winged one appeared, red plume wings spread wide. "All my monsters gain five hundred attack power [2800/2300 → 3300/2300]. Let's not even forget that I can add a Fairy from my graveyard to my hand, so I choose the Master. Now, my counter-attack begins. Kristya, attack the Bountiful Artemis with Grace of the Highest!"

Light shone, brilliant as a star being born, and the mechanical holy device could not stand up to it.

Suiren: LP 9000 → LP 7300

Ryuusuke: LP 4700

Suiren was thrown back against the barrier the Seal formed. "W- What...? What... is this card? Winter..." her eyes were very wide, and very fearful. "What happened to it? What happened to the power? What happened to the peace?"

"Power? Then... if we can isolate them in this Seal...!" I realised, shouting. "Ryuusuke! The Seal's keeping them away from whatever Shimotsuki's got them tripped up on!"

"I got it!" Ryuusuke snapped. "I end my turn!"

"How dare you... I draw!" Suiren declared. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that Seal!"

"Sorry, but once per turn, the Seal is impervious to destruction by card effects!" Ryuusuke interjected as the light continued to shine.

"T- Then, I'll move Harvest to defence mode and end," Suiren hurriedly replied, panic glimmering.

"I draw!" Ryuusuke called. "I play the Spell, Forbidden Chalice, on Kristya this turn [3300/2300 → 3700/2300] to negate her effect. Now, I banish Venus to special summon Master Hyperion once more. Hyperion will banish one Mystical Shine Ball to destroy Harvest! Now, Hyperion, Kristya, charge towards the light! Go...!"

Both monsters shone down, and Suiren was thrown back once more to hit the boundaries of the Seal.

Suiren: LP 7300 → LP 900

Ryuusuke: LP 5300

"Finally!" I shouted.

"Turn end," Ryuusuke groaned.

"I... draw..." Suiren looked haunted. "Please... make it stop hurting... please..."

"What?" Ryuusuke blinked.

"I... I end my turn," Suiren was shaking like a leaf as tears dripped from her eyes. "Make it stop...! Make it stop already!"

"Draw," Ryuusuke sighed. "Kristya...?"

The angel floated towards her, arms raised as if in a warm embrace. Dark shackles that were clear as black ice were around her feet, but Suiren did not appear to notice them. The Archlord carried her in a warm embrace as the field began to dissipate.

Suiren: LP 900 → LP 0

Ryuusuke: LP 4700

It was terrible. Suiren had been reduced to a heap of crying girl, and believe me when I say that as men, we really had no way of reaction to that other than running like hell and hoping that it goes away. Okay, maybe some of us could, but me? Nada.

"What the hell happened?" Ryuusuke was trying not to have a panic attack, which was all very well and good of him.

"Dunno. What did you do with the Seal?" I motioned.

"It's... a gift. From Dad." Ryuusuke frowned. "He said it was purified. I don't know what does it do."

"Rei," I groaned.

_The Field Spell is essentially an isolation short, it provides a link to the imaginary world in a set material space within the Duel Field. That places it as a connection to the Shadow Realm. However, the original Seal itself has been rewritten such that, while most of its effects are mitigated, as a trade-off there is no sacrifice required to pay for its usage, and it serves a confinement measure such that none can interfere with it, not even the Winter Queen. I imagine that the girl has received the power of Winter, which has deadened her emotional capacity such that this time, she was taken unawares by the Seal and therefore unable to continue from the emotional overload._

"Give me a diagram."

I was given a handy diagram of the Seal, complete with notes and annotations by the side. Having a literal being in your head with the speed of thought is sometimes pretty handy.

Suiren's sobs died down to a low murmur. I looked at the girl, then to Ryuusuke, and then sighed as Ryuusuke's band glowed and the man keeled over. "Come on already, gimme a break."

* * *

_**Blazeus – Dragon of the Roaring Flames**__**  
**__**Level 8**__**  
FIRE/Dragon/Synchro/Effect  
1 Tuner + 1 or more FIRE non-Tuner Monsters  
Effect: When this card is Synchro Summoned, your opponent takes 500 points of damage. Once per turn, you can send one FIRE monster from your field or hand to the Graveyard to inflict damage to your opponent equal to half that monster's original ATK. Blazeus cannot attack the same turn you use this effect. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard, your opponent takes 300 points of damage.  
ATK: 3200/DEF: 2700**_

_**Created by **__**Serpentdragon**__** for Satoshi Shinamori.  
Image: Blazeus's head, torso, wings, forearms, lower legs, claws, and the point of his tail look like he is wearing molten rock armour while the rest of his body looks like basic red dragon scales.**_

_**Please review!**_


	38. XXXVI: Share the Pain

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXVI: Share the Pain**

Rafael was a very sweet man, I realised soon enough. He was nice, a lot like Rafael-san had been.

"So you're with the Arcadia Movement," Rafael frowned. He resembled the late Mr Shimotsuki, far too much. Coincidence was an unusual thing. "Rafael de Santos, West Academia. Pleased to meet you."

"N- Nice to meet you, Santos-san," I nodded. "I am Kannazuki Seika, the head of the Movement. This are my friends, Himemiya Uzuki, Nicolette Kurosagi, or Nikki, and Alexianna LeRouge. The one you're holding is Shinamori Satoshi-san and Crow Hogan."

"I know," Rafael nodded. "The Witch of the West is a famous Duelist. And I'd have to be living under a rock not to recognise Crow the Bullet and the Trailblazer."

"What's with that...?" Alexianna murmured, her fists tightening as we walked through the forest.

"I mean no offence, but that is how we address you in the Academia, Alexianna LeRouge," Rafael-san bowed. "You were a fearsome presence in our history."

"Well, that's better," Alexianna-san murmured. "What do they say?"

"That you are the Punisher of the south. That if any Psychic were to do wrong, you would be the one to pass judgement and discipline. That in the absence of the Cold Queen and its current leader, you would have been the one to take over." Rafael-san answered.

"Wow," Alexianna-san murmured. "So I'm that infamous, huh?"

"Apparently there is a bit of overlap about what they say about the Arcadia Movement." he answered. "Not a lot has been said of its newest leader."

We didn't run into any eliminators, or traps, or Duelists, or even anything unusual until we reached the edge of the camp.

I had to stop there, so surprised I was. Uzuki's eyes widened. Nikki-chan froze. Alexianna-san gasped.

The series of statues leading to the camp were all the same; that of people, frozen in granite, their facial expressions twisted in horror and pain towards the camp. They all had DuelDisks of some form on their person, and some of the statuary bore chiselled injuries that looked too real to be done after carving.

Rafael-san glanced. "Eliminators."

"Eh?" I blinked.

"The gloves. I noticed. Eliminators have a double rim that lets them keep up to twenty," Rafael-san traced the extra-wide wristband of one hand, that was the gloved one.

"Who could have done this?" Uzuki murmured.

We walked past the statuary, and towards the expanded camp. Somehow, the remaining Duel Academia staff and students on the island had all gathered onto one spot and set up camp, and then around the large clearing someone had set up protection. The tree-line was now sealed shut by a wall of tangled branches. Those branches were bare and black, sprouting neither leaves nor flowers, only thorns like darkened blades, and before this wall of thorns there were yet more vines and branches, those ones startlingly green and bearing eerie black flowers, a sprawling sea of over-saturated colours.

At first there was nothing, but when we entered well into the confines of this newly sprung garden, something stirred. Branches waved and flowers shivered, as if whispering amongst themselves in a secret tongue. A thick stem broke through the earth, growing and lengthening at an unbelievable pace, and only a few seconds later it became a full rose bush as tall as myself. A single rose bloomed at the top of the bush, the eerie blossom larger than even my head. I heard the sound of leaves shuffling, this time louder and alerting of the presence of a person.

"We're back," I said.

Instantly the plant shifted aside, leading us to a familiar circle of tents and temporary shelters.

From the infirmary tent, Hazuki-nee glanced up from where she was kneeling, her DuelDisk open. "Oh, you're back," she answered tiredly as Rafael-san laid Shinamori-san and Uncle Crow down. "How did it go?"

"Uzuki and I only have about three more minutes," I answered as Rafael-san set Shinamori-san and Uncle Crow down to her. "Uzuki got two more star chips. We'll get you some food."

Hazuki-nee nodded as we left the circle of fallen Duelists.

I found Nii-chan with Calcifer. There was a small queue, and as we watched, Nii-chan pressed an SD card into the available slot, forcing Band after Band to move to standby.

"It might be faster to overload the circuits, but I don't want to accidentally burn anyone's hand off," Nii-chan murmured as he peered over my Duel Band. The light clicked to blue, indicating standby. "And this is..." his eyes widened imperceptibly at the sight of Rafael-san.

"Rafael de Santos, West Academia," Rafael-san awkwardly introduced himself. "Fudo Ryuusei, right?"

A strangled sound came from his throat. "...nice to meet you. I think O'Brien is somewhere west. Each school has its camp, try not to get lost."

"Will do," he solemnly answered as he walked off.

I looked at Nii-chan. "He looks a lot like Rafael-jiisan."

Nii-chan nodded slowly. "Yes."

"I wonder what would Rafael-jiisan think of the statues outside."

Nii-chan raised an eyebrow as the queue finally ended. "Oh? I didn't know that there were any outside."

"I know that you were the one who turned Ayame-san into stone, Nii-chan." I pouted. "You'll have to transform them back later."

Nii-chan paused. "I know."

"Nii-chan..." I murmured, before giving him a hug and departing the tent.

"I think he finds me uncomfortable," Rafael-san told me as we walked together.

I had no idea what to say. "You... look a lot like someone we know."

"Really? Is that good?"

"He's... dead."

"... oh," Rafael-san looked away and left.

Nakamura-san appeared before I had taken three steps. "Seika-ojou, the teachers of the various academias need an audience."

"Tell them that we'll have a meeting over lunch," I answered as I took the bowl he offered for a small bite, but found myself unable to appreciate the stew.

Our tiny meal area had been expanded, with several small groups dotted around one large clearing. I walked towards one of the largest and most colourful groups, which held not only the eight Duelists that the Arcadia Movement had sent and more, but also the various teachers of the Duel Academias worldwide.

"Kannazuki Seika?" Kohinata-sensei blinked as she looked at me, with Nakamura-san respectfully in the shadow. "You're...?"

"I am Kannazuki Seika, the head of the Arcadia Movement," I answered.

By a tree, Marufuji-sensei nodded in acknowledgement.

"You have got to be kidding," one of the teachers interjected. "We're listening to a kid?"

"Teach," Archibald-san interrupted by the side. "It's true."

The teacher frowned.

Jimmy-san smiled as I took a place by him. "Seika."

"James-san," I nodded in acknowledgement. "James-san and I form the overall leadership of the Movement together, therefore I trust that you have no problems if our decisions are made as a unit?"

Nods, and a few frowns, but no protests.

"No way," one of them stood. "Why the hell are we-"

James-san and Yamada-san glared at him. He subsided.

"I trust that you are aware of the danger behind this false tournament," I began. "These Duel Bands that are attached to us drain our energy with every Duel. There are strange monsters running around the island. The eliminators do not seem interested in promoting fair play, instead charging in for mass Duels that continue to cripple students and Duelists alike. The defeated are taken away, and their fates are unknown. I think it is fair to say that our lives are being placed in danger."

More nods, and a few impressed glances.

"We have surmised that the one behind it all is at the castle," I continued. "I do not know the reason, but they have managed to thin us down to about sixty Duelists. It is likely that we will soon be discovered, and since we are outnumbered, it is likely that we might be captured until there are eight remaining Duelists who will then be forced to Duel each other."

"Damn," Tyranno Kenzan, dressed in a Red blazer, murmured. "Bio Bands all over again."

"Hazuki won't be able to hold Black Garden for long," Yamada-san answered. "And it's counter-productive to leave so many people at one spot where we'll be more easily discovered. As teachers and as those with the power to protect, we are gathered here to figure out the next course of action."

"Well, it all seems pretty obvious," Tyranno-sensei murmured. "Storm the castle."

"The castle is likely to be defended quite well," Yamada-san argued. "And Shimotsuki Setsuka is there, along with an estimated sixty other rogue Psychics, including Kujaku Satsuki and Tenjouin Michiru, the latter which finished off half of East Academy's party in an hour of arrival."

Several teachers paled. A few more looked thoughtful.

"If we assume that one Psychic equals about five regular people, being able to control monsters and much more... and that we only have about sixty people here, only about slightly more than ten being Psychics, then we're grossly outnumbered," Yamada-san continued.

"You know, it would have been so much easier if we had this sort of pow-wow in that virtual world," I heard Chase-nii comment loudly as they approached. Youkai got up, hugging him. A few looked away.

"Virtual world?" Nii-chan echoed.

"Long story," Rex-nii cut in as Ishihara-san and Alexianna-san joined us. "But he's right. It would have been much easier if we could have coordinated then."

"Hah," Chase-nii snickered. "Not without Ryuusei, maybe."

All three of them sat down.

"We have one eliminator in," Rex-nii curtly informed them. "If we ask right, we could probably manage to wrangle some information. But she's going through something like drug withdrawal right now."

"Drugs?" Tyranno-sensei looked disgusted. "No wonder some of the eliminators looked real stoned."

"Not physically, no," Chase-nii replied. "More of a... mental thing. Er... Ryuusei?"

"What Chase means to say," Nii-chan interjected. "Is that the eliminators have been given an emotional suppressant. Therefore, they remain calm no matter the situation, even in a Duel, and so give off relatively less Duel energy, which means that they lose less Duel energy. So the stamina of the eliminators is much larger than that of the average Duelist on the island, and so they can continue Dueling longer."

"That's cheating!" the teachers had a collective reaction.

"It's... complicated," Nii-chan just answered. "But they have their weakness; once the emotional suppressant is removed from their system, then they begin to experience an emotional overload that cripples any ability that requires higher brain functions. The unfortunate thing is that this... emotional suppressant... is delivered by magic."

"You have _got_ to be kidding," Tyranno-sensei murmured. "Magic?"

"Or something similar," Nii-chan replied. "Either way, they have a sort of hive mentality, and I am guessing that all of them are linked to the leader of the eliminators."

Kohinata-sensei shivered. "So, one of us..."

"We will have to defeat Shimotsuki Setsuka to remove the emotional suppressant," Nii-chan murmured in agreement.

"Oh," Yamada-san murmured. "Erm..."

"Yamada-san?" I asked.

"I am thinking... these series of attacks have broken the general morale, right?" Yamada-san asked, motioning to the generally depressed atmosphere around the camp.

"Yes..." Archibald-san nodded.

"But if we suppose that they're doing this for Duel energy, then why break the morale of the remaining Duelists?" Yamada-san explained. "If a Duelist is motivated by hope, then the Duel energy given out should be much stronger."

His boots thudded as they hit the ground. "Shimotsuki, you utter fiend," I heard Nii-chan murmur under his breath.

* * *

In the end, the trip back took a long time, half-dragging Ryuusuke and Suiren all the while. Rex appeared about halfway back and helped me, taking Suiren in a princess carry. He looked like one of those fairytale princes at the moment; not overly muscular or too girly, but with that aura of strength about him. I was stuck piggybacking Ryuusuke, so I may have been delusional.

The camp that we were at now was bigger, and now that four o' clock had passed the heat was dying off, I could see that between the five or six schools of students gathered, they had opted to construct a giant camp that connected our camp to the rest. There was a circle of tents, which probably contained the fallen, where someone, probably Hazuki, had constructed a Black Garden around it. The thorns would keep out quite a few people, and the teachers were also surrounding it.

Hazuki's face looked haggard and tired from the effort when I found her tending to the fallen Duelists. "More?" she sighed as she took Suiren and Ryuusuke was taken by Nakamura-san into the circle of tents.

I found Archie stationed nearest to the makeshift field hospital with a few Berets. Create a team of elite disciplinary Duelists during one trip to the spirit world and the joke remains forever; the Blue Berets were living proof of that. His eyes were wide and stunned, like he was going into shock, and there was a look of the overly tense about him. It was like he had been in the aftermath of the Despair of the Dark.

"You okay?"

He stilled abruptly, and stared at me for about three seconds before he shook his head. "N- No. T- That woman... Tenjouin Michiru. She... she attacked us. She finished off half of West Academy. And she was laughing the entire time. It's... I saw her boss. She terrifies the heck out of me."

"Shimotsuki Setsuka terrifies nearly everyone she meets," I answered. "Get used to it."

"It's... it's like being back in the Movement building again," Archie shook his head. "Facing... that _thing_... except worse. Even if no one died... I can't stop thinking about it. How can something so beautiful be so terrifying?"

People always equate beauty with good, but it just ain't so. Amongst Duel spirits were beings of haunting beauty, mesmerising beauty, disarming beauty, flawless beauty, maddening beauty, bloodthirsty beauty. Even in the mortal world, a lot of predators are beautiful, and if you're quick and motivated enough, you can admire that beauty while they kill you and eat you. Shimotsuki was in no way a bombshell, but she had a presence, the kind of thing that was affecting Archie even now.

It was what she was, is and would be; queen of the wicked monsters and the darkness.

Archie sighed, shaking the hand with the Duel Band. "We need a way to get them off."

"How many eliminators are there?" I asked.

"Dunno." He shrugged. "About twelve, including the psycho Fabled Duelist, attacked us. If I assumed that they hit the top five academies at the same time, I'm guessing that they have about sixty, maybe more with the suits that dragged the defeated off. We've been trying to keep the defeated about, but somehow... some of them disappear. Morale's at an all-time low, no one wants to face them again."

"No one wants to face them..." I echoed hollowly.

No one... _no one_... no energy.

How many Duels had I seen happen today? Not that many, really. And the rushes on the camps had only ensured that the stronger and more experienced – or lucky – Duelists of all the schools were here, in this clearing. Breaking the morale of Duelists in all the Duel Academias together had meant...

…that there was an experienced force of Duelists, milling about the island, and unwilling to Duel. Coupled with Ryuusei's wizard hacking, they could continue not to Duel. And so the net output of Duel energy was reduced. It couldn't have been enough, or else they could have just Dueled each other for energy. No, they needed energy, and the rushes just resulted in the crippling of their own base.

Could it be by accident?

As long as there was hope, the Duelists' will would shine through stronger than in a normal Duel. What the eliminators had done was to isolate and terrify the remaining Duelists on the island, so barely anyone had Dueled today, and so the output of energy was much lower. Why? Shimotsuki Setsuka knew people, how they operated. Why would she crush the hope of Duelists on the island, and so leave more Duelists alive and ready to challenge their way out of the island for their lives, when she could leave them ignorant, and therefore unknowingly donating their energy in the mistaken hope of survival?

Hell no. Shimotsuki Setsuka was a pretty good chess-master. You can't run the Movement without knowing, one way or another, how people tick. Since Shimotsuki would probably guess that the Duel energy came from emotions, especially powerful ones like fear, then breaking the morale to give the opposite of the expected result would be common knowledge to her. There was no reason for her to cripple her own overall plan at hand...

…unless if it was by design. If so, then Shimotsuki had left us a veritable battalion, complete with Psychics who could sneak in and seize the castle. Hell, one Psychic had a broken Duel Band, he could continue with the motivation. If we assumed that the defeated were held in the castle, we had allies within as well, so a rush on two fronts could probably be accomplished. It was an almost guaranteed recipe for their own defeat; less likely victories had been grasped at before. It would be easy, very easy, to corner all of us now, and drive us to charge the castle... and possibly let us take it unawares. Never underestimate the possibility of an angry mob, especially one containing Psychics.

As I considered this again, a sense of profound anger filled me. There was _no way_ Shimotsuki would rig the deck in our favour this much if it was her plan from the start. Which meant that we were cat's paws again.

_Or_, Rei's voice whispered. _She is preparing to lure you all in, and then kill you in one fell swoop._

No. Otherwise, why drag off Tenjouin-sensei? Why try to get to the fallen Duelists? And if she was so desperate to kill us, why not kill Orion with us? She clearly had issues with her cousin, and showed no problems with disembowelling him. Why?

"Your friend scares me more," Archie confided.

"Youkai?" I asked.

"Not your boyfriend," Archie scowled. "Your friend. Ryuusei, I think. Red hair, way too attractive for his own good."

I looked at Archie. "Attractive? You don't want to date Ryuusei. He's bad luck."

"I'm not gay," Archie rolled his eyes. "Don't be an idiot. Your friend looks nice and everything, but you didn't see what happened to the group of eliminators who came to the camp while we were setting up the infirmary."

"He Dueled them all?"

Archie cast his eyes about the clearing first, and then leaned to me. "He turned them into stone."

I swallowed. I had known, long ago, that Ryuusei could turn things into stone. As well as affect plants, cause things to grow, secrete pheromones that had boys and girls alike fall for him in increasingly obsessive ways – or it was just him – and create fire. I had seen him, as well as Shimotsuki, in that form over the battleground in the clouds, and it was a sobering sight. He could bend fire, winds, the skies to his will. If there was someone equal to Shimotsuki, it would be Ryuusei. And yet... and yet, Ryuusei was here.

"Both of them terrify me," Archie confessed. "Both of them... I think they're something beyond any of us."

If only you knew, I darkly thought.

"What are you talking about?" We jumped as Ryuusei approached us out of the blue. I could see many heads turning in his direction, and some of them were openly drooling. Once upon a time, we thought it was hilarious, the number of times he got attacked in the infirmary. It got less hilarious around middle school, when two girls stabbed each other over him, and lost its charm irreversibly when a certain stalker called Anjhel Takumi tried to kill Rex.

I debated calling him out on the statues, and keeping silent. Did it make me a bad person if I didn't want to believe that Ryuusei could do such a thing? I knew Ryuusei, I grew up with him from the age of eight onwards, I knew that he didn't like it that his laptop was called Calcifer and wasn't quite ready to stand up for himself that often but more for others and that he had been Dueling since he was twelve. That his life's angst was ruled by the pain his mother caused as the Black Rose Witch, and that carrying the Black Rose was his inheritance.

Logic told me to call him out. Logic told me to thrash all facts out first.

"About the eliminators," I shrugged.

Sometimes, logic couldn't compensate for the heart.

Killer sniffed around Ryuusei's leg, giving a doggy smile at the same time. Ryuusei frowned down at it. "Why do you name them?"

"It's fun." I shrugged. "Why?"

"The Infernity Beast likes it," Ryuusei looked confused. "Names are very important. It is usually a risky business to name things."

"Why? It's a name." I was confused. "It's not murder."

"Names change things," Ryuusei answered. "For example... take yourself, Chase Princeton. Now if someone were to call you Manjoume Jun, you'd be offended, right?"

"Duh," I frowned.

"The Beast would also be offended," Ryuusei placidly informed me. "Maybe enough to warrant revenge. But it did not. In that moment, it turned from another Infernity Beast, to Killer, the Infernity Beast that hangs around you. It becomes something different, something bound to you. Names have power."

And a question for the ages was easily solved by Ryuusei.

Both of us were stunned as a noise went up from the main camp, and the tents ripped. A purple-armoured monster with metallic wings and carrying a staff tore its way out, and a high-pitched horn sounded around it.

"Let me go!" Suiren's voice bellowed as the Voltanis gave a scream. "_Let me go!_"

Voltanis swung her staff out, and more tents exploded. Quite a few students screamed, and more than one backed away.

"Damn," I swore as we ran to it, and stopped to stare. Suiren had kept her deck, despite everything, and now her DuelDisk was unlocked and glowing. Her eyes shone desperately, and she fought against Hazuki and Yuko like a cornered rat I had seen caught in a trap by Carly-san before. The thing had gnawed its leg off with the same desperation for survival that Suiren displayed now.

"Let me go!" Suiren weakly lashed out. "I don't want to feel, I don't want to think! Why do all of you want me to hurt?" Somehow, she managed to tear her sleeve loose, and then Ryuusei dived out managed to tackle her.

"Invocation!" Ryuusei called. "I invoke the Law!"

Suiren stopped struggling.

Ryuusei clambered up to his feet. "Dammit, I was right."

"What?" I frowned. "What law?"

"I offered to take her prisoner under the set rules of conduct in wartime between Summer and Winter," Ryuusei answered. "As long as we see to her needs and don't force her to break any covenants to Winter, she can't escape or offer any further resistance. So she's technically... a diplomatic guest."

"Er... right." I frowned. "Doesn't that mean we can't interrogate her? Since she's a guest, and Duel Spirits are weird?"

"Well. More like a vassal."

I frowned. "Uh? What?"

"That's what surrender is," Ryuusei shrugged. "Since I claimed her prisoner under the banner of the Movement, her life is Seika's right to do with as she pleases. And as long as we don't starve her or make her an oath-breaker, we can tell her to do whatever Seika wants. And if her liege wants her back, then Shimotsuki has to pay us for her."

"Ah. Medieval-style ransom." We turned to face Suiren, who sullenly glared at us.

"By the laws, present yourself," Ryuusei said. It was a very commanding voice, the kind of thing that sent people scurrying to obey instantly. Suiren certainly obeyed; she rose to her feet and curtseyed.

"I am named Yukina Suiren. The Queen of Winter has in all her greatness made me her servitor in exchanged of future services yet to be rendered."

Excuse me while I boggle.

"Now," Ryuusei looked uncertain. "Erm... tell me whatever you can about Shimotsuki's plan, without breaking any word given by you to her."

Suiren nodded, frowning pensively. "It was a private affair. Seto Kaiba contracted Her Majesty for a favour on past services rendered. Her Majesty owed Kaiba, enough to assist him despite her status. Her Majesty will keep her word, to the letter."

"So Kaiba is involved," I nodded slowly. "And why?"

Suiren remained silent.

Ryuusei shook his head slowly as I caught my mistake and rolled my eyes. "Without breaking your oaths of secrecy, within the limits imposed by the previous question I asked, could you tell us of the driving force behind the plan?"

"Kisara Kaiba," she answered.

"And Nakamura-san was right again," I muttered. "I don't suppose you'd like to offer up some more information?"

She considered. "She has kept wary of one of West Academia's students. I believe it to be one student's surprising resemblance to Rafael Shimotsuki."

"Yeah, I saw him," Ryuusei nodded.

"What did she do to you?" I asked.

"She gave me power and peace," Suiren simply answered. "It hurt. Setsuka-sama made it stop hurting, and she filled my mind with the presence of her, of Winter. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"We can help," I offered. "We can keep you from her."

Her face twisted in fury. "Why can you not understand the privilege I have been conferred? What are you trying to keep from me, why can't you just leave me alone? Kannazuki Seika is an incompetent girl who does not have the experience or the knowledge to run the Movement. Slowly, the power of the Arcadia Movement will crumble with her. Setsuka-sama makes it not hurt anymore. I don't have to feel any more... just a vague bliss."

Her face smoothed as she looked at us again.

Ryuusei just gave a tired sigh as I stared at her in vague horror. "Are you hungry?"

Suiren looked around. "Yes."

Ryuusei nodded, looking up to Hazuki. "Can you get some soup and bread for her, Hazuki-san?"

"Sure." Hazuki nodded. "Come along."

"Okay, Suiren," Ryuusei turned to her. "Eat. Get some rest. Make yourself comfortable. Try not to terrorise any more students, except in self-defence, and even then try not to make any response lethal. You aren't to leave the camp. Is that clear?"

Suiren nodded sombrely. "Yes." She followed Hazuki behind, her spine ramrod straight despite looking rather lost, like a tiny duckling. Several people gave her a wide berth.

I stared at Ryuusei. "That bit. About the laws."

"You can try," Ryuusei shrugged. "We could have interrogated her, but it would have cost us the camp. I thought this was the better alternative."

"Like you did with Ayame," I said.

"The Court was calling for her to be torn apart," Ryuusei groaned lowly. "What's wrong?"

"But you did it, without consideration of their welfare then," I argued.

"She does have a choice," Ryuusei pointed out. "She could accept the offer and become a vassal, or don't accept and die. It's not like death doesn't await her in the future."

"That's no choice at all," I said.

"So let's say that she escapes, and gets back to Shimotsuki with the location of our camp," Ryuusei pointed out. "How long do you think it'll take for her to get here with a whole battalion? Keep in mind Shimotsuki's law is the one thing that preventing her from doing that right now."

I scowled. "You could have just remembered to give her the same courtesies of a human being."

Ryuusei stared at me for a long moment. "I did. Prisoners of war get this choice under the Geneva Conventions."

"We aren't at war."

"We might as well be."

"Ryuusei," I groaned. "You're making it very hard for us. You're acting like her."

"I'm her counterpart," Ryuusei insisted.

"You don't have to be."

"Do you think I did this by choice?" he spoke in a quiet, dreadfully numb voice.

I stopped. I hadn't heard Ryuusei this vulnerable before. I sincerely didn't want to. It felt like I kicked a puppy and then proceeded to murder its mother in front of it. "You seemed to be able to exercise your choice when you defended Ayame."

"It was common sense."

I saw Marufuji-sensei saunter towards Ryuusei, fury twisted on his face. "What did you _do_?" he growled at Ryuusei.

"I saved your life," Ryuusei evenly answered. "You were desperate to live. You offered quite a lot of things to continue living."

"Undo it."

"I cannot. Our agreement is made." Ryuusei answered. "My champion."

Marufuji-sensei snarled, and walked off in a flurry of his coat.

"I thought Ayame was your champion." I casually spoke.

"We can have many champions," Ryuusei answered. "But only one official one."

"I thought he would deck you."

"He wouldn't. The power of Summer in him would not allow it."

"So he's become... like Ayame?" I hazarded.

"Not... quite," Ryuusei shrugged. "But close."

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing. Why?" Ryuusei frowned. "It's actually better than it looks. Marufuji-sensei was desperate to live, and I was looking for any excuse not to contact Ayame. This is actually perfect."

"You're the King of Summer," I insisted. "You should have a choice about what you want to do. And yet you're reacting to Shimotsuki, like it's a default reaction that you have to manipulate people like Marufuji-sensei and Ayame."

"My actions are dictated by the situation of the choices made. Even kings have courses of action that we have to do."

"I think you're courting it," I sharply answered.

"Do you think I _wanted_ this?" he snapped. "I think, Chase, that you're forgetting something."

I stepped back. "What?"

Ryuusei's eyes flicked to my feet, and then to my face. "You're afraid. Of me."

"I'm afraid of what you can do," I forced my breathing to calm. "The... mantles. The mantles of power. It forces a personality change as well, doesn't it?"

Ryuusei stared at nothing for a few moments. And then, very slowly, he nodded.

"What does it tell you to do?"

"What do you think?" Ryuusei whispered bitterly. "Pride. Joy. And self-worth. Disregard for others. And in an atmosphere where my very word could put villages to death... sometimes, I couldn't talk for months, too terrified that I could confer a death sentence just by doing so. After a while... I just _had_ to talk to someone, anyone. Shimotsuki was there... and she's in the same situation I'm in."

I forgot. I'd forgotten that Ryuusei hadn't even been amongst many humans for about two years. I forgot that he'd been thrown into a world where he was lost and afraid, amongst beings with a very arcane and twisted moral code and stuck with a crash course on Duel Spirit leadership. Even with all of his power, he must have been terrified and sad... and lonely. He could only have reached out to Shimotsuki, who was his equal in every way, and probably had a few screws loose as well. No wonder he had a few moral issues.

"You know... I could have done that," Ryuusei reflected. "Taken away the pain as well. Tell them, why drag themselves into the filth? Why hurt, when they need not?"

His blue eyes turned to me, and they were very convincing in their sincerity. "I could offer them comfort, sunlight, a chance away to remember what it was like to play without a care, forever and ever. I can do it, give them things to show and think about, things that don't hurt, and everything is beautiful."

I drew in a breath, ragged and shallow, and I inhaled that clean scent of Ryuusei, hardly strong, as if he'd just taken a bath or thrown himself in the river. No, I can tell you it wasn't sexual desire; it was light and warmth, and something like breathing freely.

I couldn't remember the last time I Dueled for another reason than the immediate danger at hand. I couldn't remember the last time I took joy in the game for something other than training. I had lived in Satisfaction Town, and then Neo Domino, for most of my life. Sometimes at the sunrise I'd glance out, and feel homesick for the multicoloured sunrises of Satisfaction Town, rather than the plain sun that rose to greet Neo Domino each morning. What would it feel like, to continue seeing that sunrise, to live in the simpler times that had been when I was eight? Or even before that, when I was in the Manjoume estate and there was an actual garden to walk through? The estate was gone now, a derelict remnant inherited by Uncle Jun who had disposed of it to pay off debts and keep the Manjoume Group going. I couldn't even remember my own childhood home, or being free there, so it might have been for the best.

What was promised... what was being promised was a dream. It could not be possible, and should not be possible. Things like that should have been left behind, and one couldn't quite regress to a Peter Pan complex like that. But nostalgia is a more powerful force than anyone realises...

What would it be like to stop hurting? If every moment was bliss, to someone who had been comparatively suffering, sybaritic pleasure must be far more than a relief; it must be an all-encompassing existence that they couldn't help but run after. Even just _knowing_ that there was a chance to stop hurting, to feel blissed out, knowing that all it would require was to follow, follow and then feel whole again, how must it feel? Added that the Movement had a lot of PTSD victims, and we had a strong chance of about half the Movement jumping ship just for a chance to escape an existence of funny looks and wide berths and nightmares.

It was so easy it made me itch, so easy that I was afraid that I'd wake up one day and not be myself anymore.

"See?" Ryuusei stepped back, and I nearly leaned forward, to keep myself in the warmth his presence inspired some more. I froze halfway as I heard someone approaching us.

"Erm..." The Wonder Twins were there. "We're beginning to draw lots for lookouts, so... do you want to come?" Yuko offered.

"Thank you, but no." Ryuusei gave a small smile. Yuko made a strangled noise in answer, and they left. A silence hung between us.

Then Ryuusei shook his head. He looked... very tired. Again. The ghosts of temptation were burnt out like tiny embers, warm but hardly sufficient.

"...Damn," I finally said. I could feel my knees shaking. The promises hinted each had a single captured moment, the kind that were the only remnants of a dream, each of them layered atop one another. A prediction, a promise. Each had a sensual memory – touch, taste, scent, sound, vision – and all compressed in a moment of inspiration where I could do something stupid just for that. All Ryuusei had done was _hint_.

"I know now, that you forgot something," Ryuusei whispered. "I could give you that peace, Chase. But I won't. The people selling that peace always lie, and I won't lie to any of you. Not as long as I am myself."

He turned, and the temptation of summer-land and lazy days walked away, leaving me to be cloaked in shadows and the pains of what could be, that safe haven of shadows that I inhabited. It was a mere balm to the pain of echoing loneliness and homesickness and what-could-have-been, compared to the promise of warmth and light. It had to be enough.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	39. XXXVII: Thunder of Ruler

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXVII: Thunder of Ruler**

It was morning when the mist rolled in.

I was walking from the nearby stream, my DuelDisk ready. The camp's older students and teachers, as well as us, had managed to arrange a guard duty. There were relatively few disturbances, and not many eliminators. It still felt like they were circling us, waiting for a chance to charge in once more.

The mist had rolled in to surround the field, and so I barely noticed until the winds blew, and Black Garden shattered.

"_Hear me,_" the voice spoke, not so loud so much as pervasive that the entire camp began to make noise upon hearing it. "_You may know me as Shimotsuki Setsuka. As the leader of the eliminators upon this island, I am prepared to ransom for the return of my subordinate._"

Suiren walked out of the tent, almost heading to the main entrance. "Setsuka-sama! I'm here!"

"What? We can't!" Ryuusuke exclaimed, running out of his tent at a jog. The mist made it difficult to see exactly where the voice came from, and therefore much scarier. "Kannazuki-san!"

A heartbeat later, the trio appeared from the mist. Setsu-chan stood at the head of the trio, Kujaku-san and Michiru flanking her. Quite a few of the Blue Berets stepped back.

"Setsu-chan," I murmured, shaking as I ran to the head of the crowd. "W- Why...?"

"I am here to ransom for the return of Yukina Suiren," Setsu-chan crossed her slender arms, a tablet hanging from one hand.

"What makes you think that we'll release her?" Archibald-san asked behind me.

Setsu-chan held up the tablet, before throwing it to me. "This will."

I clicked on the tablet, and immediately wished I had not. It showed dark and dank castle dungeons, the walls and the floor riddled with moss and damp. Moans and groans of men and women echoed lowly through the corridors. The camera panned, capturing their plight and their attire and the DuelDisk they held. Each person trapped in there was a Duelist. Each person defeated, each lost to the terror that were the eliminators serving here. Cells contained veterans and newcomers alike, all of them bound in some fashion, all of them tired, lying half-dead or drained, their Bands glowing a constant yellow.

Beyond the groans of pain that the prisoners displayed, was the screams of agony that the ones Dueling. No one seemed to have slept, between the pain and the screams. No one ate because they didn't have the energy to. They were kept just barely alive, though their life was only measured by the beating of their heart and not what was lying behind their eyes.

The camera changed again, to show Rodriguez-san, bound by his Duel Band and a leg shackle in the middle of a concrete circle. Although he won Duel after Duel, he was clearly flagging, sinking to his knees and being ripped of his energy over and over taking his toll.

Archibald-san took the tablet from my shaking hands, glanced through it, and flung it down. "What the hell have you done?"

"The losers," Setsu-chan shrugged, an elegant yet simplistic motion. "They are alive. They are... well. You can see for yourself. And they are the bargaining chip by which I shall use."

"W- What are y- your t- terms?" I stuttered.

"Release Yukina Suiren back to my employ," Setsu-chan spoke lowly, her face impassive. "I shall then release the imprisoned Duelists willingly into your hold."

"That's very simple," Chase-nii interjected, his arms crossed as he glared at her. "What's stopping us from getting to you?"

Setsu-chan paused and considered. "As we speak, my eliminators are Dueling a certain man named Jack Atlas. Eight Duels per day is not enough for him, we should up it. To sixteen. Then to thirty-two, and double that, and double again, until his purpose has been fulfilled. And, I believe that Adrian Rodriguez had energy to spare in Mr Kaiba's pursuit, perhaps he should donate some more to our cause."

Chase-nii muttered something bad, but the point was made.

"So _Kaiba_ is really behind all this?" Rex-nii had appeared, and was standing directly behind me, possibly to intimidate them. His fists were clenched on either side, as if he was physically restraining himself.

Setsu-chan did not look too impressed; mostly, she looked bored. "Is there more than one?" Setsu-chan murmured. "Well?"

"There's a catch, right?" Archibald-san murmured to me. "It's too easy. Why give up so much work for Yukina Suiren?"

"Even so, it's a chance to rescue them," I frowned. "How many are there?"

"Minus the sixty... about over a hundred?" Archibald-san volunteered.

"We'll be crippled trying to move them," Marufuji-sensei pointed out.

"No, we can't transport that many either," Youkai and Nii-chan answered immediately.

"Excuse us for a moment," I decided, nodding to Setsu-chan.

"Of course."

We walked back a bit, where the eight of us, Team Black Knights and the teachers murmured.

"The thing is, we might not have a chance again," Yuko was saying to us.

"But we'll be crippled, having to look after so many casualties," Yamada-san pointed out. "They'll probably be banking on that, using our own weakened numbers against us to weigh us down."

"We can't leave them alone either," Ryuusuke nodded. "So..."

I put my face in my hands. Even though we now knew of the fate of the others, there was a dilemma placed in rescuing them; the eliminators. If only... if only I could waylay them...

"Setsuka?" James-san had appeared, and had stopped to stare at her. "Setsuka..."

"James," Setsu-chan acknowledged, but did not answer beyond that as James-san approached us.

"Well, this is a pickle," James-san admitted once he had been briefed of the situation. "Our aim is obviously to rescue the students, and we were intending to use the tournament to do so, but the ruse is obviously up. And if we retrieve them now, there's no guarantee that later we won't be picked off to be imprisoned and forced into survival Duels over and over again."

"What do you recommend?" Youkai frowned. "We're obviously outnumbered, out-gunned and outsmarted."

"Not exactly out-gunned," James-san nodded. "But... I need to get into the castle in order to do anything. To lull them into a false sense of security, I suppose that Seika, you'll have to come in with me."

"Me?" I echoed.

"Hang on, why?" Rex-nii snapped.

"She's a girl, she known to be non-Psychic, and she' shorter than the average girl here," James-san ruthlessly counted off. "Also, because Setsuka has a giant blind spot where Seika is concerned."

"She does?" I blinked.

"You actually get away with calling her Setsu-chan," James-san pointedly replied. "Even I don't get to."

"He has a point," Nii-chan frowned. "But it still doesn't feel safe."

I opened my mouth to speak up, but then I heard it...

… I heard the whirr of a motorboat...

… and a splash...

"Did you hear that?" I heard someone say.

_Wait right there! I'm coming right over now! Oi, you, keep in contact-_

"I have a plan," I decided. "Please, listen to me."

As the mist swirled, I shivered as James-san calmly led me towards the trio, and we disappeared into the mist.

* * *

Seika's plan was pretty clever, though there were a few risks.

One was the obvious; we were outnumbered and out-gunned. Therefore any advantage we would have would lie in the element of surprise.

"_Bonjour, mon ami!_"

"Oh my god." I began laughing. "This is ridiculous. _Ridiculous_."

Archie had stopped any pretence of guard duty, and was now staring at me. "Did you... hear that?" he cautiously asked.

We heard more splashing, and yells of victory, and before long, they charged through the web of vines and yelled. "I'm _here_!"

I saw the tentacles rise from the water, and the two women slide off it. Seiran's blonde hair shimmered about her, making her look like a warrior angel if not for the unusual bloodlust in her eyes. The other one...

Silver hair fell from her head as she removed the diving mask. Her eyes were violet, and sharp. She wore a skin-tight black diving suit, and it emphasised everything, including her assets. A charm bracelet dangled from one hand, containing a star and a snowflake.

The whole camp stopped to stare at her. "Who are you?" Marufuji-sensei finally asked first.

With aplomb, the woman produced an NDPD badge. "NDPD First Investigative Brigade, Captain Kaname Yuuko. This is my subordinate and partner Psychic, Hinamori Seiran." She then looked around. "Where is Kannazuki Seika?"

Yukio stepped up. "Sorry, right now she's held up in the castle. I'm the third in command, and therefore in charge until she or Cook is back. We're going to be storming the castle on Duelist Kingdom, and we need a police officer to perform the necessary arrests."

As Yukio began filling the good Captain in, Archie glared at the assembled sixty or so Duelists and the blonde Duelist with Captain Kaname.

"Our friends, fellow students of Duel Academia and Duelists are trapped in that castle," he began. "It is probably safe to say that our very survival itself hinges upon this plan. We will be working with the Arcadia Movement on this, so no funny business."

"Why do we have to work with those freaks?" someone asked.

The silence was a palpable thing. Yukio's fists cracked, Yuko hovered between his own twin and his cousin to shield the speaker from them, Hazuki glared, Uzuki snarled, even Nikki looked offended.

Archie managed to single out the man, and was currently glaring at the Osiris Red Duelist with everything he could muster – which was a lot. "These freaks, as you say, are the ones who have protected that good night's sleep you had, and are going to make sure you survive this. Now get on your knees and apologise, Craig!"

"Why? Just because they have powers doesn't make them good Duelists automatically," the idiot named Craig defended.

"Wanna try it, you-" Uzuki was held back by a gentle tap from Hazuki.

"I shall take you," Hazuki declared as she unlocked her DuelDisk. "Shall we?"

"Of course, cupcake," he leered. I winced in sympathy for the punishment he was about to endure.

"Duel!"

Hazuki: LP 8000

Craig: LP 8000

"Oi!" I moved to intercept, but Archie held me back.

"They need to win the respect of others like this," Archie hissed.

"Nee-chan was maintaining the Black Garden all throughout last night!" Uzuki protested. "She doesn't have the stamina!"

"Can't be helped," Archie glanced at the looks from all over the clearing, the students hypnotised into watching the Duel.

"I'll begin, draw!" Hazuki declared. "I play the Continuous Spell, Seed Cannon. I then summon Koa'ki Meiru Gravirose [1900/1300] to the field."

A giant grinning flower monster appeared on the field as a pip hung suspended over the field.

"Each time a Plant Type monster is summoned to the field, I place a Plant Counter on Seed Cannon (1)." Hazuki explained. "I'll then play the Field Spell, Black Garden, and another Continuous Spell, The World Tree. I end my turn, and I reveal Seed of Flame in my hand to pay the maintenance cost for Gravirose."

"My turn, draw!" Craig snapped. "And I'll summon Chthonian Soldier [1200/1400]!"

The soldier appeared on the field, to be trapped in vines [1200/1400 → 600/1400]. "E- Eh?"

"Black Garden halves the attack power of any monster normal or special summoned monsters," Hazuki explained as a red rose bloomed on her field. "Furthermore, Black Garden special summons a Rose Token [800/800] to the opposite player's field. And because a Plant-Type monster was summoned, Seed Cannon gains one counter (2)."

"I'll end," Craig scowled.

"My draw," Hazuki declared. "Standby phase, Koa'ki Meiru Gravirose will send a level three or lower monster from my deck to the graveyard, and so I send Lonefire Blossom. I summon Seed of Flame [1600/1200 → 800/1200], and a Rose Token is special summoned to your field, so it's two Counters (4). I activate the Spell, Fragrance Storm, destroying Seed of Flame and drawing a card. I reveal the card; it is Tytannial, a Plant-Type monster, so I shall draw once more. When Seed of Flame is destroyed by a card effect, I can special summon a level four or lower Plant from my graveyard, and a Seed Token [0/0] to your field, so I shall special summon Lonefire Blossom [500/1400 → 250/1400] from my graveyard in defence mode. And another Rose Token is special summoned to your field, so Seed Cannon reaches its maximum of five Counters (5). Activate Trade-In, discarding Tytannial to draw two cards."

"Heh, you've just given me three monsters!" Craig sneered. "What about it?"

"No," Hazuki closed her eyes. "The Plant Counters on Seed Cannon has accumulated to the maximum of five, so I can send Seed Cannon to the grave to inflict five hundred damage to my opponent for every counter on it."

"What?"

"Go, Seed Cannon!" Hazuki called as Craig was pelted by a hail of rapid-fire seeds.

Craig: LP 8000 → LP 5500

Hazuki: LP 8000

"Also, when a Plant-Type monster is destroyed, The World Tree will gain a Flower Counter (1)," Hazuki declared. "I shall then use the effect of Lonefire Blossom, to tribute my Rose Token and special summon Firearms Flower [800/800 → 400/800] from my deck in defence mode. You gain another Rose Token. Now I play the Spell, Token Thanksgiving. I destroy all Tokens on the field to gain eight hundred life points per token destroyed, and there are four."

Hazuki: LP 8000 → LP 11200

Craig: LP 5500

"Because of that, The World Tree gains four more Counters (5)," Hazuki called. "Now I remove three to revive Seed of Flame back to my field (2). I construct the overlay network with Lonefire Blossom, Firearms Flower and Seed of Flame. Exceed summon! Appear, Battlecruiser Dianthus!"

I stared as the giant battleship of a flower appeared [2100/1800 → 1050/1800], its pink petals waving, arranged around a base-mounted cannon.

"Battle. Gravirose, attack that Chthonian Soldier," Hazuki declared.

"Chthonian Soldier causes both of us to take battle damage!" Craig sneered before he was hit.

Craig: LP 5500 → LP 4200

Hazuki: LP 11200 → LP 9900

"Ow!" Craig growled. "Why, you..."

"You can't really think calmly, can you?" Hazuki commented. "Dianthus, the token."

Craig: LP 4200 → LP 3950

Hazuki: LP 9900

"And I use the effect of Dianthus," Hazuki finished. "I detach one material to inflict three hundred damage to my opponent for every card in their hand, so you'll take fifteen hundred damage. Get him!"

Craig: LP 3950 → LP 2450

Hazuki: LP 9900

"I set a card. End phase, I reveal Queen Angel of Roses in my hand to pay the maintenance cost for Gravirose," Hazuki concluded. "Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Craig looked pissed off. "I'll play Monster Reborn to special summon Chthonian Soldier! Chain, Inferno Reckless Summon! Now I'll special summon three Chthonian Soldiers [1200/1400 → 600/1400] from my hand, deck or graveyard. And you can special summon all copies of one monster you control as well."

"I shall special summon two more Koa'ki Meiru Gravirose [1900/1300 → 950/1300], then," Hazuki quietly answered. "Black Garden confers Rose Tokens as well, so you gain two Rose Tokens, while I gain one. The overall effect is that the both of us had full fields."

"Well, I play the Spell, Sky Union!" Craig shouted. "I'll tribute two Tokens and one Soldier to special summon from my deck my ace, Air Fortress Ziggurat [2500/2000]!"

The skies rumbled, and a giant floating battleship with a plane attached appeared.

"This card is unaffected by all my opponent's Spells or Traps, so Black Garden has no meaning here," Craig sneered. "Air Fortress Ziggurat, destroy Dianthus with your Air Force Barrage!"

Hazuki: LP 9900 → LP 8450

Craig: LP 2450

"The World Tree gains one Token (3)," Hazuki merely announced.

"End phase, Ziggurat special summons a Robot Token," Craig sneered. "I set a card, turn end. To get to Ziggurat, you'll have to get past the Robot first, and even then there's no monster you can use! Face it, even if you're a Psychic, you'll still a second-rate Duelist!"

"My turn," Hazuki's voice had turned chilly. "You call me a second-rate Duelist? Very well. I shall show you our power... the power of the Queens of Queens. I draw! Standby phase, the three Gravirose will send three level three or lower monsters such as Copy Plant, Dark Verger and Spore. Now I banish Tytannial in the graveyard and Queen Angel of Roses in my hand to special summon this monster. Come, Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel [2900/2400]!"

Wings of red and black unfurled as the white-robed male figure appeared, looming over the field [2900/2400 → 1450/2400].

"Once per turn, during my main phase, I activate his ability to negate the effects of all face-up cards on the field," Hazuki declared. "So I shall negate Black Garden and your monsters [1450/2400 → 2900/2400]. Now I banish Copy Plant to special summon the tuner monster, Spore as a level two monster. Tuning, level four Gravirose to level two Spore! Splendid hunter and dweller of the sacred forest, with your whip of punishment in hand, come forth now! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Splendid Rose!"

The youth with a thorned whip in hand appeared [2200/2000].

"The effect of Splendid Rose; I banish one Plant from the graveyard to halve the attack power of Ziggurat," Hazuki announced. "I shall banish Spore [2500/2000 → 1250/2000]. Gravirose number one, attack the Robot Token."

Craig could only look at the field of huge monsters, his face pale.

"Now, Rosaria," Hazuki commanded. "Attack the Ziggurat with Shining Damnation!"

Craig: LP 2450 → LP 800

Hazuki: LP 8450

"And to finish this," Hazuki murmured. "Splendid Rose, attack one of those Chthonian Soldiers with Leaf Cyclone!"

Craig: LP 800 → LP 0

Hazuki: LP 8450

"I... lost..." Craig sank to his knees in shock.

"When the leaves dance, one shall find flames." Hazuki murmured as vines curled around her and the world blazed. "The fire's shadow will illuminate, and once again, the leaves shall bud anew."

The murmur arose. "The four legendary Queens of Queens..."

"And the woman who could match Shimotsuki, the Titania of the Arcadia Movement," I heard Rex mutter. "Man, Ryuusuke keeling over affected Hazuki the most..."

I felt the Multi-Voice System start up. Oddly enough, the Multi-Voice Systems for Psychics was based on two different frequencies, three since Shimotsuki left and Kaido got paranoid.

"_Chase?_" Youkai's voice drifted in. "_We've followed the chibi and Jimmy to the castle, and right now I'm circling the place. So far, we've scanned most of the camps, and the others not in the camp were ambushed by multiple eliminators. I guess we can assume that Jack Atlas was taken down._"

"Got it," I answered, before relaying the information to everyone, except for Hazuki, who had to go and lie down a bit.

Rex's jaw tightened. "Father _lost_?"

"_Unlikely_," Youkai relayed. "_Most likely that he fell to an ambush._"

"Such a move... unforgivable," Rex hissed.

"So, we have a lookout," Seiran nodded, looking at Captain Kaname. "Kaname-taicho, we'll need to get in and arrest Kaiba."

"Eh? But... we need a warrant, right?" Yuuko frowned.

"Despite all the rumours, Duelist Kingdom was granted to the city of Neo Domino by the will of Pegasus J. Crawford, and the city still holds the property even if Kaiba is leasing it," Rex pointed out. At our looks, he flushed. "I helped Mother do research once."

"Okay, if Carly-san said so..." I nodded.

"Having a reporter for a parent can be very useful," Ryuusuke commented, leaning by the side. Although there was a unanimous decision to leave Nakamura-san, Hazuki and Ryuusuke with the camp, there was that unspoken decision that Ryuusuke was being benched despite the card that could be used to trap Shimotsuki and co. "That Air Fortress Ziggurat... I'm pretty sure that Dad used it once."

"_Chase, you still there?_" Youkai's voice came in.

"Yeah, all the better to hear you," I muttered. "Seika was right. The Justice-nut and Captain Kaname are on the island right now. Is there an emergency?"

"_Well... other than the castle's own guard there's a skeleton guard of eliminators on duty, but other than that I can't see any others,_" Youkai relayed. "_It's like they disappeared off the island or something._"

"They probably returned to the Spirit World when it's clear that not so many are needed anymore," Ryuusei suggested.

"You're the expert," I acknowledged.

"_Of course, the chibi Boss and the idiot in love are past the portcullis, and right now I can see several cracks in the walls,_" Youkai said. "_I think Yukio can bridge it from the seas, and Jimmy could blow down the main entrance for us. The thing is, if we're winging it alone, then we're screwed without heavy armaments. If we can rally the students of DA to help out, I suppose we should manage._"

"How are the guards armed?" Yukio asked.

"_Erm... Batons. Maybe knives or bare hands. No live ammo or anything,_" Youkai answered. "_I guess they're just the lookout, along with the CCTV system. The real threat must be the Psychics; I guess they decided that no one was insane enough to attack any building occupied seemingly by about sixty Psychics, though I only saw about twelve._"

"No live ammo, and Psychics..." I considered. "The timing lies in everything, then. Hey, Archie. How long does it take to get these yahoos into attention?"

"West Academia has military practice in its curriculum," Archie nodded, slightly confused. "Corporal de Santos?"

A tall blond man in the West Academia blue approached, and saluted. "Sir. We've about twelve total injured, and even if we leave a skeleton guard here to move we would still only have a force of about thirty, maybe forty-two if we counted the Psychics and the teachers overall."

"Then surprise is everything," Archie and I agreed.

"I think we should place de Santos on the front," I added.

Archie frowned. "Why?"

"Because Shimotsuki might be thrown for a loop," I answered. "I mean, we're talking about a man who looks like her dead father here."

"Right..." Archie gathered the assembled Duelists again.

"After that little show, is there any doubt about our _guests_?" he emphasised.

No one disagreed.

"Who knows the interior of the castle?" Archie asked.

I raised my hand. "Been there on a trip."

"Okay," Archie nodded. "Tell your boyfriend that we need to prepare a signal for Cook to blow up the entrance. Mr Yukio, I need you to take a group out to the shore, and then hit them on that side about a minute before the signal. One minute after the signal, Mr Cook blows the doors down, and we get in. Any questions?"

"What happens after we get in?" Yuko asked, frowning.

"Princeton will lead our police officers and a team to free the prisoners and take over the controls to the system, including the Duel Bands," Archie explained. "Some of us will be going with the Captain to arrest Kaiba, while the rest check the castle for any stragglers. The majority of the assault team, with me, will focus on keeping the leading trio busy."

It was a very simplistic, logical plan. It combined the capabilities of people already inside with people outside, and pretty much eliminated the possibility of a siege.

It was too simple. Even Michiru could have seen that plan coming. All it took to sabotage it would be to kill Cook, or Seika. Or not even allow them entrance at all. Yet, why? Why did Shimotsuki invite them into the castle? She must have known, that Jimmy was a Fire Dino Duelist with access to one of the field nukes of Duel Monsters. Then why? It was as if she wanted us to storm the castle...

…of course. Why else let Seika contact the mainland, and the Arcadia Movement. Better yet, a _police officer _at that?

It was such a fiendishly clever cat's paw game, and I never even realised it. Because the default reaction of the Movement would be to place NDPD on standby straight away, and because Kaname Yuuko was a childhood friend of Seika and Shimotsuki. If there was even the slightest hint of them in danger, Kaname Yuuko would probably be charging across the world in a day if necessary. And even if not, there would be officers on standby, with warrants and arrests preparing to be made. Considering how the Movement's plans were going along, it stood to reason that the students would be the equivalent of the witch-lynching mob, and an angry mob was going to be difficult to deal with. If it was charging directly at Kaiba... then Kaiba was pretty much finished. How much did it take for Shimotsuki to 'forget' Jimmy's presence? And if there was a reduction in the guard, without ammunition they were easy prey for the Psychics with us.

The whole plan required a good idea of how intimately the justice system of Neo Domino worked, not to mention a clear grasp of the policies the Movement and the PD took with respect to each other, and a good idea of operations on both sides, not to mention a lot of sleight of hand to ensure that all of us landed on the same island. And even if this didn't succeed, the whole thing was incoherent enough to twist into something else, like a net that would catch the seahorse no matter what.

It was a brilliant work of Xanatos Speed Chess, and Shimotsuki Setsuka was setting this whole thing up. Kaiba wouldn't know what hit him.

Yet... why?

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	40. XXXVIII: Royal Oppression

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXVIII: Royal Oppression**

The worst thing about walking behind James-san towards the castle was the feeling of impending doom. I was walking into what could be classed as enemy territory, guided by hostile parties, and then I could be trapped as well. There were so many things that could go wrong with this plan, this strategy upon which so many of us relied upon.

Michiru kept shooting me dirty looks, and I almost expected her to challenge me again. Suiren followed her lead, and shot admiring looks towards Michiru on occasion. Satsuki kept silent, looking anywhere else except at me. Setsu-chan was too busy leading to pay attention to James-san and me.

"Welcome to Pegasus Castle," Setsu-chan spoke as we walked past the portcullis, the gate falling shut with a tremor that caused me to jump. "Right now we are on the castle grounds proper. Satsuki, check on the systems. Michiru, I'm placing you on Duel duty. Send Suiren back to Lia Fáil first, though. Suiren, inform Raiho to prepare the Ways."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Suiren bowed. "My sincerest apologies for my incompetence."

"See that you do."

"Aww, you say the nicest things," Michiru smirked as the three other girls left, going into the castle by a side door.

"Shall we?" Setsu-chan asked of both of us. We walked through the high-arched doorway of the castle, this time taking a left from the finely furnished hallway into a side passageway that was mostly lined with stone, grey and cold.

"The inspiration for this belonged to European architecture, I believe," Setsu-chan commented. "Mr Crawford was said to have been very inspired with the building of fine palaces such as Versailles and Oxford. I believe much of the influence over the castle's design, though, comes from Edinburgh Castle. Defences to the north and south, with a steep ascent from the east. The only entrance is therefore from the west gate, which is a mirror image of the castle itself. A surprising choice Mr Pegasus made, for his home to face the west. Mr Crawford was apparently a fan of his creature comforts as well, despite his propensity for travelling to exotic locales."

"Is this... relevant?" I asked.

She tilted her head. "It may be, it may not be."

The granite turned to sandstone, and then to the moss-ridden stone and more staircases that headed down. Lights, modern fluorescent ones, gave the whole stairwell a harsh glare as Setsu-chan descended.

I frowned at how little security we had been given. "Shouldn't there be... more people?"

"Numbers do not always denote strength," Setsu-chan replied. "For one thing, you cannot see the sentries I have placed about this castle. You have not seen the electronic eyes that monitor your movements. And you fail to note that I am most capable. You would not be here if I did not let you."

It made sense, in an odd way.

We arrived there, and I felt myself even more sickened. The hallway of cells were dark, and the iron bars rusting did nothing to improve the look. I heard a low moan now, and a thrashing and rattling of the bars.

"Hey, bitch!" someone yelled. "When are we getting out of here?"

"In a body bag, or on your own strength?" Setsu-chan shot back, and the cells fell silent in answer.

We were led to an elevator, and descended down into the hidden chambers of the castle. Setsu-chan pressed a button, and the elevator doors closed. When they dinged open again after about a moment of silence, we stepped out onto what appeared to be an observation platform.

Setsu-chan stood by the window and pointed down. We followed her direction to a vast Dueling field. Below, I could see Rodriguez-san engaging in one gruelling duel after another.

"That man has generated more Duel energy in his very first duel than any other Duelist on this island has since this competition began." Setsu-chan commented, her voice flat. "Spirited, determined, and stubborn. Even in his current state, he still produces impressive amounts of energy. As expected of Vennominaga's chosen."

The monster on the field turned its head up, visored eyes clearly glancing at us. "_I will kill you for this._"

"Your anger is misdirected, Lady Vennominaga," Setsu-chan inclined her head and left, with us following a few moments later.

We walked on a narrow suspended bridge over more underground Duel fields, where students were being challenged by the Duelists I recognised as eliminators, that wore black and blue and white in some manner that showed them as vicious-looking and cruel. On one of the fields, I saw Michiru whoop at her latest victory. In her wake lay a pile of bodies.

"So vicious, so unrelenting is Michiru," Setsu-chan mused. "Such an able choice."

We walked in a circle, before we were led back to the elevator. Setsu-chan pressed another button, and soon we were travelling up.

A moment or two later, the elevator doors opened into an arboretum. One of the castle's balconies had been transformed into a large flower garden, the roses and poinsettias in full bloom despite the damp weather. The sun shone fully overhead, and a butterfly fluttered past to land on a flower.

As Setsu-chan walked past it, the butterfly shrivelled up as the flower wilted and died.

I winced and followed Setsu-chan, James-san a silent sentinel behind me. We approached a wheelchair, and the shock of white trailing behind her left me stunned.

Setsu-chan cleared her throat.

Slowly, the chair turned.

Kisara Kaiba had been beautiful, and still was. She was pale, and her long white hair and nearly colourless blue eyes made her look like a ghost. It made her look older, at odds with the youth in her features, and the desperate flickering of her blue, blue eyes.

Although, she was very different now. Her sickly pallor made that fact clear, and she looked like she was wasting away with every moment under the sun. Her hands was shaking, and she moved so painfully slow and carefully, as if afraid that any sudden movement would pain her. IV lines ran from where tubes had been taped to her veins, glowing faintly yellow as they ran from a box-like machine attached to the back of the wheelchair to where they cut through her blood vessels.

She stared vacantly at us, and slowly blinked. Her mouth fell open.

"S... Setsuka..." she heaved a ragged breath, as if it cost her to talk. "Please..."

I could see her view from where I stood, that vast expanse over the island itself. I could see a faint stream of smoke, from where I knew the camps were. Setsu-chan had known where we were all along. Yet I couldn't focus on that, not with the expression of heartbreaking horror and sadness on Kisara's face.

"You... can stop..." Kisara whispered, her voice dreamy but harsh. "Set... Setsuka... stop him..."

"I owe Mr Kaiba, Ms Kaiba," Setsu-chan replied, her voice stiff. "This is all required for your treatment. Well, perhaps a change of plan is now necessary."

Kisara's pale blue eyes flicked to me. "Please... stop him... Jii-sama..."

"Hush, hush," Setsu-chan assured as she turned behind to grab Kisara' wheelchair. Rolling it along, we followed, silent as ghosts and overcome with a sudden need for quiet as Setsu-chan moved Kisara and the heavy wheelchair into the elevator once more.

This time, we followed them into a study, lingering outside as her motions bade us, and we watched through a looking-glass as Kisara was parked in front of a wide table.

"Mr Kaiba."

From the other end of the table, just a few metres away from us, Seto Kaiba glanced up. From where I could see him, I saw his face soften in concern at Kisara's expressions. "How is she today?"

"She spoke," Setsu-chan murmured as she moved to a waiting trolley, and I heard the banging of plastic and the rush of water. "Just a few words, but the energy has managed to keep the wasting sickness at bay."

I heard Kaiba heave a ragged sigh. "Is this... karma?"

"If it were, I suppose that you have repaid it over and over with your own experiences," Setsu-chan murmured, pressing the cloth to Kisara's forehead. "The rest of the island has gotten wind of our plans, by the way."

"I am aware," Kaiba snapped. "I did not expect it. How have they done such a feat?"

"I do not know, Mr Kaiba. Though I must guess it has something to do with the presence of Fudo Ryuusei on the island. Where one Court moves, the other moves perforce with it."

"The Summer that you mentioned... they've turned themselves against us?" Kaiba's voice was harsh. "How long do we have?"

"Time himself runs against you, Mr Kaiba," Setsu-chan murmured. "I am not in charge of the Court with dominion over the diseases, but... there is another way."

"What?" Kaiba groaned. "I have allocated the not-inconsiderable resources of KaibaCorp to find a cure. I may ruin my company's reputation with this act of endangerment. I have lost my brother long before, I _cannot_ lose Kisara."

"You have killed for him," Setsu-chan murmured, before turning around to smile. "Excellent. If that is so, then it would be much simpler. Then you merely need to lift a blade in the defence of the lovely maid once more."

"You want me... to kill," Kaiba's voice was flat.

"I cannot kill it, but I can take it away," Setsu-chan murmured, leaning forward. "We can conduct a ritual. I shall place the sickness in a vessel, and then you must speak your words and intentions. Following which, you will kill the vessel, and with it the sickness."

"Shimotsuki, are you-" Kaiba broke off as Kisara began coughing violently. "Kisara!"

The aged uncle quickly brought a whole basin of medicines, slightly lost as he attended to her more delicately than any caring nurse, a tenderness hardly expected from one like Seto Kaiba in his eyes. "The Blue-Eyes..."

"You can see that she is on her way to recovery," Setsu-chan leaned forward, her voice persuasive and soft. "The energy you have siphoned from the multitude of battles, from my vassals and the Duelists lured here is helping her. But not for much longer. You know it, I know it."

Kaiba drew a ragged breath. "I... I..."

"I can provide a sacrifice for you," Setsu-chan whispered. "A traitor. He will not be missed. Not at all."

Kisara gave another choke.

"A traitor to me and mine," she continued. "Who should be killed, by all accounts, and yet still alive. I have him within my grasp, and he would be killed once he had served his reflection. What about it?"

Blood was spat through pale lips, and down her front. I choked back a scream. I There must have been some supernatural force holding onto me, for my legs refused to move and my eyes refused to be torn away.

"D- Don't," Kisara drew another breath. "Please... no more..."

Kaiba then spoke. "_Mer setau, sechem hekau, ukhes sebau em maseru._"

As I began to back away from what Setsu-chan had done, she glanced up and at me, through the looking-glass... and she smiled.

She came walking through the glass before long. "Do you see now?"

"You lied to him." My voice was soft.

"No, I did not," Setsu-chan plainly answered. "Whatever I said was true. It is not the only way, yes, but it is a way. It is true."

"Setsuka..." James-san shook, and his fists tightened. "Why?"

"Would you like to know, James?" she hissed.

She barely reacted as James-san slammed her into the wall, breathing heavily. "So violent, James. Excited, hmm?"

"Stop it," he whispered, shaking. "What happened?"

"It is what it is," she murmured. "A harsh, harsh life. A harsh cycle of rebirth, meeting, and parting. Only that this time, instead of violent death, it shall be a slow and painful one. It shall be tragic, and romantic at the same time, no?"

"What happened to you, Setsuka?" James-san whispered, his voice broken. "What happened to you? You all but pressured the man to commit murder. Why the danger, the farce, the pain?"

"He called me in for a favour," she petulantly answered. "What more is there?"

"There is always more," he shook his head. "There always is."

One of her hands found its way around his hand, and James-san let go quickly and took his hand back as she glared at him. "I may allow you liberties, James, but remember who and what I am now."

"So what are you?" James-san retaliated. "You're... not yourself, Setsuka. The Setsuka I knew..." he stopped.

"So you realise, that the Setsuka you knew would have done this, and done it gladly," she whispered. Behind her, the sun's rays shone harshly through windows, showing the approaching dusk. That time was coming.

"James-san!" I exclaimed.

James-san nodded, and unlocked his DuelDisk. "My words cannot get through to you now."

"You know me well, James."

"Then..." he took a deep breath as slowly, he unfolded his own DuelDisk. "There is only one path of recourse."

"For you, no," she replied as her own DuelDisk fanned out. "For one such as I, yes. There is only one path."

"Duel!"

Jimmy: LP 8000

Setsuka: LP 8000

The Disks beeped. _Duel Field activate: Fairy Tale Third Chapter: The Twilight's Setting Sun_

"A suitable field," Setsu-chan commented. "It is sunset, after all."

"I shall go first," James-san declared. "I summon Jurrac Velo [1700/1000]."

A green dinosaur with red head, blue claws and talons appeared and roared as its curved front claws burst into flames. "I'll set a card and end my turn."

"My turn, draw," Setsu-chan called. "I will summon Samurai of the Ice Barrier [1800/1500] to the field."

A Japanese samurai outfitted in icy armour appeared on the field, sword drawn. "My samurai, attack that monster!" The samurai charged, and swiftly beheaded the monster.

Neither of them seemed to care, even as James-san took damage.

Jimmy: LP 8000 → LP 7900

Setsuka: LP 8000

A cut appeared on his hand. "Why, Setsuka," James-san commented as it dripped with blood. "Are you trying to turn me off?"

She actually rolled her eyes. "As if violence to your person would ever turn _you_ off."

James-san chuckled as a blue dinosaur with a yellow head, feet, and hands appeared, and growled as the back of its head and the tip of its thrashing tail burst into flames. "True. But now the effect of Velo activates, allowing me to special summon Jurrac Ptera [800/1500] to the field. You knew its effect, Setsuka, so why did you attack still? Or do you feel-"

"There is a difference between knowing and caring," Setsu-chan cut in. "I shall set two cards and end my turn."

"Draw!" Jimmy called. "I activate the set card, the Continuous Trap Fossil Excavation. So I toss a card from my hand, and welcome back, Jurrac Velo." He grinned. "Well, Setsu... ka..." he trailed off as a giant masked dragon with black wings appeared on Setsu-chan's field.

"Upon the special summon of an opponent's monster, I can toss Dragon Ice to special summon Dragon Ice [1800/2200] from the graveyard in defence mode," Setsu-chan defended. "Chain Continuous Trap, Eisbahn."

James-san flinched as the field was covered in thin ice, like a skating rink.

"By the rules of Spell Speed, Eisbahn will resolve first, followed by the summon of Dragon Ice, followed by the special summon of Ptera," Setsu-chan tonelessly murmured as the fiery pterodactyl knelt.

James-san coughed. "True. Then I'll also summon the tuner monster, Jurrac Brachis [1000/1000]."

A blue and red quadrupedal long-necked dinosaur appeared and its entire body burst into flames upon its entrance as it knelt.

"Eisbahn forces all non-Water Attribute monsters into defence mode the turn they are normal or special summoned," Setsu-chan reminded him. Her eyes flashed blue-green. "Your resources are pathetic when you consider that next turn, I have the resources to summon Brionac or Gungnir, and blow your dinosaurs off the field."

James-san considered the field, and also the window, where the sun's dying rays shone through. "You're right... and I just have the thing. Tuning, level four Velo and level three Ptera to level three Brachis."

Blue-green eyes widened, and I thought I saw them flash momentarily to ice-blue. "W- Wait... are you-?"

"Flames of life that rage with the will of the dying, burn and raze your names for the future!" James-san called. "Synchro Summon! Raze everything, Jurrac Meteor!"

"You... utter... fool..." Setsu-chan breathed as a roar came from outside.

From the window, I could see it coming from high above, a massive stone meteor with the limbs and head of a dinosaur that came streaking towards us, leaving a fiery trail of flame behind it.

"When Jurrac Meteor is Synchro summoned, it destroys every single card on the field." James-san declared. "As for the implications in a Psychic Duel... Seika?"

"Y- Yes?" I stuttered.

"Run down, get the prisoners free," James-san instructed me, nonchalant despite what was coming. In any other Duel, it would have been harmless, but in a Psychic Duel, the presence of something like Jurrac Meteor could only be equated... to a nuclear bomb.

"B- But, James-san-!" I protested.

"Hurry," James-san smirked as he turned back to an ashen-faced Setsu-chan. "Don't worry about me. At least, I'll be together with the one I love."

"I told you, I don't appreciate empty words," Setsu-chan snapped back, shaking her head as the consequences of his actions sank into her mind. "I am a monster. I am the Queen of the wicked monsters. This is the fate I began on when I was eight... this was the fate that was already decided for me. What are you doing...? James, we're in an enclosed space...!"

"Yep," James-san nodded. "But, you told me on the day you tricked me to sign that certificate... that if you ever were to turn into just a monster, to kill you. I... I love you, Setsuka."

"B- But..." I could feel my eyes tearing up. "But...!"

"_Seika_, _run_!" he yelled.

I ran, my footsteps hardly pounding on the carpeted floor, and I didn't look back as I saw James-san turn back to Setsu-chan.

"You idiot..." I heard her words, loud and clear. "You _idiot_, James!"

I could imagine him smiling. "I'm the idiot you love."

Jurrac Meteor hit as I dived, and a massive shockwave and fire erupted from the impact. I rolled, jumped and ran some more down the stairs despite the tremors, and I could hear the impact ring with its own physical and auditory impact. I could hear stone crumbling, alarms going off, and gently, as I reached the ground floor once more, and I could hear cheers and pounding feet and DuelDisks and roars from monsters. They were coming.

I continued running as the castle caught fire and began burning down with the rest of my childhood.

* * *

The castle of Duelist Kingdom Island, long referred to as Pegasus's castle, was an awfully well defended one. The fortress had been cut into a basaltic shelf of cliffs, protected from the north and south with forest and valleys blasted sheer. There was a single road in, and all around where there was no moat was wide and flat and empty of any significant features, like friendly rocks one might try to take cover behind. The cliffs and the ascent had been blasted sheer. No one was coming down that way without a _lot_ of rope or a helicopter.

Or a Psychic Duelist.

Yukio was panting from the sheer effort, but I had to admit that he'd done quite a job with freezing the moat there after providing a ladder of ice. All around, Duelists, the twenty-plus or so that we'd managed, including ourselves and the teachers of the Duel Academias, were assembled. Archie was in the midst of checking his gear again.

"Okay, if any of you see Shimotsuki Setsuka, Tenjouin Michiru or Kujaku Satsuki, run on sight," I heard Marufuji-sensei warn. "They will defeat you, and when they're done it'd be a mercy if you're still alive, though you'd wish that you died. Clear?"

"Sunset is approaching," Archie signalled. "Patrol team ready?"

"Noted," I motioned to Youkai up on the forest canopy, and he gave an affirmative signal.

The thing about sieges that were the worst wasn't charging out. Sieges, when you get down to it, basically amounts to surrounding a place and waiting out until a surrender, ceasefire, or everyone dying of starvation caved first. It was a game of patience, waiting for hours or days or months. If the people within could get food and resources, then we were looking at a really _long_ siege.

I sighed, shaking my head. My life has gotten real interesting since Duel Academia. Somehow, the eldritch abomination theory seemed more likely with each day.

"Erm..." I turned to see one of the DA Central students approach me. "Erm, I'm Ruby Meadows. Could I ask..."

I motioned for her to go on as Captain Kaname walked past. "Yeah...?"

Ruby shuddered. "Erm, I've been asking around, you see... and I can't seem to wrap my mind around the concept. Why... why are you working with Psychic Duelists?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Some elaboration?"

"Well..." Ruby shrugged. "The Arcadia Movement is... rather infamous, I heard. And they also tend to be cruel." I think she was pointedly referring to Yukio, but the ice-face himself was occupied with sabotaging the walls. "So... why do you work with them?"

I considered. "What do your parents work as?"

"My dad's a lawyer, he used to work with Chosaku Manjoume," Ruby frowned, wrinkling her nose. "You also dated a Psychic, right? Aren't you weirded out by it?"

I fixed her with a stare, trying to figure out the situation. "What do you think of gay guys?"

"O- Oh?" Ruby looked away, blushing. "Erm..."

"I can guess already," I dryly muttered. "Fundamentally, there's no difference between Psychics and vanilla people. You just gotta remember that they're as human as you, and they've gotten a lot of flak for their powers."

"You've got to admit that the thought of someone being able to injure by Dueling is scary," Ruby argued.

"Who you asking?" I snorted. "They get less scary when you realise the flip side of power."

"Take the Wonder Twins," I indicated towards the direction of Yukio and Yuko debating about how to destroy the walls. "They lost their whole family when they came out to their parents. It's a statistic that about thirty percent of all abandonments in Neo Domino come from abusive parents who can't accept that their kid has Psychic powers. They're just as human as us. Of course, they can use their powers for good, too, and that's because of the Movement's teachings."

"But there are others who use it for evil," Ruby protested.

"Evil is a biased word," I cryptically replied. "Take the current situation. The mastermind behind this is a vanilla human, as much as Seto Kaiba can be, and the ones saving your ass are the Psychics of the Arcadia Movement. If Seto Kaiba is evil, as you put it, does that mean that every human is evil? Then by definition, aren't you and I evil? If Psychics are willing to help you, to save you out of obligation, does that mean that all Psychics are good? Not necessarily."

Ruby frowned. "But... they all take direction from the Arcadia Movement. Isn't that dangerous?"

"Some don't," I pointed out. "Most of them live with the Movement in their lives, but some actually move out and get a life of their own. Besides, the Movement's first purpose was as a sanctuary, for Psychics to get their feet together and pick themselves up from the abuse that's followed their lives, and to facilitate and protect relations between society and Psychic Duelists. The Movement exists to protect Psychics Duelists. Divine just... put it a little differently."

Ruby looked conflicted, and I think I could understand. Well, I couldn't, not really. But I could empathise somewhat. "And..." her face screwed up. "I keep hearing from Dad that... Shimotsuki Setsuka was very scary."

"Oh, there was never any doubt about _that_," I sagely answered, watching the skies and feeling a barely leashed impatience.

"How scary is she?"

"You mean as a personal quality, or as in what she does?" I asked.

"Both," Ruby shrugged.

The poor, poor girl had never really known true terror. She had never been faced with the ice queen in her life. She had never been faced with the certainty of death in her life.

I debated, and decided. "They say, in the Movement, that when the Shimotsuki parents died, she got revenge on them two years later. On that year, Shimotsuki Setsuka had a file with Interpol. She was only ten, going to eleven, and she was suspected of utterly annihilating a rival Psychic faction called the Elysium Circle all on her own. No bodies. The only survivors never say anything. You don't know about it, because that is how thoroughly she wiped them off of the face of the earth. And after that, even though Nakamura-san was in charge, everyone knew that she was the power behind the throne."

"That's... just a rumour," Ruby murmured.

"Shimotsuki was the head who was said to have the highest kill count right next to the likes of Divine," I sighed. "No one actually knows how many she has killed. But she's one of the Movement's strongest Psychics in history, and the head who pulled it to its current strength today, even while she was a minor. We're going to be fighting a mind that puts the likes of Machiavelli to shame and ruthlessness beyond the Borgias and Miyamoto, matched with charisma like Wu Zetian and powers that could probably kill us all with a single Raigeki. There are definitely Duelists with more power than her, but none of them are as ruthless as her, or more prepared than her."

"You exaggerate," Ruby laughed, but it sounded forced.

"He's not," Ryuusei murmured as he approached us. "Ready?"

I sobered, as Rex came over. "Are you... sure?" he asked Ryuusei.

Ryuusei shrugged. "This is something we need to do. I'm sure... that even if I regret this choice, I won't actually feel it. Any more."

Rex nodded. "So... we're charging the castle this time?"

There were a few screams, far away from us. I looked around, and then Youkai shouted: "Look up!"

There, in the distance was a flaming meteor. I squinted, and gaped. Normal meteors didn't have arms and legs or shit like that. Normal meteors... weren't supposedly extinct dinosaurs about to hurl themselves towards the castle. If I had to guess, I'd say that the meteor was about the side of a large boulder, hurtling through with enough force to maybe destroy-

It crashed, and part of the portcullis and the iron gate was wrenched from its frame and hit the castle. Stone and glass trembled, steel bent, and fire shot up to the skies as the castle caught the heat and flames.

"_Now_!" the cry went up, and we charged. I gave a wave to Ryuusei and Rex as they ran for the main entrance, and as Youkai landed next to me, instead of following the main crowd, the small team I have somehow been assigned with went for the equally small and unguarded west entrance. Fumbling with the authentic iron ring, I twisted and moved from the bright outside to a cool and dark alcove that led on to a wide hall, equally dark and paved with stones as grey as the walls.

"Where to?" Takeshi, the bastard who somehow managed to follow us every single time, asked.

I snarled as a ray of light nearly managed to incinerate me. "Someone get her!"

Up above, hidden amidst the balconies, Michiru gave a plea of laughter as some of the students, foreign to dealing with Psychics like her, gasped and screamed and ran around like headless chickens. "Run, kiddies, run!"

"We'll handle it!" Alexianna assured, pushing Takeshi as she moved towards Michiru. The rest of us ran, splitting up until it was Rafael, Youkai and me left in the hallway, approaching a door.

Rafael de Santos tackled through, and about two inches of solid wood fell before him. "Here, right?"

"Good work," I hastily assured as I stepped through with Youkai following. We were in the dank, dark hallway we'd seen in the tablet now, and the moans had only increased.

I raised my voice. "Okay, we're... an alliance between the Central Arcadia Movement and Duel Academia's remaining students, here to free you. Now shut up while we unlock the doors."

"Found it!" I heard Youkai exclaim as Rafael walked briskly, pulling open door after door as the electronic locks beeped. It took a while, but soon people were crawling out of the doors and cells, haggard faces alight with hope that lent them the energy to get out.

"Listen," I spoke. "Rafael-" I indicated. "Will be leading you guys out. Follow him and you'll reach a camp where you'll get help. Those who can still move, help those who can't move. Let's hurry up before the eliminators get here."

The threat of the eliminators was pretty much enough to galvanise them into action, students in twos and trios moving out in firemen carries and others leaning on the walls.

"Let's move!" Archie relayed. "Berets, stake your lives to get them to safety! We're all moving blind here!"

"The guard's been incapacitated," Youkai informed he about five minutes after he left.

"Really? How?"

"I threw an indoor tornado at them."

"That he did," Takeshi nodded.

I looked at the two of them, still panting. "That must be hard."

"_Oh yeah!_" I heard whoops, and quite a few screams.

"Shit!" I hot-footed it to the exit, but it was too late; a manic-looking man had caught Rafael.

"Follow me!" Youkai shouted, diverting the escaping Duelists away from the Psychics and actually engaging them. I heard something shatter, and I hoped it was expensive.

Takeshi caught one with a borrowed Duel Rope. "Shall we?"

"The Queen named me Wolfe, for her hounds," he snarled as he answered Takeshi. "Beyond that, I have no other name."

"Duel!"

Wolfe: LP 8000

Takeshi: LP 8000

"Draw!" Wolfe called. "I'll set a monster and a card. Turn end."

"My turn, draw," Takeshi slowly announced. "I summon Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts [1200/800] in attack mode."

A white goat appeared on the field. "Tanngrisnir, attack the set monster!"

The card disappeared to reveal a small blue insect like creature that was clinging onto many trinkets you'd find at a yard sale. With a shriek, the bug was crushed.

"That monster you destroyed was my Magical Merchant [200/700]." Wolfe countered. "Now, I'm allowed to pick up cards from my deck until I come to a spell or trap card."

He carefully placed his fingers on the top card from his deck and turned the first card around, revealing Sengenjin. "Hmm…"

Flicking the next card off, Wolfe turned it around to show a Soul Tiger. For the next three cards, Wolfe continued to pull normal monsters until...

"A trap," Wolfe announced, turning the card around to show Birthright. "So I get this lone card into my hand, while the other five go to the graveyard."

"I'll set two cards, turn end." Takeshi finished.

"Draw!" Wolfe called.

"Trap card, Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir activates," Takeshi called. "With this, I can add a Nordic monster from deck to hand. I choose Mara of the Nordic Alfar."

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," Wolfe cackled. "All you've got out is a goat with a fancy name."

Takeshi did not answer.

"…Smart ass," Wolfe shook his head. "Hmm… I summon a personal favourite of mine – Come out, Gene-Warped Warwolf [2000/100]!"

With a loud howl echoing through the hallway, a large white-furred werewolf slammed into the ground, its four arms clawing into the brick.

"Gene-Warped Warwolf! Wipe the floor with that thing!"

Takeshi stoically stood to take it directly.

Takeshi: LP 8000 → LP 7200

Wolfe: LP 8000

"When Tanngrisnir is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon two Nordic Beast Tokens [0/0] to the field. Also, when a monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can special summon from my hand Tanngnjostr of the Nordic Beasts [800/1100], and I choose to special summon him in defence mode," Takeshi called as a black goat appeared beside two of the white goats. "Trap card, Nordic Relic Laevateinn. I can choose a monster that has destroyed a monster by battle this turn, and destroy it, and there is nothing that can be activated in response to Laevateinn."

"Turn end," Wolfe sniffed as Gene-Warped Warwolf imploded.

"I draw." Takeshi called. "By moving Tanngnjostr from defence mode to attack mode, I can special summon the tuner monster, Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts [1600/1000] from my deck."

A dark horse appeared on the field.

"There's no helping it..." Takeshi bit his lip. "Tuning, two level three Tokens to level four Guldfaxe."

"What? So...he's really..." Wolfe backed slightly.

"When the door of Asgard opens, the ancient war god will raise up his magical hammer, and the very earth will shake as he appears from a roar of thunder!" As Takeshi spoke, I thought the castle shook. "Synchro summon!"

From the earth splits an enormous fissure, where a giant hand rises up to grasp the ground. Out from the earth ascends a mighty warrior the size of Odin. "Thor, Lord of the Aesir!"

The enormous fissure broke the field open as the majestic figure, carrying a giant pile-driver of a hammer glowed. Thor was outfitted in furs and leathers, every bit the warrior-god of old mythology [3500/2800].

"And, I summon Mara of the Nordic Alfar [1000/500]." Takeshi announced as the black imp appeared. "When Mara is used in a Synchro summon, the material monsters are two Nordic monsters from my hand. So, I tune the level four Tyr of the Nordic Champions and level four Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar in my hand to level two Mara! The god that was born from the stars, show us your absolute power and make the world laugh! Synchro summon! Descend, Loki, Lord of the Aesir!"

All of us were stunned as the Nordic God tipped its witch-hat at us and winked saucily, just appearing from the shadows [3300/3000].

Takeshi trembled. "I equip Nordic Relic Draupnir to Loki [3300/3000 → 4100/3000]. Thor, attack him directly!"

"Trap card, Mirror Force!" Wolfe hastily defended.

"Loki can negate a Spell or Trap once per battle phase," Takeshi defended as Loki blew it a kiss and the holy barrier shattered. "Thunder Pile!"

The blow from the giant hammer was like a clap of thunder right in my ear; it freaking hurt to stare.

Wolfe: LP 8000 → LP 4500

Takeshi: LP 7200

"Loki, direct attack with Vanity Bullet!" Takeshi called as the trickster raised its hand in a gesture not unlike cocking a gun. A dark blast was fired down at Wolfe.

Wolfe: LP 4500 → LP 400

Takeshi: LP 7200

"Tanngnjostr," Takeshi indicated as the goat charged. "Finish this."

Wolfe: LP 400 → LP 0

Takeshi: LP 7200

Wolfe fell at the same time as Takeshi fell to his knees, clutching his left eye. His Band glowed. "Oh come on..."

"What?" I asked him, wondering if I should help him up.

Takeshi shook his head, the motion pendulous. "The Duel energy... manifests the Three Polar Gods' will in my head. Well... I'll be fine, though I think I should avoid Dueling some more."

"If you say- wait, backtrack," I muttered. "Duel energy?"

"This castle... is overflowing with unstable energy," Takeshi described. "Like... someone intended to open a portal and forgot to close it." He opened a glowing eye and sighed as I looked at him. "There's bad stuff around, alright."

"Right," I nodded, deciding to haul him to the nearest outgoing party and forbore to mention the maximum security prison dimension nearby.

When I caught up to the rest, I hauled Takeshi to Youkai before I came to Rafael. Rafael had been keeping eliminators off, and was currently accosting another eliminator. The crazy-looking one, who was pretty plain with brown hair, scowled.

"You shall not pass, then," Rafael conceded as his DuelDisk unfolded. Behind them, the other students were already running _out_ of the castle.

"Fine, the great me will finish you!" the other snarled. "Chandler, that's my name, don't wear it out."

"Rafael," Rafael easily replied.

"Duel!"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	41. XXXIX: Organised Resistance

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XXXIX: Organised Resistance**

Kisara's eyes widened very much so as she saw me as I ran into the grand hall.

Seto Kaiba stood. "What are you-"

The explosion cut off his words as I dived, pushing Kisara down with me as the walls, tapestries, glass and parts of the furniture crashed in. She rolled with me, gasping as her weak hands scrabbled for purchase on any surface, and I felt my back hit the wall.

My ears continued to ring for a long moment, before Kisara moved to me, leaning forward such that her long white hair hung over her like a veil, so close like a curtain between us.

"Take me away," she breathed. "Please..."

"Kisara!" Kaiba the senior charged over as soon as he was on his feet. "What are you doing?"

"I'm Kannazuki Seika, the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement," I defended as I sat up. "As a Psychic Duelist, Kisara is also placed under our care. Why were we not informed? Why has the Kaiba family resorted to unethical treatment in order to-"

"Enough!" Kaiba shouted. I fell silent as I felt his gaze on me, powerful and as ruthless as Setsu-chan. "Kisara is no longer under your regard or care. She is none of your business, Miss Kannazuki. In fact, I highly suggest you leave before I call security to throw you out."

"Kaiba-sama, this tournament... was it just to harvest Duel energy?" I demanded, beginning to stand as he stilled. "Kisara... is still a member of the Movement. We are sworn to protect every member. Yet... why?"

"... why should I trust an organisation run by an ignorant fool?" Kaiba defended as he leaned over, hauling Kisara into his arms in a princess carry. Carefully, gently, even though he listed somewhat, he lowered her into the wheelchair, carefully reattaching the dripping tubes that gave the life of Duelists into Kisara's bloodstream. "I have entered a report with the Movement a long time ago, and yet why have they gotten back to me only now? Tell me why the Movement will not approve of using its new treatments on Kisara!"

I shook my head. "Those treatments are experimental, Kaiba-sama. They cannot, should not be used. Please-"

"Kisara is dying!" the elderly guardian retaliated. "I will not stand by and allow the only remaining family I have left to wither and waste away, not when there are ways and means to make her well again." He shook his head. "The Arcadia Movement cannot be trusted, not any more."

"Is stealing the life of others to feed it into her body a better way, then?" I demanded. "The lives of others are not for bargaining either!"

"Do I look like I care?" Kaiba sneered as he began to roll Kisara away. "If the Movement is here, that means that NDPD is here as well. Let's go, Kisara."

"W- Wait..." Kisara was clearly trying to get out. "Please... stop this..."

"Don't worry, Kisara..." I had never heard such a tender sound, especially from Kaiba Seto. "I'll make you well again, alright?"

Another explosion sounded. "What took so long?" he asked.

"Apologies, oh great employer of the hour," I heard Michiru's laugh along with a thump. "I was occupied with my hated enemy."

"_Putain_..." I heard Alexianna-san curse in a low voice around her.

"I don't care." Kaiba snapped. "Where is Shimotsuki?"

"Her Majesty was caught in the explosion... I think she and the other managed to escape," Michiru answered. "Third floor, the great hall. We can at least conduct the ritual there. Moving Kisara to another spot would be too difficult, so she has had the ballroom reinforced barricaded until morning."

"I see..." Kaiba nodded. "I leave the two of them to you. You are allowed to use lethal force."

"No... No!" Kisara nearly fell out.

"Chain Energy," Michiru reacted fast, and Kisara's arms and legs were bound to the chair. "It should wear off in plenty of time, Kaiba-sama."

"Excellent work."

Michiru gave yet more giggles as Kaiba and a feebly struggling Kisara left before the shackles disappeared. "So... whose blood should be shed first?"

"_Pute_," Alexianna-san got back up from where Michiru had slammed her into a wall. Her beret was askew, and she listed to one side momentarily as a thin trickle of blood seeped from the corners of her mouth, but she wiped it on her red jacket sleeve.

Michiru just laughed as her DuelDisk unfolded with uncharacteristic sharpness. "_F__atti avanti, Signorina Oscuro._"

Alexianna-san growled, her eyes flashing scarlet in answer. "Seika," she spoke in a low, tense voice. "Do you know _Français_?"

"Er... no?" I shook.

"No chance," Michiru sneered as she pointed at me, and then waved a hand to the ruined large room, which resembled a library. Immediately, bars of light formed over the only exit about. "Now, neither of you are getting out until one of you win, so the two of you will be Dueling me!"

I frowned, but if what she said was true... "Please take care of me, Alexianna-san," I whispered as I unfolded my own DuelDisk.

"Duel!"

Michiru: LP 8000

Alexianna: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"I'll start first, I draw!" Michiru declared, some malevolent aura forming around her. "Well, I'll set a monster and two cards. Turn end."

"Draw!" Alexianna-san snapped. "I'll play the Spell, Trade-In, to discard the level eight Darklord Superbia and draw two cards. Now, I summon Dark Valkyria [1800/1050] to the field. I set two cards, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" I called. "I play the Field Spell, Future Visions!"

As the door-riddled field appeared, I felt much safer. Here was where my Ladies reigned.

"Now, I summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200]!" I declared as the yellow-robed monster appeared. "By the effects of Future Visions, Lighty is banished from the field, thus allowing me to special summon another Fortune Lady! So appear, Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]!"

Darky snarled as she appeared, glaring at Michiru.

"Since now we all have taken our first turns, Darky, attack her set monster!" I commanded.

"Trap card," Michiru smiled, and for a moment I hesitated. "Jar of Greed. I draw a card."

A grinning jar exploded under Darky's attack.

"Morphing Jar?" Alexianna-san blinked as we discarded and drew until all of us had five cards.

"When The Fabled Catsith is discarded, one card on the field goes boom, so I choose Future Visions," Michiru slowly replied, and I cowered as the field imploded, trapping Lighty between worlds. Two monsters, a three-headed dog and a bipedal elephant, appeared. "When The Fabled Cerburrel [1000/400] is discarded, it is special summoned. When The Fabled Ganashia [1600/1000 → 1800/1000] is discarded, it is special summoned to my field with two hundred or more attack power, but it is banished when it is removed from the field."

"I... I equip Darky with One-Shot Wand [2000/2000 → 2800/2000] and end my turn," I looked down.

"I draw!" Michiru laughed. "Well, you should remember this, little girl. I summon Lock Cat [1200/1000] to the field. Its effect allows me to special summon a level one Beast-Type monster, such as The Fabled Catsith [800/600]. And as you should remember, Catsith is a tuner monster."

I could feel my legs shaking.

"Tuning, level three Lock Cat to level one Catsith," Michiru declared. "Legends long hidden by the con of man, lead the charge to reveal yourself in light! Synchro Summon! Charge, The Fabled Unicore!"

Hooves clipped onto asphalt as the mythical horse creature galloped next to its mistress. Its eyes gleamed red under the armoured skull, where the single spiked horn was placed in the very centre of its forehead. The armour it wore was light bronze and ochre, stark against a pure white coat. It was a creature of beauty... and a herald of something more [2300/1000].

I shivered, partly in remembrance and partly in fear.

"Are you afraid?" Michiru smirked. "And that's not all. I play Card Destruction."

I swallowed, even as I discarded and drew.

"Now, the effect of Fabled Krus in the graveyard activates, allowing me to special summon The Fabled Kokkator [1700/1000] from my graveyard," Michiru continued as the giant rooster appeared, gnashing its beak. "The poor dear... Unicore, attack Fortune Lady Darky with your Charge of the Light! And I activate this Trap: Horn of the Phantom Beast [2300/1000 → 3100/1000]!"

I blocked ineffectually as the monster neighed and Darky screamed as she shattered.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 7700

Alexianna: LP 8000

Michiru: LP 8000

"Oh, does it hurt?" Michiru said, her tone one of false concern and her wide eyes equally fake, before it morphed into one of casual cruelty as she drew a card due to Horn. "Good. Kokkator, direct attack! Peck her!"

Seika: LP 7700 → LP 6000

Alexianna: LP 8000

Michiru: LP 8000

"Stop picking on her!" Alexianna-san snapped as I was hit by the Kokkator. Blood poured from the wound in my arm where it hit.

"Too bad," Michiru sneered. "Fabled Ganashia, Fabled Cerburrel, direct attack!"

I braced myself for the oncoming assault.

"Trap card, Karma Cut!" Alexianna-san snapped. "I discard a card, and then your Cerburrel is banished!"

"Too bad, but my Unicore can negate all spells, traps and monster effects and destroy that card as long as we both have the same number of cards in hand." Michiru held up her four cards. "And just nice, we have four. So, Unicore, stomp that trap flat with Illusion Killer!"

The unicorn charged, stomping it flat in moments.

"This is my night, you stupid cow!" Michiru shouted. "Continue, my beasts!"

Seika: LP 6000 → LP 3200

Alexianna: LP 8000

Michiru: LP 8000

"I set three cards, and then..." Michiru smirked. "Tuning, level three Ganashia to level two Cerburrel. Legends shrouded in false darkness for too long, spread your wings and fly into the light! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Fabled Ragin!"

The fiend that appeared was armoured in red and gold [2300/1800], and it bore itself well as it glared at us [2300/1800].

"When Ragin is Synchro summoned and I have one or less cards in hand, I can draw until I have less than two cards," Michiru smirked as she drew. "Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Alexianna-san finished. "I will not allow you to hurt anyone else. I discard Darklord Zerato from my hand to special summon Dark Grepher [1700/1600]! Now, I discard another Dark Attribute monster from my hand to mill a Dark Attribute monster from my deck, and I choose another Superbia. Now, I play the Spell, Monster Reborn, to revive Darklord Superbia [2900/2400]. When Superbia is special summoned from the graveyard, I can special summon another Fairy-Type monster from my graveyard, so I'll special summon Darklord Zerato [2800/2300]!"

In an eerie black light, the red-cloaked warrior appeared, and I could barely see his wings of coal-black, dark as the shadows of the cloak that they were hidden in.

"Not bad. Obviously the Witch of the West hasn't lost her touch," Michiru sneered. "Tell me, does your boyfriend feel scared when he's facing your monsters? Knowing that at any moment you could choose to end his life."

"I send Darklord Asmodeus from my hand to the graveyard to use his special effect and destroy all your monsters!" Alexianna-san declared.

"Idiot," Michiru scorned. "Did you really think that I have forgotten what Darklord Zerato can do? Chain, activate The Huge Revolution is Over! Now not only is the destruction of my dear monsters negated, but your Zerato is banished from the field!"

"But, I still have options!" Alexianna-san snapped as her Zerato disappeared. "Superbia, attack the Fabled Ragin with Fallen Rush!"

The strangely-shaped fairy descended, enveloping the grinning fiend in its light to destroy it.

Michiru: LP 8000 → LP 7400

Alexianna: LP 8000

Seika: LP 3200

"Hmph..." Michiru scoffed, licking the wound where Superbia had inflicted its damage. "This small damage is nothing compared to the lowest of Winter."

"I... end my turn," Alexianna-san retaliated. "Seika?"

"I draw!" I called. "I'll set a card. Now, I summon Fortune Lady Windy [?/? → 900/900] and use her effect to destroy one of your Spell or Trap cards, Michiru-san, and I choose Horn of the Phantom Beast."

"Like I'd let you!" Michiru snapped. "Counter Trap, Divine Wrath! Now I pitch a card and your Windy is no more!"

A bolt of lightning finished Windy off.

"I play Monster Reborn, and special summon Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]," I called as she graced the field once more. "I play the Spell, Spellbook of Life, to banish Windy and reveal Spellbook of Power in my hand, and special summon another Fortune Lady Watery [?/? → 2100/2100] as a level seven monster. Due to Watery's effect, I draw two cards. I activate the set card, Galaxy Queen's Light! Now I choose Watery, and all monsters I control become level seven for the turn. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon! Arise, Hierophant of Prophecy!"

The magician was tall and thin, with a long face and generally the inspiring young magician. He wore black robes edged in gold and sigils, and carried a wide-topped staff of shining gold and green. A crown of gold and green glittered on his head as he glared. [2800/2600].

"I activate Spellbook of Power from my hand for Hierophant to gain one thousand attack power for the turn [2800/2600 → 3800/2600]," I declared. "Now, I use the effect of Hierophant of Prophecy. By detaching one Exceed material from him, I can destroy as many Spells or Traps on the field as there are Spellbook Spells in my graveyard!"

Michiru covered as her monster's protection and Horn of the Phantom Beast blew up [3100/1000 → 2300/1000].

"Now, Hierophant, attack The Fabled Unicore with Judgement of Magic!" I called as the magician raised his staff.

Michiru: LP 7400 → LP 5900

Alexianna: LP 8000

Seika: LP 3200

"Due to Spellbook of Power, I add another Spellbook of Life to my hand. Turn end with a set card," I sighed as I took a card. Now the situation had changed.

"You... you..." Michiru struggled. "My monsters... unforgivable...! I draw!"

She glanced at the card. "I play Pot of Avarice, shuffling Ragin, Unicore, Cerburrel, Krus and a Grimro into the deck to draw two cards." She chuckled as she drew. "I play the Spell, Light of Redemption to add Ganashia back to my hand."

Michiru: LP 5900 → LP 5100

Seika: LP 3200

Alexianna: LP 8000

"Now, I discard Cerburrel to special summon The Fabled Chawa [200/100] to the field, and you know that The Fabled Cerburrel [1000/400] will follow." Michiru declared. "I normal summon Fabled Ganashia [1600/1000]. Tuning, level three Ganashia to level two Cerburrel. Legends shrouded in false darkness for too long, spread your wings and fly into the light! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Fabled Ragin!"

The fiend appeared again in red and gold [2300/1800].

"I get to draw two cards," Michiru finished. "Now I send a Fabled Grimro from my hand to my graveyard to get a Fabled monster from my deck to my hand, and I choose Krus. I discard both Krus to add two Fabled Kushano from my graveyard to hand, and the effect of both Krus activate, special summoning Ganashia and Cerburrel to the field. I send both Kushano from hand to grave to special summon Fabled Soulkius [2200/2100]. Tuning, level three Ganashia to level two Cerburrel. Legends shrouded in false darkness for too long, spread your wings and fly into the light! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Fabled Ragin!"

Another fiend appeared, this one with teeth bared [2300/1800].

"I draw two cards again," Michiru yawned. "Now I play Lightning Vortex, destroying all monsters on your fields at the cost of discarding a card!"

"No!" I gasped as our monsters, Alexianna-san's angels and my own Hierophant, were destroyed.

"And I discarded my last Krus, so it looks like Fabled Grimro [1700/1000] will be joining us for a while," Michiru smirked, arms crossed as the winged grey angel-like monster appeared. "Let's see... finish the chibi off, or my most hated rival? Choices, choices..."

"I've never seen you as a rival, you psychopath," Alexianna-san snapped.

Michiru twitched. "Pot, kettle, black, missy. Whether you were in East Academia or West Academia, people still stare at you. To them, you're a freak, you're hated, and your own fiancé ran away from you!"

"No!" Alexianna-san shook her head in denial. "I... I...!"

"He ran away once, and he can do it again," Michiru sneered. "Where's that declaration of yours that love will conquer everything? Let's face it, hon, whatever you lured him in with, well, the bait's gone. He's just going to marry you out of obligation."

"No... _non, non_! Takeshi loves me!"

"'_Loved_' should be the operative word. So, where is he?"

"I..." Alexianna-san panicked. "I..."

"Alexianna-san, please don't let her get to you!" I cried.

"You're a Psychic Duelist with the power of glamour," Michiru sneered. "I'd bet that the Nordic guy just fell for that, and now he knows it. That's why he's been keeping his distance, hasn't he? Frigid little girl playing with the fairies of darkness, never knowing the true stories hidden by the con of men. Even lifting tail won't even save what's been crashing down since day one-"

"_Taire_! Shut up, shut up, shut up, _putain_!" Alexianna-san screamed, cradling her ears.

Michiru yawned. "I'm right, _Signora Oscuro. _My minions? Finish this pathetic bitch off."

All four of the monsters grinned as they turned on Alexianna-san, baring their teeth and fangs as they leapt upon her.

I screamed as I saw blood fall.

Alexianna: LP 8000 → LP 0

Michiru: LP 5100

Seika: LP 3200

"A- Alexianna-san...?" I stuttered as the French girl did not move from where she had been thrown back. "A- Alexianna-san... please, wake up. Please..."

Michiru laughed, and it was even worse as the sound echoed about the room. "_Arrivederci, Signora Oscuro_. Looks like the little girl has found herself all alone now. What will you do?"

"Why?" I demanded. "Alexianna-san has done nothing to you!"

Michiru's expression turned ugly, until there was nothing but cold rage and... and something hidden behind her dark blue eyes. "She hurt my pride as a Duelist, Dueling primarily for love... I hate her. I hate everything she stands for. One day, I shall murder her boyfriend, no, fiancé, right in front of her, and she will scream and beg and be unable to stop me, for she will have seen the world that she's so reluctant to believe, the world that Her Majesty will build if Her Coldness ever cared. I shall be there to see it, every single piece, and then I will kiss Her Majesty on that pretty blood-stained mouth as we dance and the bodies of our fallen enemies crunch underfoot."

I swallowed, trying not to flinch at the outpouring of menace that radiated from her. My headache grew. Michiru was more experienced that me, and more powerful. If she chose, she could injure me horribly if I couldn't answer her assault. I might as well be a grain of sand to the oncoming tide.

And yet... yet...

...that grain of sand might be the last remnant of what had once been a mountain. But... that which it is, it _is_. The tide comes, and the tide goes. Let it hammer the grain of sand as it may. Let mountains fear the slow, constant assault of the waters. Let valleys shudder at the pitiless advance of glacial ice. Let continents drown beneath the dark and rising tide.

Let the tide roll in. The sand will still be there after it rolls out.

So I stood. I met her, eye to manic eye, meeting it with every bit of defiance I could muster. Knowing that she commanded monsters whose names were long consigned to darkness, I met her stare, and I gazed defiantly into it, matching my will as a Duelist against her inexorable willpower, Duelist against Duelist. As I did so... I saw it.

"I'm so sorry for you."

Michiru's expression fell. "What?"

"I'm so sorry that you had to follow Setsu-chan all of these years," I replied. "It was cruel, isn't it? It was horrible, isn't it? And it never changed, for two years. Setsu-chan was everything safe about the Movement to you, right? And when she left... you followed. You kept her alive, as she was your only friend in a cold and dark world where humans don't even exist."

Michiru's expression crumpled. "Shut up."

"Our mutual friend, Setsu-chan... did you ever wish to call her that?" I continued. "Did you ever wish that she could teach you a simple game, a game where there is nothing at stake beside one's pride? Having fun? Calling her by her name, rather than 'Her Majesty' or 'Setsuka-san' or 'Shimotsuki-san'? Maybe you were jealous, because I could call her 'Setsu-chan' and get away with it."

"_Zitto_." Her voice had gotten harsher.

"I admit... that being powerless can isolate, but so can too much power," I admitted. "I... I felt completely alone when I was in the Movement. But, I have friends, I have Uzuki and Hazuki-nee and Nii-chan, and Rex-nii and Chase-nii and Youkai and Baa-chan and Nakamura-san, so I don't feel alone. But, Setsu-chan... Setsu-chan finds it difficult to make friends. So... even when you were with her, you didn't feel wanted, did you? My pain, Alexianna-san, everyone you've challenged... were you causing pain to bury the pain in your own heart?"

"_Zitto_!" Michiru screamed, and a beam of light from her hand narrowly missed me. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! I... I just like causing pain! I love it! The screams, the panic, the fear of my laughter and joy! What friends? What family? Everyone called me a demon! Well, now I have the last laugh! I'm the queen of demons! I'm the right hand of the Queen that rules over all the wicked monsters! I'm the one they scream in terror of in the pure white night!"

"You've been amongst the Fabled for so long... that you've forgotten what it's like to be real," I nodded. "I understand. Therefore... I will not forgive you."

A curious pressure had begun to build between my eyes, and I kept glaring, as if there was all to it, to me.

Michiru laughed. "Brave words for someone so little. Tuning, level five Ragin and level four Grimro to level one Chawa. Legends sunk long ago into the darkness of time, arise to begin the revolution of the tales! Synchro summon! Lord of the monsters, Fabled Leviathan!"

Red, large leathery wings flared, long red hair hanging loose on its head as it floated, indulgently smiling even though its eyes were covered by a mask [3000/2000].

I swallowed, suddenly feeling terribly, terribly afraid. "T- Three thousand..."

"Well?" Michiru smiled indulgently. "I shall let you try. Defeat my strongest beast, then. Turn end."

* * *

"Duel!"

Chandler: LP 8000

Rafael: LP 8000

"I draw!" Chandler snarled. "I'll summon Jinzo – Returner [600/1400] to the field! Now I'll activate the quick-play Spell, Psychic Wave! This allows me to send a Jinzo from my hand or deck to the grave and then inflict damage equal to the attack power of my Returner, so you'll take six hundred damage!"

Rafael hunkered down as the burst pelted him.

Rafael: LP 8000 → LP 7400

Chandler: LP 8000

"So this is a Psychic attack... is that it?" Rafael challenged.

"I'll end my turn." Chandler declared.

"You don't need to set anything?" Rafael asked.

"Why? I got Jinzo, he's enough."

"Well..." Rafael shrugged. "I draw. Since you control a monster and I don't, I special summon Oracle of the Sun [1000/2000] from my hand."

A dark-skinned man wearing a poncho and a feathered headdress complete with feather-topped staff appeared.

"Now, I summon the tuner monster, Fire Ant Ascator [700/1300]," Rafael continued as the dark red ant crawled up. "Tuning, level five Oracle to level three Ascator. When the sun arises, all darkness is dispelled. Light, shine brightly! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Sun Dragon Inti!"

From the column of light that followed all Synchro summons, sunlight burst forth, bright and clear. The sun that appeared was surrounded by four red dragon heads, the reddish flames to the sun's gold brilliance [3000/2800].

"You wanna rethink that strategy?" I asked Chandler from the sidelines, because I think his epic _oh_-_shit_ face was easily the best.

"No comments from the peanut gallery, please," Rafael pointed.

"Aww..."

Rafael pointed. "Attack Jinzo – Returner, Inti!"

The four dragon heads unleashed a solar flare on the monster.

Chandler: LP 8000 → LP 5600

Rafael: LP 7400

"When Returner is sent to the graveyard, I can special summon Jinzo [2400/1500] from my graveyard!" Chandler defended. An android garbed in green rose out of the ground, its head bare of any hair to reveal only pulsing veins beneath the scalp, and its face covered in a mask that covered its eyes with goggles and a mouthpiece that resembled an open mouth.

Rafael shrugged. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"Traps won't help against Jinzo!" Chandler heckled. "I draw. Now I'll sack Jinzo to special summon Jinzo – Lord [2600/1600]! And I equip him with United We Stand [2600/1600 → 3400/1600]! Now Jinzo – Lord! Attack Inti with Cyber Energy Impact!"

"Ah... when Inti is destroyed by battle, the attacking monster is destroyed, and you take damage equal to half its total attack," Rafael pointed out.

"What? Shit!"

Rafael: LP 7400 → LP 7000

Chandler: LP 5600 → LP 3900

I winced on the behalf of Chandler.

"With that, since I can activate Traps now, I activate Limit Reverse to special summon Oracle of the Sun once more," Rafael indicated. "Well?"

"Now, I'll play Monster Reborn to special summon Jinzo [2400/1500]!" Chandler called as the android reappeared. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Rafael called. "I play the Spell One for One, discarding Level Eater to special summon from my deck the tuner monster, Supay. Tuning, level five Oracle to level one Supay. When the path of darkness is opened, the voices in the shadow can be heard! Walk through the valleys of death! Synchro summon! Show yourself, Moon Dragon Quilla!"

This time, it was a subtle entrance, a glowing blue-white moon surrounded by four blue dragon heads [2500/2000].

"And I reduce the level of Quilla by one to special summon Level Eater [600/0]," Rafael called. "Then, I'll tribute Level Eater to special summon Kuraz the Light Monarch [2400/1000]!"

There was a blinding flash of golden light and the gold-armoured emperor appeared with his cape flapping in the wind

"His effect activates; I can destroy your Jinzo... and Quilla!"

"Idiot!" Chandler chuckled as twin blasts of light radiated. "Why-" he cut off as Inti reappeared in its sunlit glory.

"In timeless and forgotten grace, the moon and sun in endless chase." Rafael answered. "Each in quiet surrender, while the other reigns the skies. The controllers of the cards destroyed can draw a card for each card destroyed by Kuraz."

"Hah!" Chandler chuckled as they both drew. "So what? Kuraz can't attack this turn!"

"So you think," Rafael agreed.

"...eh?"

"Quick-play Spell, Forbidden Chalice," Rafael slyly revealed as a chalice appeared in a golden-gauntleted hand and the emperor took a deep swig [2400/1000 → 2800/1000].

I looked at the field. Two giant beat-sticks, and no monsters on the opponent's... Rafael had it made.

"Inti, attack him directly with Solar Radiance!" Rafael commanded. "Now, Kuraz, finish this with the Sword of Assured Victory!"

I blinked, looking around me at the sudden voice as Kuraz drew his sword and the blade shone with a golden radiance, right before Kuraz swung his sword to attack Chandler. For a moment, I thought I could have heard a battle cry...

Chandler: LP 3900 → LP 0

Rafael: LP 7000

Stunned, Chandler fell to his knees, staring vacantly at nothing in particular. I leaned over him, checking the whites of his eyes. "Well, this is... odd."

The black eyes flashed, and I saw them change to blue-green, malicious as all hell and definitely seeing me. One eyelid fluttered. The eyes of the Winter Queen winked at me, before it disappeared and Chandler fell over.

I stood there, stunned and hardly daring to move-

"Come on!" Rafael called. "We've got to get the rest out before the other eliminators get-"

"Too late, Rafael," I heard the familiar cold voice. "We've gotten here."

Rafael froze, turning slightly to stare, no, glare at the speaker. "You," he snarled. "Where's Setsuna?"

Kujaku Satsuki elegantly crossed her arms.

I raised an eyebrow. "I guess you guys know one another?"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	42. XL: Double Payback

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XL: Double Payback**

Trapped within the array of light, I felt nervous under Michiru's calm, cold gaze. By my side, Alexianna-san had fallen, and was currently unconsciously. The rise and fall of her chest showed that she was breathing, but if I could not win this... who knew for how much longer.

Seika: LP 3200, 1 face-down card, Hand: 2

Michiru: LP 5100, Fabled Valkyrus [3000/2000], Fabled Ragin [2300/1800], Fabled Soulkius [2200/2100], Hand: 0

As I got ready to draw, I prayed for the Duel gods for an answer. My deck... don't fail me...

"Well?" Michiru asked me. "Can you win?"

"I draw!" I called. "Now I play the Spell, Fortune's Future! I return Lighty to my graveyard, and I draw two cards. Now I activate Graceful Revival, allowing me to special summon Lighty [?/? → 200/200]! I activate Magic Planter to send Graceful Revival to the graveyard to draw two cards, and therefore Lighty is destroyed! Appear, Fortune Lady Fiery [?/? → 400/400]! Destroy Fabled Leviathan and burn Michiru with your flames of fate!"

Michiru: LP 5100 → LP 2100

Seika: LP 3200

"Cheap tricks..." Michiru growled, glaring at the red-haired Fortune Lady which had conjured the flames. "When Leviathan is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can return any three Fabled monsters from graveyard to hand, and I choose Leviathan and two Krus."

"I set a card, and then I play the Spell, Hand Destruction!" I called, and Michiru's face soured as she sent the cards from hand to graveyard, and drew twice with me. "Now, I activate the set card, Spellbook of Life! I banish the level six Fortune Lady Earthy to special summon Fortune Lady Darky as a level eleven monster [?/? → 4400/4400]!"

"What?" Michiru glanced, stunned. "So-!"

"There's still hope," I confided. "There's still a chance! Like this Spellbook of Life... the sacrifice of those before us should not be in vain! Darky! Attack Fabled Ragin with Dark Fate, and end this Duel!"

Darky whooped with joy as she unleashed her dark blasts upon the fiend, and with it the remains of Michiru's life points.

Michiru: LP 2100 → LP 0

Seika: LP 3200

The bars shattered at the same time as when Michiru fell, her eyes wide. "I... I..."

I slowly made my way to her. "Michiru-san..." I softly whispered as I offered a hand. "Shall we?"

"W- What?" Robbed of her aura of invincibility, Michiru looked lost.

"We have to go find Setsu-chan now," I softly persuaded, remembering the hold Winter had on them all. "There's a lot we have to go through."

"I- If we must..." Michiru looked away. "Well, you won. What is it you need to know?"

"What is Setsu-chan doing?"

Michiru considered, her voice cold as she spoke. "Directly speaking, she's capturing Duelists all over the island to drain them of their Duel energy to heal Kisara."

"But why?"

"Kaiba-sama said so."

"Why is Setsu-chan following him, then?" I asked. "She's the queen of a land of spirits, right?"

"Her Majesty owes Kaiba-sama a favour, and so for this duration she is repaying it," Michiru answered. "I am obliged to tell you this, after all."

"So... Setsu-chan is repaying her debts... and to do this..." I nodded as we turned a corner. "What did she agree to do?"

"Until such a time when her services were no longer required, Kaiba-sama would receive her assistance in curing Kisara," Michiru answered without any inflection. "The resources of Winter would also be called in where necessary to cure Kisara, hence Satsuki and I followed her. If Orion Hunter were to be invited, then the point of the mission would have been overturned, hence Her Majesty inflicted a debilitating injury onto him."

"What is the point of the mission?" I asked.

Michiru silently walked beside me for a moment. "I cannot say."

"Is it a promise to Setsu-chan?"

"No," Michiru shook her head, obviously frustrated. "It's because I do not know. It could easily be a roundabout way to finish off Kaiba-sama, or a way to force the Summer King into a permanent choice, or to gain power of her own. I _can't_ understand her grand plan."

I considered as we stopped before the double doors, which were shut. "That's alright. Sometimes I can't understand either."

"These doors are coded only to the three of us, Kaiba, and the other eliminators," Michiru explained as she reached for the doorknob. I saw her hesitate.

"What's wrong?"

"This..." Michiru swallowed. "This is one of the most freeing conversations I've ever had. I've had freeing conversations with Setsuka before... but never like this. Never one where I could freely admit that I do not know, without repercussions."

"Don't you ever ask Setsu-chan?"

"She tells me. After a really long game which I still lose," Michiru gave a laugh. "When you're one of Winter, you turn your back to nobody. Even the Queen. _Especially_ the Queen. Especially... since the infection of the Lswarm, when we might have to kill one another... it's been tough. On everyone. I... you've never grown up with Tenjouin Fubuki for a father. He's a great friend... but not the father I think about. Sometimes... sometimes I think he regrets the day he took me in."

"He couldn't have," I answered. "He loved you."

I was then seized by the throat, and slammed against the double doors. Michiru's breath was hot on my ear as she leaned forward, her black hair so much like Setsu-chan's locks tangling between my own strands.

"Oh, dear girl... his love was too _sweet_," Michiru sweetly muttered, kissing my ear and then nipping it with an incisor. "_Next_ time, the people you might have to kill would not be so compliant or merciful like us. Just a warning to you."

I was thrown through the doors, feeling the wood shatter around me as I flew in, turning in cartwheels until I landed on my front, my eyes wide.

The ballroom was a sumptuously furnished room. Marble tiles that ached against my hips, fine drapes hanging from the wooden beams, long winding staircases to stand and admire, and a wide dance floor.

Seto Kaiba stood in the centre of the ballroom, in the middle of the dance floor. His tall form was planted, braced like a man standing against a strong wind, hunched, bent forward slightly, but not in a stance of battle. He endured.

Kaiba stood at one point of an equilateral triangle.

At one of the other points stood Setsu-chan. She stood with her right arm upraised, facing Kaiba. She wore the same halter-top and skirt with boots I had seen her in earlier, if slightly singed. The top was pressed against the front of her body, and her dark hair was blown back as if in a strong wind. There was no visible display of energy coming from her other than that, but the ground between her and Kaiba was covered in frost, and I could feel that cold power she was pouring out against Kaiba's spirit.

Nii-chan stood at the third point of the triangle. He wore his dark black T-shirt, jeans and boots. He stood in the same stance as her, the same unseen power flaring from an outstretched hand, but the ground between him and Kaiba was covered in a layer of green grass that erupted out of the marble floor.

Between the three of them, lay two bodies, side by side, their feet pointing to the doors and therefore, me. One was bare feet, attached to a woman wearing hospital white – Kisara.

The other wore boots, and... was very bad. I had seen him before, and Kiyoshi had been vaguely pretty if rather feminine-looking. Now he was a wasted shell of a human being, a charcoal sketch that had been smudged by an uncaring hand. He wore a smock of black, fashioned like a potato sack and clearly granted for the sake of modesty more than for any practical protection against the elements, ripped and torn and shredded it was. He was tied, held down to the plank that bound him with seven lengths of slender silken cord, but his emaciated limbs looked like they would never have the strength to overcome even those frail bonds. He was weeping, sobbing softly, the sound of it more like an animal in horrible pain than anything human.

Nii-chan frowned, turning to face me, and breaking the connection. The other two also faced me, and their eyes were cold. I swallowed under the unsettling gaze of eyes that were familiar and yet not.

"Setsu-chan," I acknowledged her.

Setsu-chan didn't move for a long moment, and then she did, a slow nod. "I see Michiru has brought you here."

Behind me, I could sense Michiru trying to hide in the shadows. I tried not to gasp. "I see... that Kiyoshi is there."

Setsu-chan nodded. "He is."

"May I see what has happened to him?"

She inclined her head. With slow, hesitant footsteps, I walked forward and looked.

His mouth was partly open, and his teeth had been inscribed with whorls and Celtic design, then stained with something dark and brown, that moved as he kept making those noises. His eyes were wide, and panicked, and barely human, eyelids scored through with what looked like fingernails. His own hands were crusted over with dried blood, as if it weren't enough that he had to be punished and still see what was coming for him that he had tried to dig his own eyes out to save himself. His limbs attempted to struggle, but they just didn't have the strength to even move.

I stumbled back, and Nii-chan caught me. "Don't look, Seika," he whispered, his breath ragged. "Don't look."

"I am somewhat proud of this," her cold voice said. For a moment, the only sounds were those of a cold, gentle wind and his sobs. "For a time, I was contented to torment him to the edge of sanity. Then I set out to see how far over the edge a mortal could go."

If I turned my head, perhaps I could see her eyes glittering merrily in the shadows.

"A pity that so little was left. He betrayed us, all of us. See where it has taken him. Now, for once in his miserable life, he shall be useful. He shall save a girl with a future ahead of her by giving up his own of pain and torture."

I could see it, a thread of blue that connected their wrists. A threat of yellow flowed from Kiyoshi to Kisara, and the blue thread went in the reverse of the other.

Setsu-chan walked, and then turned to a lost-looking Kaiba. "Choose," Setsu-chan whispered. "Choose. One life, for that of Kisara Kaiba's future."

"Please..." Kisara breathed, her voice harsh and ragged. "Stop..."

Setsu-chan handed Kaiba a knife. It was an ancient knife, with a simple leaf-blade design, set into a wooden handle and wrapped with cord and leather. Its double edge had a wickedly sharp shine to it.

"Kill him, and I shall take his life force and render it on Kisara," Setsu-chan told the stunned elder Kaiba. "He is a traitor, his mind lost before his body came to this state. No one would miss him."

"Please-" I felt Nii-chan hold me closer.

"Don't," he warned Setsu-chan. "I've called Ayame, she'll be coming soon."

I felt my hands drop back to my sides. "Nii-chan... please. Help me."

"He betrayed us," he whispered, and I could almost hear the anger in his voice. Nii-chan was... not himself.

Kaiba's hand shook, as if the knife was too heavy. "I..."

Kisara choked, entering a coughing spasm. Neither Setsu-chan or Nii-chan moved as Kaiba desperately pumped her chest, moving faster than I had thought possible.

"Do something!" Kaiba desperately whispered.

"I will," she replied. "When you choose."

I could hear the ragged breaths of Nii-chan near where Michiru had bitten me on my ear. I could feel his hands on me, keeping me away from harm and from saving Kisara and Kiyoshi.

Kaiba raised the knife, and gently positioned Kiyoshi's chin over the blade.

The hand moved.

* * *

"One alias later, and this happens..." Satsuki shook her head. "She doesn't want to see you."

"She can come and tell me herself!" Rafael snapped. "Where is she?"

"Not here," Satsuki just shook her head as she walked off. "There's one guy you missed," she called behind her.

I turned, and nearly screamed.

He was crawling, even though his fingers couldn't have been trained to carry all of his weight. His red hair was matted with his own blood, and several bruises mottled on his face nearly made identification impossible. Yet, by the light of the nearest torches, he was familiar, awfully, painfully familiar...

"Y- Yuuki," I stuttered.

His head tilted as Rafael and I rushed to him. "P- Princeton?"

"What the hell?" I swore. "You look like a whole ring of boxers just used you as a punching bag."

"T- Tenjouin M- Michiru," Yuuki spat out a tooth, and I winced for his sake. "She... she put me in a cell. A cell next door to Kiyoshi."

I froze. "He's still alive? After betraying the Movement, Summer _and_ Winter?"

Yuuki seized my forearm, gripping with the strength of the manic and the cornered. "_Please_," he rasped. "Save Kiyoshi. They'll... they'll sacrifice him tonight."

"He knew what was coming to him when he betrayed the two Courts," I whispered.

"Please," Yuuki rasped. "I- I can't lose him again. Not twice."

I met him eye to eye. Yuuki was completely serious. If I refused, he was going to drag his exhausted and injured ass against three of the most powerful female Duelists I have ever known, and try to save Kiyoshi despite the certain death that awaited him.

After a while, his eyes rolled back, and his grip loosened.

I pushed him to a waiting Rafael. "Get him out," I curtly replied. "I'm going to the security booth. Evidence."

Rafael nodded as he took Yuuki in a fireman carry. "I'll get him out. You make sure we've got the bastards good."

I ran for the security booth, quickly finding an active terminal, and then plugged in the USB device Ryuusei had brought along. The terminal beeped, and then the window with the download progress began. Sure, it was downright illegal at best, but then it was evidence that, at worst, would discredit KaibaCorp. So all the security footage was quickly downloaded into the USB, and I pocketed the tiny device once it beeped to signal that it was done.

Now I paused. I could get out, help the evacuation process, or get my ass to the front hall where Ryuusei and Yukio were leading on two fronts to distract the eliminators (obviously not all of them). Anything would be infinitely safer than moving ass to high gear to save a traitor from the scariest woman I had ever known, for a passing acquaintance.

It didn't sit well with me. Kiyoshi had turned to the Duel Spirits precisely because of his abuse, which meant that there was no one on earth besides Yuuki who gave a shit about him. Even if he didn't reach out for the Arcadia Movement of his own volition, he was still a member now, a member who had been given a free pardon. Wasn't now the time to save him, and prove that there was someone on this earth who cared about him enough to do that?

_Of course,_ the traitorous voice of Rei added. _You don't care. You'd just do this to assuage your own conscience._

Rei wasn't human. I had no doubt that his presence was going to have some seriously unpleasant side effects. I might not know that much about Shimotsuki, but I knew that she loved Jimmy Cook, and how she doted on Seika. That kind of deep, abiding love could have only come from someone who had been raised by loving parents who had been stolen away, and into the deepest tragedy of life, and she had turned to Dewloren and the Ice Barrier... was it not precisely because no one had cared about her? Not even Orion had cared to hang around her...

Right, so if I had to look at it from a selfish perspective, so sue me. The concept of risk and punishment and reward was a deeply ingrained part of the human psyche. If I had to be selfish to help people... so be it. I was not going to leave anyone to the Duel Spirits ever again. Not if I could help it.

I looked at the security terminals, watching the frames jump as they cycled through a series of scenes despite the barely coiled impatience, and I saw it.

Shimotsuki, holding a knife towards him.

Kaiba. Kisara. Ryuusei. Seika.

And a bundle of... a body with dark hair.

I looked at the time-stamp and location, and I ran like hell. It took a bit of reversing, but I made it through the double doors, slamming through them in time to see Seto Kaiba about to slice through his throat.

It wasn't gentlemanly, but I kicked the knife and moved, my other leg positioned to kick Seto Kaiba in the face. It impacted, and I shoved him away from them. An array glittered underfoot, and I looked down and tried not to gag.

Kisara was... ethereal. The faint lighting of the ballroom made her seem like a fairy or a ghost princess, that even the plain white gown she wore seemed to be expensive and of good quality.

In contrast, Kiyoshi looked worse than the burnt form I had seen him, when the black flames of Ouroboros was eating through his flesh. He had been turned into a living scrimshaw and tattoo exhibit. His body twitched with scars and burns, septic and infected, and some of him looked _green_, as in gangrene green, as he made sounds that sounded like an animal in pain, the faculty of speech gone in the wave of pain. I couldn't tell the full extent of his injuries in the faint light, but it looked like he was just barely clinging to life after a hell of torture. Either he was more stubborn than I had thought, or Shimotsuki had deliberately left him alive and sane to see what would happen to him. I had a feeling that, living or not, now he might not even care if I were to barf on him.

I was supposed to save him?

I could see Ryuusei, holding Seika back, his spine tense, his eyes wide... and blue-green. Ryuusei wasn't home at the moment.

I made a noise as I kicked at the glowing array, and found it not so easily smudged. Doubtless, Shimotsuki had made it of something more durable than chalk. I thought I saw the threads snap, and I heard Kiyoshi fall silent.

"Seika," I panted. "Wake Ryuusei up. I need your help."

Seika blinked. "Nii-chan... is asleep?"

"He might as well be," I snapped as Seika broke out of his hold and stared into his face. "Look at his eyes."

The Summer King turned heartbreakingly lovely eyes on Seika. "Seika, I'm awake. I'm as conscious as you."

Seika's eyes narrowed. "The Nii-chan I know wouldn't have stood by to see Kiyoshi-san murdered."

Ryuusei's eyes narrowed. "He betrayed us," he snapped, and the stone, the air, trembled with his voice. Overhead, I could hear a thunderclap.

"Are you listening to yourself?" I asked. "Ryuusei, snap out of it. Kiyoshi doesn't deserve to die."

"He deserves worse."

Okay... I was clearly getting nowhere. "But it's our decision to decide that," I gently persuaded. "It's not just one person's. Look at him, Ryuusei."

"Death would be a mercy," the Summer King whispered. "Giving up his life to save another would be the wiser choice."

"We can't do that," I replied.

"Why ever not?"

"Because his life is not ours to give," I debated. "Because he has the right not to have his life taken from him."

"He sought my aegis. He is mine by right."

"But do you really think so?" I asked. "Don't Kiyoshi have a right to that?"

"He gave up any rights the moment he betrayed us," Ryuusei's eyes flickered, wavering between the supernatural colour and sky-blue.

"Does the Summer King think of that," I gently replied. "Or does the human Fudo Ryuusei think of that?"

"What difference does it make?" he shot back.

"It makes all the difference between me planting you a good one and not doing so," I retorted.

Ryuusei's eyes closed, and when they opened again, they were a tired sky-blue, but they were _blue_. Which confirmed my suspicion.

_She's Winter. Vicious, violent, and merciless. What you saw was perfectly in character for a monarch of the Winter..._

Perfectly in character for a monarch of Winter. Perfectly in character with a monster. Not with Shimotsuki Setsuka.

"Seika!" I shouted, letting go of Ryuusei's lapels to look at Kisara and Kiyoshi. "Get to Shimotsuki, challenge her! Whatever you do, no matter what, stall her!"

Seika's head flicked to me, but Shimotsuki let out a roar like a mountain lion and jumped at me. With the supernatural quickness that seemed to come from her, she made a spinning kick that tripped me, and just as quickly put a butterfly knife to my throat.

Falling in a fight is generally bad. You tend not to get up again. I mean, there's a reason that the phrase "He fell" was synonymous with death for a bunch of centuries.

Having a perfectly formed body like hers on top of mine should have made me happy, assuming that I was bisexual like I was beginning to suspect. Coming face-to-face with those inhumanly cold and cruel eyes of blue-green, especially on the business end of a knife, was utterly, completely terrifying in the way that did not include boners but instead held mind-numbing terror.

The Winter Queen put both hands on either side of my skull, the lacquered thumbnails perfectly positioned to drive through my freaking eyeballs. I reached up, but gripping her wrists was like trying to pull back steel cable without any pulley or help whatsoever. There was no way to stop her from driving her thumbs into my eye sockets.

"Goodbye," she hissed.

A knife embedded itself in her skull, and she fell off of me.

I pushed the limp form off of me, and back-pedalled, until my back was hitting the papered walls and my heart was jumping out of my mouth. It was like seeing my life flash before my eyes, seeing her... her body right there and then. I may have screamed.

Then I realised that for one, the knife was a very familiar steel affair, specifically a butterfly knife, and I looked all the way to Ryuusei, who had one arm open, and Seika's eyes were wide with shock.

"Oh," Kaiba gasped.

Ryuusei looked from the stunned Kaiba, to Kisara, and to Kiyoshi, to Seika and me, and back to Shimotsuki's prone form, and his expression hardened. "I see."

I shivered as he walked over to Kisara, grabbing a bronze knife from a shocked Kaiba's shaking hold on the way. He sliced open a ungloved left palm, licking the small nick and started the slow walk to Kisara, the gesture somewhat warm.

At his feet lay Kisara. He stepped over the unspoken ring around the two, and straddled her ribcage before going down on his knees, lifting her terrified skull up from the ground, his hands as gentle as if he were cradling a baby. There was something stirring inside the array; invisible to the naked eye, but to my Sight as bright and incandescently fragile as a caged bird. She rebelled at his touch, her eyes darting as he stared at her. Tiny whimpers escaped between her lips.

"Shush, calm yourself," I heard the murmur, a gloved hand moving as they roved over her face as covetously as a lover. "I see, that my counterpart has planned it all to bring you to me."

He studied Kisara's face for a long, fraught moment, and then let out a breath that was almost a sigh. The air in the ballroom stirred, warm and caring and humid, a summer night when I could just sleep if I wasn't so terrified. It was Shimotsuki who was supposed to be terrifying as fuck-all, not _Ryuusei_.

He closed his eyes and then his body snaked downward, moving almost sensually. Cradling her face in both hands, he brought her lips to his. Kisara's hands spasmed, scrabbling on the carpet for purchase, but he held firm. An intense aura fell around them, and the frost melted on the ground as more roots and vines dug out through the expensive carpeting. I think I heard her scream. Gold light began to pour from their combined figure, sunlight as warm as the height of June, and brighter than the bonfires of the night under the stars. Luminous as the sun, gentler than the moon, hopeful as the stars. That was the fire of Summer.

In the outside, a pitched battle was still being fought in the distance, but as if on cue both sides fell silent and motionless, their attention drawn to some imperceptible change in the air.

Then the light was simply gone, with a disorienting lack of fanfare. Kisara's hands went slack, and she landed back on the expensive carpet with a thump, white hair spilling out. Her breaths came in short, disconnected gasps, but she was actually breathing.

Ryuusei laughed, the gesture done mirthlessly as he climbed to his feet, slapping his palms clean on his trousers, all the reverence gone from his manner. He walked to Shimotsuki, the gesture careless as if he did miracles everyday, and he glanced down at her.

I thought he might try for another kiss, but then he sighed. "How long are you going to lie down there?"

I know now how the hapless people felt in the face of the Terminator as Shimotsuki climbed up to her feet, pulling the knife with a sickening _suck_ sound out of her skull. "You didn't take a blade to the brain, idiot."

"Okay, what the _fuck_?" I shouted, my heart pounding really, really fast. "Stop acting all chummy and get back to explaining what the hell is going on between you two! I mean, she was stabbed! In the skull! And... and the kiss... and Kisara... and-"

"That," Kisara gasped as she struggled back up, a healthy blush to her cheeks now and her blue eyes glaring at the two of them. "I would love to know."

"Nii-chan?" Seika mouthed. "Setsu-chan?"

Kaiba hadn't reacted. At all. He just remained kneeling there like a mannequin, mouthing and staring at nothing in particular.

The silence that fell was so thick that a snowstorm could have blown in. Ryuusei blew through his nose. "Where to begin...?"

"How about in the middle, with little flashbacks in between?" I snapped.

Shimotsuki climbed to her feet, dusting her arms off. I could see healing burns on her back, sealing up quickly like a sort of mutant Wolverine thing as she stood to face us. And the most relieving thing, the best thing of all, was that her eyes were wonderfully crystalline ice-blue.

I swallowed as she turned to Ryuusei, Seika and me again, and I saw that while she might be back to normal, it still didn't distract that she was capital D- Dangerous.

"We're here- oh," Captain Kaname took a shooting stance, immediately aimed at Setsuka. Her violet eyes were flickering nervously from Shimotsuki to all around, and they counted us before Captain Kaname got back to meeting the ice queen's eyes. "Setsuka."

"Yuuko," she purred.

"Hands up," Captain Kaname snapped. "Seto Kaiba, you're under arrest by the Neo Domino Police Department for endangerment and unlawful imprisonment. Shimotsuki Setsuka... for aiding and abetting a crime-"

Shimotsuki let loose a giggle. It sounded highly uncharacteristic, and caused my skin to crawl. "No, I won't. I won't go quietly."

A portal shimmered into existence between them. At the same time, blue light gathered in Shimotsuki's hands.

"No!" Captain Kaname yelled.

Shimotsuki flung her hands out.

The gun went off.

"_Stop_!" Ryuusei yelled.

Half her body still within the portal, Ayame froze into absolute stillness for a second, her face confused.

She fell, like the petal of a dying flower, her feet slumped down and her face flat on the floor. There was a muffled thump as she landed, and another; Captain Kaname had fallen to her knees as she stared at Ayame in shock.

"Ayame-san!" Ryuusei shouted, his face contorted with agony. For their part, everyone in the ballroom seemed stunned into near-paralysis, eyes locked onto the fallen form.

"Queen takes knight," Shimotsuki murmured. "Checkmate."

I didn't know what the hell she was talking about for a second – but then I saw it.

Fire flickered to life over the late champion of Summer. It did not consume Ayame's body. Rather, it gathered itself into green and gold light, a shape that vaguely mirrored her own, arms spread out as she lay prostrate upon the carpeted floor. With a gathering shriek, the fire suddenly condensed, the shape of something that looked like a bird. Blinding light spread, and the bird suddenly flashed from her fallen form.

Directly into Kisara.

Kisara's eyes widened in horror, and she lifted her arms in an instinctive defensive gesture. The bird-shaped golden Summer fire, the mantle of Summer's champion, plunged through her upraised arms and _into _her chest, at the heart. Her body arched into a bow. She let out a scream, and green and gold light shone from her opened mouth like a spotlight, throwing fresh, sharp shadows across the ballroom.

In the distance, I could hear the roar of a dragon, and silhouetted over her was the form of the iconic Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"Kisara!" Seto Kaiba ran towards her, arms raised. His coat caught fire, burning bright white, but he made no sound of pain as he was literally burnt alive embracing the family he had left.

Her scream faded into a weeping, gurgling moan, and she fell, body curling into a shuddering foetal position in two pairs of arms, Rex's and Kaiba's.

"Kisara, Kisara," Seto Kaiba was murmuring, caring nothing for himself as he held onto her. "Please..."

"I'm sorry," Ryuusei murmured, shaking. "I'm sorry."

"Mantle passed," Shimotsuki echoed. "Nearest vessel filled. The seasons continue turning, like the wheel of summer stars."

Captain Kaname shivered. "W- What? What's... what's going on? Setsuka? Seika? T- The girl... the girls, someone get a doctor!"

"There is no helping her, not now," Shimotsuki stated with the utmost calm. "I thank you, Yuuko. You have fulfilled your purpose... as has Seika."

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	43. XLI: Liberty at Last!

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Note: Call of Darkness has its own Tv Tropes page now! Please go there and look! =)**_

* * *

**XLI: Liberty at Last!**

The thing about Shimotsuki Setsuka, besides her utter calm...

Besides the fact that her very presence inspires something close to fear and horror and desire...

Besides that she was colder than maybe the Arctic Circle, and she would have killed Ayame-san without blinking an eye...

She was... Shimotsuki Setsuka.

"What purpose?" I whispered.

"I..." There were unashamed tears in the eyes of Yuuko-chan. "I killed... someone..."

"I cannot deliberately fell the champion of Summer, not without bringing unintended war upon the Courts," Setsu-chan loftily whispered. "And as long as the Summer champion remained obstreperous, the balance of worlds, of Courts, remains unresolved. With the monarch a romantic as it were... I did what must be done."

Clarity is a strange sensation. To me, it felt like a waterfall had decided to drench me from high up. "Kaiba, Kisara, the Duel Bands... they were a distraction for us. A gambit for the larger plan at stake," I spoke. "There was only one aim all along."

"To kill Ayame," Nii-chan woodenly echoed. "I thought it was all to get me to heal Kisara... Only I had the right to decide, and I chose to let her live. But it would have destabilised Summer. At the cost of the Court, I let Ayame be free... and it cost her life."

"So all of this was to ensure that an armed police officer was in place," Chase-nii stated. Yuuko-chan flinched as he said it, as if my words had dealt a true blow to her. "Or use the angry mob below, and redirect them to kill Ayame. You let Judai-san take her away because it did not matter if she left; Ryuusei would call her back if left without options, and then we would be too distracted to even consider that you were planning for it. You attacked the camps, you herded them all into close quarters with us, you made all of us focus on the most immediate threat so that in the chaos, no one would notice what you planned. It was all smoke and mirrors so that no one would notice that the chaos was meant to attract those of the spirit worlds... and Ayame-san."

"All that was required was the timing and the placement needed where the Ways would lead towards," Setsu-chan confirmed. "The placement was fortuitous. If not, I would have been forced to redirect the bullet to Yuuki Ayame. It was a quick death."

"I was aiming at you," Yuuko-chan echoed woodenly. "I wanted to disarm you... you were preparing to attack with your powers. I needed to injure you, incapacitate or shock you. You used that, my fear, against me. You used Seika to lure me to the island, and then you used me... as your weapon. As your pawn."

Setsu-chan did not answer for a few moments, as she stared down at the carpeted floor and Ayame's limp form. "The blame for this lies with me," she quietly murmured. Cold satisfaction, pressured anger, megalomaniacal glee – any of those would have been something utterly within her character. Yet, there was none of that in her voice or face.

Just regret. Resolution.

"I meant for a willing person to take the role of Summer's champion," Setsu-chan woodenly continued. "But one does not place all one's hopes with any one place, person, or plan. Like chess, the superior player does not plan to accomplish a single gambit, a particular entrapment. She establishes her pieces so that regardless of what her enemy does, she has forces ready to respond, to adapt, and to destroy. Kisara and Marufuji Ryou were made ready as a contingency should the Summer monarch prove stubborn, as was an environment isolated by the seas and mountains to carry out the transfer of mantles."

"In case something happened?" Chase-nii asked.

"Something had _already _happened," Setsu-chan said. "It was my intention to make Ryuusei ready for his role. As it were an opportunity to ready Seika for hers."

"What about the rest of us? What about Jimmy?" Had she just been using us all along, were my thoughts.

"The situation here developed in a way I did not expect," Setsu-chan pronounced. "Seika had originally been positioned with another purpose in mind – but her presence made it possible to achieve the gambit at hand."

"Positioned," he spat. "Gambit. Is that what Seika is to you? A pawn?"

"No," she calmly answered. "Not anymore."

Chase-nii rocked back, as surely as if she'd punched him in the nose. I felt a little dizzy.

"Why?" I whispered. "Why, Setsu-chan?"

"As the head of the Arcadia Movement, you will occasionally be walking into danger. So it is best that I prepared you for such contingencies, as I had not the opportunity to do so prior to this," she answered, hands spread out.

"Not that. Ayame-san. Kisara." I shook her head. "They had their whole lives ahead of them, and you did _this_."

"I do not understand," Setsu-chan replied after a while. "For Yuuki Ayame, she chose her path. For Kisara, I do not see how what I have done is substantially different from what I have been doing for many years."

_"__What?_" Kaiba-sama snarled. Age had not taken away the sheer power of will this elderly patriarch of the Duel carried.

"I gave her power," she replied, as if explaining something simple to a child. "You would know of this, Seto, since you did the same."

"That is _not _what I have been doing," he spat. "And don't call me that."

"Is it?" Setsu-chan asked. "Have I misunderstood? First you captured her imagination and affection as an associate of her father's, in her case by blood and by presence. You made her curious, and you nurtured that curiosity with silence. Then when she went to approach you, you elected not to interfere until such time as she found herself in dire straits and came to your attention by her uphill battle against Takato Tsurugi, the other who was the most likely of your successors– at which point your adoption placed her deep within your obligation. You used that and her emotional attachment to you to plant and reap a follower and heiress who was talented, loyal, and in your debt. It was actually very well-done."

Kaiba-sama knelt there, mouth open for a second. "That... that isn't..."

Setsu-chan leaned closer to him, all the closer to deliver cutting words. "That is _precisely _what you did. The only thing you did not do is admit to yourself that you _were _doing it. You told yourself lovely, idealistic lies, and still you had a powerful, talented, loyal girl willing to give her life for yours who _also _had nowhere else to turn for help. As far as your career as a mentor goes, you grew into much the same image as Gozaburo Kaiba."

"That... that isn't what I did," he repeated, harder. "What you're doing to her... what you did to her... will change her."

"Did she not change after you began to educate her?" Setsu-chan asked. "You were perhaps too soft on her for a while, but had she not already begun to become a different person?"

"A person she _chose _to be," he shot back.

"Did she choose to be born with her power? Did she choose to be born as the niece and sole heiress of _the_ Seto Kaiba, as the spitting image of the human woman who held the Blue-Eyes millennia before? I did not do that to her – _you_ did."

Kaiba-sama ground his teeth.

"Consider," Setsu-chan then said, "That I have done something for her that you never could have."

"What's that, exactly?" His tone invited all manner of scorn.

"I have put her beyond the reach of human disease," Setsu-chan explained slowly. "While maladies and mortality may cut through a swath of the mayflies of humanity, they can do nothing at all to the Courts and their courtiers. And, as agreed, I have cured her disease, if only by the sheer error of life that was the Summer mantle rebounding to another vessel instead."

"You used us to kill Ayame-san," I butted in before Kaiba-sama could muster another invective. "Your _friends_, Setsu-chan. Yuuko-chan, me... and James-san. You used us to kill her."

Setsu-chan tilted her head, her eyes lidded over. "So I did."

I clenched her jaw and relaxed it a couple of times, before asking a completely unexpected question. "Was it hard for you? Tonight?"

"Hard?" she echoed.

"She was part of the Movement," I continued. "You, who loved freedom, took away Kisara-san's choice."

Setsu-chan became very silent, and very still. She considered the ground around us, and paced up and down a bit, slowly, frowning, as if trying to remember the lyrics of a song from her childhood. Yuuko-chan levelled up the gun, but I noticed that the officer was standing, her legs coiled to spring and bodily fling herself, rather than squeeze off another shot.

Finally, Setsu-chan became still again, closing her eyes. "I think she would prefer to live with the mantle, should she know what Seto Kaiba would have done without my intervention."

She began walking towards the double doors, and Yuuko-chan stood again.

"Wait." Fire gathered in Nii-chan's palm, a tiny star of white.

She stopped, standing there with her back to him.

"Give me a reason not to kill you right here and now." Nii-chan spoke, his voice flat.

"First," Setsu-chan coldly replied, "because you would not survive it. But as threats to your life have never been sufficient to pierce your skull, I will provide you with a second reason. Should you kill me here and now, I will drag you down with me. Our mantles of power, in the presence of so much loose Duel energy as Duelist Kingdom had accumulated to enable it, will fly to the nearest suitable vessels. That is, Kujaku Satsuki and Kisara Kaiba. Kisara would have difficulty enough coping with the champion's mantle without your own being added in the mixture, don't you agree?"

A long pause answered her reply.

Nii-chan glared, but flung the star to a window. The glass shattered and a flare reached to the roof, a pillar of white flame hot enough to be felt from across the ballroom. Chase-nii and Rex-nii gave a sub-audible gasp.

"Even, assuming that Princeton and Kisara managed to off themselves tonight," Setsu-chan continued. "There are Tenjouin Fubuki and Marufuji Ryou, both of which are also conveniently placed on the island and imbued with the powers of Summer and Winter. I chose people with an affinity for the changing of the seasons."

"You've really thought of everything," Nii-chan bitterly replied. "No matter what I did, Ayame signed her death warrant when she gave up, isn't that right?"

"It is... necessary." Setsu-chan paused. "Seika. We should settle this."

"We should settle this," I nodded.

"Yes... let's," Setsu-chan agreed.

"If you lose, you will surrender yourself, Michiru and Kujaku-san to the Arcadia Movement," I said.

"And you?" She asked.

"I will pay the price one way or another." I finally answered.

Setsu-chan gave a thin smile.

"Duel!"

Seika: LP 8000

Setsuka: LP 8000

"I'll go first, draw!" I called. "I summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200]. Now I play the Spell, Dimensionhole to banish Lighty, so I special summon from my deck Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]! Now I set two cards and end my turn."

My dark lady of fortune appeared, twirling her staff. She glared, taking a stance to protect me.

"My turn, draw," Setsu-chan declared. "I set a monster and a card. Turn end."

"I draw!" I called. "During my standby phase, Darky's level increases by one [2000/2000 → 2400/2400]. Lighty returns to the field, and I activate Compulsory Evacuation Device to bounce Lighty to my hand, and so special summon from my deck Fortune Lady Watery [?/? → 1200/1200]. I draw two cards due to the effect of Watery. Battle, Fortune Lady Darky, attack the set card with your Dark Fate!"

"Flip summon, Penguin Soldier [750/500]," she countered as the penguin appeared. It was blasted with Darky's power, but one wave of its swords sent the Ladies skittering back. "Watery and Darky are returned to your hand."

"Main phase two, I summon Lighty [?/? → 200/200] once more, and set a card." I called. "Turn end."

"Draw." She announced. "I activate the set magic card, Book of Moon, to flip Lighty face-down."

My card was covered immediately, invalidating the Slip of Fortune.

"Now, because my opponent controls four more cards than I, I can special summon from my hand Medium of the Ice Barrier [2200/1600]," Setsu-chan announced as the teal-haired magician appeared, clad in robes of blue. "When Medium is on my field, my opponent can only activate one Spell or Trap per turn."

I tried not to cringe, but I knew the comparative disadvantage she had due to the Fortune Ladies. And with Lighty set face-down, the swarm was halted...

"Now, I summon Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier [1700/900]," Setsu-chan announced as the other teal-haired female magician appeared on the field in a swirl of snowflakes. "I reveal Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier in my hand to bounce one set card. Dance Princess, attack the set monster."

Lighty cringed as she was flipped up, but she was stabbed through and died in a gurgle of blood.

"Medium, direct attack," Setsu-chan ordered as the Medium raised her voice and I cringed from the weaponised opera.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 5800

Setsuka: LP 8000

"Main phase two, I set a card," Setsu-chan declared, her eyes fully blue-green. "Your turn."

"I- I draw," I sighed, struggling to remain on her feet between the violent Duel going on. "I summon Charioteer of Prophecy [1800/1300]."

A blond warrior, astride a horse, appeared on the field. Runes glowed around him.

"Now, I play Spellbook of Power to power him up by one thousand [1800/1300 → 2800/1300]." I called. "Charioteer, attack Medium!"

"How appropriate," Setsu-chan observed. "You realised the disadvantage fast. But, I activate Shrink [2800/1300 → 1900/1300]."

I braced myself as the monster impacted and was destroyed in a screech of sound.

Seika: LP 5800 → LP 5500

Setsuka: LP 8000

"Turn end with a set card." I panted. So far, Setsu-chan was leading in everything. My spells and traps were limited, and my traps were useless with the Dance Princess out if Setsu-chan kept drawing Ice Barrier monsters. I had to get rid of the Medium fast...!

"My turn, draw," Setsu-chan announced.

"Trap card, Raigeki Break!" I called. "I discard a card to destroy Medium!"

Setsu-chan barely twitched as her card imploded. She did not give any indication to show that she cared, at all. "I reveal Blizzed and Prior in my hand to bounce two cards on your field by the effect of Dance Princess. Now, I summon Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier [300/500] to the field. I special summon Prior of the Ice Barrier [1000/400] from my hand with its own effect. I play the Spell, Shien's Spy, granting you control of Blizzed for the turn."

I blinked as the bird flew to her field. Why...?

"Prior, destroy Blizzed," She barely flinched as the priest slaughtered her monster that was in my control.

Seika: LP 5500 → LP 4800

Setsuka: LP 8000

"When Blizzed is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I draw a card. Dance Princess, direct attack," Setsu-chan commanded as the princess hurled herself to slice at me.

Seika: LP 4800 → LP 3100

Setsuka: LP 8000

"Now, I play the Continuous Spell, White Night Fort," Setsu-chan finished. "Neither player can activate traps during their opponent's turn. Turn end."

"I- I draw!" I stuttered. "I... I set a monster and play the Continuous Spell, Arcane Barrier. Turn end."

"Draw," Setsu-chan purred, clearly feeling the satisfaction from sealing my cards off. "I play the Spell, Aurora Draw." She drew two cards. "The combo involving Arcane Barrier and Apprentice Magician, apparently you remember Mother's strategy."

"Yes... this is Madame's strategy," I confirmed.

"Let me run over two Apprentice Magicians, and accumulate four Spell Counters to sacrifice the third and draw four cards," she commented. "Alas, Seika, you should have used a different strategy... not that you have any left to you now. I tribute Prior to revive Medium back to the field."

"Again...?" I mumbled as the medium appeared again [2200/1600].

"Right, you've always been weak," Setsu-chan commented. "Always crying, always reliant on others. Even your deck is the same. If I didn't tell you what cards to use, how could you ever master such a combo-reliant deck like Fortune Ladies?"

"I... I have been trying..." I mumbled, looking down in a gesture of unspoken acknowledgement.

"The shoes you try to fill are amusing," Setsu-chan coldly snapped. "Well, no matter what you say now, it is enough. Medium, destroy the set monster."

"Apprentice Magician [400/800] allows me to place a Spell Counter on Arcane Barrier," I countered. "The destruction of a Spellcaster Type monster also allows me to place a Spell Counter on Arcane Barrier. And Apprentice Magician allows me to set a level two or lower Spellcaster from my deck to the field."

"Dance Princess, the set monster," Setsu-chan ordered.

"Repeat," I just answered as I set another Apprentice Magician.

"I set a card, and I end my turn here." she finished. Now was my only chance...

"Draw!" I called. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior [1600/1000]!" The red-armoured Spellcaster swung a sword. "Breaker gains a Spell Counter when normal summoned, and a three-hundred attack power boost with his Spell Counter. But, I can remove the Counter to destroy a Spell or Trap, and I choose White Night Fort!"

Setsu-chan shielded herself as Breaker's destructive effect caused ice splinters to fly across the field. "So, you have managed to free yourself."

"I flip summon my last Apprentice Magician to place a Counter on Breaker [1600/1000 → 1900/1000]," I called. "Arcane Barrier allows me to tribute the Apprentice Magician and itself to draw up to four cards. I draw!"

As I looked at my cards, I began forming a strategy. "Now, Breaker, attack Dance Princess with Break Slash!"

Dance Princess cried out as she was stabbed.

Setsuka: LP 8000 → LP 7800

Seika: LP 3100

"Not bad." Setsu-chan acknowledged.

"I then play Monster Reborn to special summon Lighty to the field again," I answered as the youngest Fortune Lady appeared. "And I set two cards. Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Setsu-chan ordered. "Seika."

"S- Setsu-chan," I acknowledged. "We aren't your enemies. I... we, we want you back. But... but..."

"I burnt all my bridges to the mortal world in one move," Setsu-chan easily acknowledged. "It was a necessary move. The death of Yuuki Ayame frees the mantle of Summer's champion."

"But... you've used me, you've used Yuuko-chan," I protested. "Did you ever think about what we feel? Ayame-san had her whole life ahead of her... and you did this! Do you not feel guilty?"

"It is pointless to feel guilty of what was a necessity," Setsu-chan pointed out. "Her death was necessary if she cannot fulfil the role of Summer's champion, the vessel of Summer's power amongst mortals, consort of the Summer monarch."

"Who said so?" I demanded, feeling the sharp tendrils of anger. "No one can decide who lives and who dies. Life is just too precious to waste that way. To tear someone away from life just for this reason is like denying their right of choice!"

"Wrong," Setsu-chan placidly shot back. "Life and death are immutable, solid facts. _Choice_ is not. And since choice can, in fact, lead to either life or death, choice trumps either. I do not deny that fundamentally speaking, everyone has the right of choice. But those choices might not look too different anyway."

"Either/or does not denote in the first instance the choice between good and evil. It denotes the choice whereby one chooses good and evil, or excludes them." I retaliated.

"Kirkegaard, how interesting," Setsu-chan commented. She then glanced at her cards once more. "It looks like... this Duel shall be over."

"What?"

"I tribute Medium to summon Blizzard Princess [2800/2100]." Setsu-chan coldly announced. "When Blizzard Princess is normal summoned, for the rest of that turn my opponent cannot activate Spells or Traps."

"What? No!" I cringed as the Spellcaster appeared. She was in blue and white, and a crown on top of blue ice-riddled pigtails, and holding a staff that was topped with a wrecking ball.

"Blizzard Princess... attack Lighty with Absolute Zero!" Setsu-chan commanded as the ball slammed down on the screaming Fortune Lady.

Seika: LP 3400 → LP 800

Setsuka: LP 7800

"Quick-play Spell, Magical Dimension," Setsu-chan continued, like a glacier gathering momentum. "I tribute Blizzard Princess to summon Ice Queen [2900/2100]."

"Eh?" Seika gasped as a regal and icy royal like the Snow Queen of legend appeared and Breaker was destroyed.

"Battle." Setsuka declared. "Ice Queen, direct attack on Seika! Finish this Duel with Crystal Sceptre!"

I raised her arms to shield her eyes from the icy shards as both monsters were taken out and the force sent her skidding back.

Seika: LP 800 → LP 0

Setsuka: LP 7800

My posture slumped. I was shaking from both nerves, cold and fear. "In the end... I couldn't bring you back. I couldn't defeat you. Setsu-chan... I don't know what to do. So... so... what's the point in making me the head of the Movement?!"

I was screaming at her, and yet she did not react. "I never wanted this! I never wanted to lead. I never wanted the power to decide who lives or who dies. I never wanted to see people die or hurt people. I never wanted to taste fear every single day and night in the very place that would have killed you, and almost did. I never wanted Nii-chan to leave me and... and I never wanted the two of you to fight! I don't want any of you to die, I don't want anyone to leave!"

"I know how you're feeling," said Setsu-chan very quietly.

"No, you don't," I snapped, and my voice was suddenly loud and strong; white-hot anger leapt inside of me. "You don't know."

"Oh, Seika..." I heard Nii-chan whisper.

"There is no shame in what you are feeling," She whispered. "On the contrary... the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength."

I felt the anger, blazing in the terrible emptiness, filling me with the desire to hurt Setsu-chan for her calmness, her empty words, and Ayame-san. "My greatest strength, is it? You haven't got a clue... you don't know..."

"Oh? What don't I know?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Suffering like this proves you are alive," Setsu-chan wryly replied. "Pain is part of being human-"

"_THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!_"

My voice echoed around the empty, dim hall, and I panted from the exertion. "I DON'T CARE! I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANY MORE!"

"You do care." She had not flinched or made a single move. Her expression was calm, almost detached. "You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."

"I DON'T!" I screamed, so loudly that I felt that my throat might give, and for a second I wanted to shatter that calm face, shake her, hurt her, make her feel some tiny part of the horror I did.

"Oh, yes, you do," Still more calmly did she answer. "You have now lost your mother, your father, the closest thing to parents and a family you have ever known. _Of course_ you care."

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!"

Her head tilted. She stared back at me, still with that plain, empty face. Her eyes...

My breath caught, and I realised that I had never before seen Setsu-chan so... so... _vulnerable_.

I stepped back from her stare. My breath steamed. Silence reigned. More time passed before her lips parted.

"... initially, I thought of Nakamura-san as the head for a reason."

I had never heard Setsu-chan speak like that until now.

"I had thought, that he could use the pain in his heart to help others." she slowly continued. "But, Nakamura-san was too servile to lead in the end. So... I chose the option that Mother left for me. I chose _you_. Because it is the only way. I have settled all the affairs I need in the mortal world, and with it I grant you that which should have been yours now."

"What about Orion-san?" I demanded. "You can't expect us to leave you alone, Setsu-chan! We need you!"

"Oh, Seika..." her sigh was tired. "You have never needed me. Everything you need is right here. The throne of the Arcadia Movement is yours, and it had always been, daughter of Diana Hunter."

"I never asked for this," I pleaded. "I never wanted pain and responsibility and death and war. I never wanted this."

"We don't always get what we want," Setsu-chan quietly answered. "So we make do with what we are dealt by fate. Well, we have settled this, so I bid thee, fare thee well. Run free, Seika, and never find me again. Run free."

"There are things that are left unsaid between us," Seika said. "Will I... will we meet again? What about our agreement?"

Setsu-chan turned her back to me, and then paused. "I lost my parents too, you know."

Yuuko-chan shivered as she levelled the gun down. "Did you think about me, Setsuka?"

Setsu-chan kept walking away.

"Answer me!" the Captain shouted.

Setsu-chan moved so quickly that she never saw it. The gun was suddenly, simply gone from the captain's hand and pushed into the captain's face. In only one hand, she held it up to Yuuko-chan's ashen features.

"If I did," Setsu-chan evenly replied. "It was with respect of your value within the machinations necessary. You are a minor concern. Over the years, I was too preoccupied that I would hardly devote more than a passing thought to someone who abandoned us."

"I never did," Yuuko-chan whispered. "We moved away. My family never said anything. I... I didn't know, Setsu-han."

"And you expect me to believe that you never picked up a newspaper article or saw the passing news?" A delicate snort. "A likely story. Let me tell you this; the blood that is now on your hands is a pittance to the lives I have claimed over ten years of helming the Arcadia Movement."

Her teeth showed. "Soon, you..." and here she turned to face me. "...and you, both of you, shall know the truth of the blood-sickened peace that the Movement enjoys. Both of you saw just a glimpse of the dark machinations of the Movement that was necessary to protect it."

Turning her head, she thumbed the hammer back with the ease of familiarity, watching the captain's face turn ashen. Then she handed the gun back to Yuuko-chan.

"I was prepared to die when I took this job," was her parting jibe as she left. "Shimotsuki Setsuka is dead."

The Winter Queen loped off into the darkness after them, leaving the cooling bodies of innocents and Yuuki Ayame behind.

* * *

My hands were still shaking when the cavalry came.

Even as Rex charged in with Archie and the rest of the mob, the other fighters with them, they found us in the ballroom, looking like an epic battle had taken place and we were the only survivors.

Seto Kaiba refused to let go of Kisara, even as Yukio approached him.

"We need to give her medical attention," I heard Nakamura-san bluntly say as Yuko gave Kaiba an orange shock blanket.

"I... see..." Kaiba breathed deeply out through his nose, and settled Kisara down beside him. "Do it here."

Nonplussed, Nakamura-san knelt down and began to perform a cursory check on her.

On one end of the ballroom, Yuuki had found Kiyoshi, now quietened. His body was shaking as he held Kiyoshi close, and I thought I could see him trying to hold back unshed tears.

"The eliminators all managed to escape," Uzuki informed me as she walked up to me. She was smiling despite the cut above one eye. "We kicked their asses! But a lot of them ran off instead of fighting, and disappeared afterwards. Wonder why."

To enhance the deception, no doubt. But I gave no voice to it.

I leaned on Youkai, curled up and whimpering as my scrapes were treated. I saw Seiran and Captain Kaname convening in another part of the place, between managing the casualties and the imprisoned.

"We've called for reinforcements," Seiran informed me when she walked over to the soup tray beside me to snag two mugs. "They'll be here in the morning."

I faintly nodded.

"Seika-chan..." I heard Captain Kaname as she gave the girl a hug.

"How do you feel?" Seika asked.

Captain Kaname shivered. "I'll be alright. I have to be. I became... an officer... for this reason."

"She'll be fine," Seiran assured me as she caught my glance. "We're all alive."

I let her believe that for a moment.

A bit further away, I saw Rex with Seika now, sombre as he considered Kaiba-sama and Kisara-san.

"She'll be alive," Rex looked haunted. "She'll be fine..."

He didn't look too convinced himself.

Ryuusei had slunk into a corner of the ballroom, curling his legs in on himself and his head buried in the crooks of his arms. Seika walked over to him as Youkai nodded to me and I slowly began limping to them.

"... it was my fault," Ryuusei gave a broken whisper. "I thought she was using Kaiba to gather Duel energy for Kisara. I didn't realise... that Kaiba was a distraction. A way to draw attention away from when Judai-san took Ayame-san off the island. So when I called her back, there would be a way to arrange her death. Captain Kaname was in a position to fire. Captain Kaname... fired the bullet out of fear... and it hit Ayame-san."

"What do we tell Ryuuki-san?" Seika whispered.

"The truth," Nii-chan murmured. "If... If I had been more stringent with Ayame-san... if only I had insisted on Ayame-san following my orders... then she'd still be alive. There would have been no need for this."

Seika looked quietly towards Rex and the Kaiba family, and caught my eye. "What will you tell Kisara-san?"

"The truth," Ryuusei swallowed. "I won't let anyone be killed out of my negligence. Not again. I have to do this... well. For their sakes as much as mine."

I looked, and I had to tear my eyes away from Yuuki and Kiyoshi. "What... what happened to Kiyoshi?"

"She exorcised him of the Lswarm virus," Ryuusei murmured. "It was that or kill him."

I lowered my gaze to the dazed Kiyoshi. "That's..."

"The results of the exorcism," he informed me. "You can see why execution would be the preferred method of disposing."

I swallowed. Between being turned into that, and being dead... "How do I live with it?"

Ryuusei shook his head. "You will."

"But... she killed people," Seika whispered, shaking my head. "She killed Ayame-san! How can I live knowing that Setsu-chan had done this, and used us for it!"

"Shimotsuki... Setsuka, is someone who believes in the ends justifying the means," Ryuusei tiredly answered. "No matter how evil or uncaring she might have seemed, she has always done it for the good of the Arcadia Movement and its members. Even if the means are morally suspect and... expedient and unorthodox and possibly involving the torture of many people, people have improved from it."

"But Ayame-san _died_," Seika hissed. "How is it justified?"

"The balance is protected, so a war is averted," Ryuusei stared at the shrouded corpse. It would be shipped back to Neo Domino soon, to Chancellor Tenjouin, but now Tenjouin-sensei and Nikki were keeping a vigil, both their eyes suspiciously red and the state of clothings less than immaculate. Tenjouin-sensei sniffed and blew his nose. Beside them, the Marufuji brothers kept watch as well.

"In the end... I think Setsu-chan didn't want to," Seika whispered. "We were so caught up in the cruelty of the Winter Queen, we forgot to consider the human aspect of Setsu-chan. That we were so caught up in the 'monster' aspect, we forget that behind the mask, there's someone who wants the best for those members of the Arcadia Movement. That's why she put Kisara-san here. So that the power granted by Nii-chan would give Ayame-san peace and finally free her."

"... Maybe." Ryuusei replied.

"She wouldn't have given us a direct answer."

"...Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me just now?" she sobbed. "That maybe Ayame-san was in danger from the start?"

"I felt it would be preferable for you to realise it of your own accord," was the mild answer.

"So I have to _realise_ that Ayame-san was being essentially enslaved and marked for death?" she cried. "I had to _realise_ that my brother and friend has been lost to the Duel Spirits? I had to _realise_ what Setsu-chan had become? Are we just pawns to you?"

"No," Ryuusei answered, his tone sharp. "It should... but not anymore."

"I think it's no wonder that Kiyoshi tried to start a war," I shivered. "If he realised that this is how we are being toyed with."

Ryuusei gave a sharp reply. "I do not toy with any of us."

"You would have stood by and let her murder Kiyoshi-san," Seika whispered. "Nii-chan..."

"That was the Summer King," he insisted.

"What's the difference?" I snapped.

"I can choose. The King can't."

"Choose what?"

"Anything. Everything. The Summer King would be occupied with the balance as well." Ryuusei shook his head. "I could have chosen to be like her. I could have chosen to _enslave_ Ayame-san, as you say, instead of letting her choose her own path. She _chose_ to return."

"Why?" I wondered.

"That, I want to know as well," I heard a voice.

I looked up to see the grandson of the last King of Games, Ryuuki Mutou, walk to us. His eyes paused on the shrouded, bloody corpse, and his violet eyes glimmered with unshed tears. His fringe hung limply like some bright yellow veil to hide his eyes, but it was clear that he was in mourning. I think he had a crush on me once.

"Ryuuki-san," Ryuusei did not meet his eyes. "You were here?"

"Got kidnapped, yes," Ryuuki shrugged, though there was a growing anger in his eyes. "Like being turned into a statue wasn't enough? Like nearly getting my girlfriend killed wasn't enough? Like having her cater to your every need and whim wasn't already enough, Fudo Ryuusei? No, you took her life! Ayame wouldn't have been killed if she never took your offer!"

"I only offered," Ryuusei replied faintly. "She agreed. She knew the risks, the danger, the facts of serving the interests of Summer. She _chose_."

"She didn't know!" Ryuuki berated him. "What was she to do? She wanted her father back, like I wanted Jii-chan back!"

"We don't always get what we want," Ryuusei murmured sadly. "At least, she is free now."

"What, that's it?" Ryuuki snapped. "You took her from me, you endangered her, and now she's dead and that's all you can say? What kind of an unfeeling bastard are you? Or are you like your mother, delighting in pain-?"

"What do you want me to do, then?" Ryuusei sounded tired. "You were the one who got caught and imprisoned, Ryuuki-san. I could make a similar argument that it was your own imprisonment here at the hand of Shimotsuki that caused her death, that it was your own unnecessary flinging yourself into danger that caused her to take my offer that caused her death. But, it is the past. It is for now. All things end."

"You sound like her," Ryuuki's face fell. "Like Shimotsuki Setsuka. Like you're higher than the rest of us mortals."

In answer, Ryuusei stood up. He produced the same butterfly knife I had seen him throw, and hold it to his own throat. He moved his hand.

"Nii-chan!" Seika screamed as his carotid artery was sliced open. Part of the spray caught on my face, but Ryuusei, very strangely, did not react even as Ryuuki stared at his already healing wound.

"If I could, I would revive the dead," Ryuusei bluntly informed the ashen-faced Ryuuki as his skin patched up with golden fire. "If I could, I would go back in time to undo all this. You would hate me, Ryuuki-san, but Ayame-san would be alive. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it. So I have lost my first champion, and I am stuck with another champion who would no doubt go the way the first have if I don't do anything now. If you have nothing more than recriminations to say, I suggest you get out of my way before you're caught up in the midst of things you do not understand."

Ryuuki stepped aside. Ryuusei sauntered off, towards Kisara. He fell down to kneel by Rex, giving our friend an absent pat on the shoulder. I could imagine Ryuusei whispering caring words to Kisara, who had horror and pain and responsibilities now... but with someone to help her through it.

As I got a shock blanket from Nakamura-san, thunder rumbled over the island.

Seika sat down, another blanket wrapped around her.

I settled the orange blanket over my shoulders, picked up the forgotten tray of soup, and started making my rounds, distributing the drink. As I did, I saw Jimmy stumble out of an adjoining room, looking mostly repaired aside from singed clothes.

He smiled sheepishly at me as I gave him a cup of soup.

Seika stared wide-eyed at him. "J- James-san..."

His smile was bitter. "I lived. Who knew?"

No human, no Psychic Duelist, could have survived the heart of that explosion. Not without protection. Shimotsuki had burns on her back, healing ones, but burns nonetheless that looked recent, but healing.

If she was the same as Ryuusei...

I took the last cup of soup as the sun rose, and I took a sip. Onion, a hint of garlic, the comforting slide of a noodle, just tough to the tooth. How comforting.

How incredibly ordinary compared to our ordeal.

Aside from Ayame's impromptu death, we had survived. Yukio had found the keys to the Duel Bands. We were free.

"I think between the wreckage, the storms, the lack of security and anything else, we wiped the evidence clean," I heard Yukio say to Seika, cupping hands around her own mug after glaring the captain into taking one. "No one else to say anything."

Seika shuddered. "How can you possibly think of avoiding the law at a time like this?"

"Somebody has to." Yukio answered. "...You go ahead and cry. Get it all out." He glanced back at Kaiba and Ryuusei and Rex, gathered around the weakly struggling Kisara in denial.

I patted Seika's arm as I glared. "We could have stopped her!"

Yukio fixed me with an unwavering stare. "This is reality. You know the risks associated with the Movement. You know the risks we take as members to do this." He turned back to Seika, cold eyes steely. "You want to lead? This is the worst lesson a leader's got to learn. The worst anybody ever has to teach."

Fingers clenched on the handle of his mug. "Sometimes, you have to choose who dies."

"How many bodies?" Seika numbly murmured. "What do I tell Chancellor Tenjouin?"

Yukio debated silently, before sighing, stooping to meet Seika, eye to serious eye. "You don't."

I think, for Yukio's standards, it was friendly. Almost.

Seto Kaiba might have been a stuck-up bastard, but he provided a ride back. The Flying Dragon took all the non-student Duelists back to Neo Domino, first-class accommodation back to the big city.

As I disembarked at Neo Domino Harbour, to weary cheers and cautious celebrations, I heard the thunder again.

There were a lot of storms lately.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	44. Interlude: Changing Destiny: Setsuka POV

_**Call of Darkness Interlude 3: Changing Destiny**_

_**An LLS Production**_

_**Dedicated to Proudly arrogant for 150**__**th**__** review!**_

* * *

November seventh.

The day that Kannazuki Seika arrived in the Shimotsuki Manor was, on hindsight, like any other winter day.

We were in the living room, or the drawing room – I could not remember – and it was snowing outside. The radiator was on, and Papa was wrapped up in the woollen throw blanket from Scotland. He sat on the couch. No matter his age, Papa was tall and strong, and even when wrapped up in blue tartan I doubted any man would dare himself against my Papa.

"I'm glad that your mother abandoned the Greek theme of her family, you know," Papa was laughing. His arms were big, like warm towels, but they were comforting as Papa kissed my forehead. "Otherwise you'd have been named Persephone."

"She named me as Setsuka instead," I nodded. "Mama... does not ever seem to mention me, or talk to me anymore. Not ever since I told her about Kay'est."

Papa's smile faded somewhat, but then, the serious expression on his face was nearly his usual expression. "Your mother... you know that we love you, right? _Ma petite fleur_?"

"Mama does not seem like it. Mama always spends time with Professor Kannazuki's daughter, even if Professor Kannazuki does not like it." I pointed out. "Mama says that my eyes should have been like hers instead of Papa's, or violet like Seika's. Mama thinks that greens and reds should be my colours." Perhaps I pouted. "Why? Is this because I can see spirits? Is it wrong?"

Papa's breath steamed in the air as he hugged me. "_Non, non,_ _ma petite fleur._ Diana... has lost many people in her life. She loves you, but... when your uncle died, your mother has difficulty with relationships. The fact that you can see them is a gift, but... it is difficult. Your mother thinks that this gift... will isolate you, and so she is looking for a younger sister for you."

"But I don't need a younger sister," I pointed out. "And you're here."

Papa smiled, and his hands were cold and clammy even through the gloves he wore. "The little girl... Seika-chan. She doesn't have a Mama, not like you. Her Papa has to work, and not all employers let their employees bring their kids like Diana does with you. Not every child is lucky like you, so we must be sparing and magnanimous, yes?"

I frowned, but nodded. The spirit of giving was one that did not come easily, but the principle I could understand somewhat, even at seven.

"Well, shall we have hot chocolate, _ma petite fleur_?" He stood up as I got up, and stretched.

Before I realised anything, Papa had collapsed. "Papa? Papa?!"

The doors slammed open. Mama charged in, her breath steaming. "Setsuka. Your room."

"Mama?" I shook my head. "I didn't. I didn't do anything."

"She indicated her own breath steaming in the cold room. The radiator was frozen. "Your powers are out of control, Setsuka. Out, now."

"_Mama_-"

She dragged me to the door, pointing. "You don't want your father to die. I don't want your father to die."

"Yes, Mama," I whispered.

I walked out. Mama might have told me to go out, but she never specified what to do after that. So I lingered outside, and I heard everything they said.

"Dammit, Di. You can't just take that tone with our daughter," I heard Papa talk through chattering teeth.

"Her powers were out of control," Mama sharply answered. "I told you not to touch her!"

"She's a child, Diana. When will the next limiter be done?"

"Why bother? She'll just break it again. Anyway, she needs to learn self-control."

"She's _seven_, Diana, not seventeen. Just because Setsuka's powers are far greater than the Fudo kid exhibits now or the predicted scope of Kannazuki's daughter doesn't mean that we can't show her love."

"Setsuka knows fully who she should follow."

"Are you listening to yourself?" Papa snapped. He was angry, I realised. "You're preaching about treating kids right, and yet you're neglecting your own daughter."

"I pay attention to her," Mama insisted. "She's here, and she's alive, isn't she? I didn't abandon her."

"Don't take that with me, Di. You're distancing yourself from her. Setsuka needs emotional support."

"She's going to be spirited away. What's the point? I might as well adopt Seika as my heiress now."

"The _point_, Diana, is that you- you are ignoring reality," Papa growled. "Yes, she turns the room cold. Yes, she freezes what she touches. She's very intelligent and we taught her well. It's not her fault that her power causes this. Instead of distancing yourself we need some family time. You need to _relate_ to her."

"But, Rafael... I can't. She's just too much like Apollymi. At least I can look Orion in the face, but she... she has too much of the blood. Too much... and she's already gone from me. I thought... I thought that the Movement could protect her, would protect her, but my daughter freezes everything! What happens if... you could have _died_, Rafe. She could have killed you."

"_She_ has a name. It's Setsuka. It's the name we chose, together with Shimotsuki. Diana... I know you're busy with the Movement. I know that Iemitsu and you are occupied. But you can't continue like this, Setsuka needs a mother. If this continues, I am _not_ going to let you ruin the childhood of your own daughter. She's my daughter too."

There was a beat before Mama's chilly response. "You know that the Japanese laws on custody can grant sole custody to me. I love you, Rafe, but that's not going to dissuade me from what is necessary."

"Dammit, your own logic is circling back on you. Why are you pressing this?"

"She's my daughter. At the very least, she's useful for the interim when she's still here. Besides, she would be the Winter Queen. What better way to ensure that she is able than this?"

"That's no excuse for how you treat her."

"I want her to live."

"At this cost?"

"She'll suffer... she'll hate me... but she'll be alive," Mama answered.

"Wrong answer. What kind of mother do you _want_ to be, Diana?"

"The kind that wants her child to live."

"So by your own reasoning, you're raising Setsuka to hate you... and here's where I'm lost." Papa sighed.

"I'm raising Setsuka to know that happiness is an illusion. I'm raising her to realise that suffering is a very real thing. If she knows that, then she'll know what to do."

"Then why don't you just _tell_ her that?"

"How would a child understand? It's difficult for me too. Rafe, we need to do this the good-cop bad-cop way. There's no other way."

"I don't believe it. You treat the Fudo brat better than Setsuka. Dammit, there was a massacre for that brat's card. Tell me why."

"You know that Blood Rose Dragon is more than just a card; it is its own spirit. You know that I'm right about this. What we must do... what has always been intended."

"I don't care what's been intended. What I care is that Setsuka needs a family, with or without a neglectful mother, despite the tendencies of people who look funny at her to end up dead. I don't care if she inherited too much of your bloodline or whatever it is that runs in your family. What I care, Diana, is that _my daughter is suffering because of you!_"

"Missy?"

I looked up to see Nakamura-san, wearing a suit and a long-suffering expression.

"Did Madam ask you to return to your quarters?" he asked, very gently.

I slowly nodded.

Nakamura-san just smiled, taking my hand in his own gloved one. Slowly, we walked up the steps to my room in the north wing, the entire place shrouded in shadows. The hallways might as well not have been lit, for all the light

My own room itself was dark despite the light outside. There was a bed, a stuffed chair by the side, many shelves of books, and carpeted floor. It was cold; it was always cold, and the heavy drapes made it dark. Slowly, carefully and shivering, Nakamura-san tucked me in and considered the shelves by the side.

"I can make a drink as you pick a story out," he offered politely.

"Thank you, Nakamura-san."

Nakamura-san worriedly scanned the room as he walked out, giving a cursory acknowledgement to Papa as I took a small book out to place on the small bed. Before long, he came. Papa was tired as he sank into the chair, and the tartan pattern of the throw blanket seemed to reflect his faded mood.

"Bad day?" I observed.

His mouth twitched. "Yes. Oh, right." He reached for his pocket, and draped a locket over my hand. It was a large silver locket on a silver chain, with a snowflake sigil inscribed into it. It caught the little light there was, and it was pretty.

"This is a limiter identical with your mother's. Well... don't tell her about it. It'll be our little secret." Papa smiled, as much as he could seem to. My father's face was nearly expressionless, but his eyes were more expressive than the flesh on his skull. "Happy birthday, Setsuka."

"Thank you, Papa." I replied as he chained the locket around my neck. It swung heavily on its chain.

Papa nodded as he took up the green book Nakamura-san had left. "Rather... an odd choice."

"I like this story."

Papa faintly smiled as he began to read:

_They called themselves the Munrungs. It meant The People, or The True Human Beings. _

_It's what most people call themselves, to begin with. _

_And then one day, the tribe meets some other people and give them a name like The Other People or, if it's not been a good day, The Enemy. If only they'd think up a name like Some More True Human Beings, it'd save a lot of trouble later on..._

I must have fallen asleep somewhere near the story, because I opened my eyes and found myself in pure darkness. The lamp next to the bed had gone out. There was no moon or stars to be seen that night, and the inside of the room was filled with thick black shadows perfect to hide in. I wrapped his arms around myself, wishing to hug those shadows like a security blanket. Papa said that when Seika was settled, he would take me to Europe. We would see the _Arc du Triomphe_ together. We would be the Munrungs finding a new home... and Mama would be free to do as she wished.

Fleetingly, I recalled a desire when I had awoken in the night, to pull the shadows around and hold them close; this felt like the answer to that wish. What would it be like to find a new home with the Munrungs?

Light cut through shadow like a sword as Nakamura-san opened the door. "Missy... it's time for dinner."

"I'm not hungry."

"The Madam claims that appetite is irrelevant. Miss Kannazuki is in the house."

Begrudgingly, I clambered out of the bed and slowly, carefully across the carpet, moved to the door. Nakamura-san led me to the bathroom where I refreshed myself. It was a while more when I found my eyes falling onto the tiny girl hiding behind Mama.

"Seika, this is my daughter, Setsuka," Mama was telling the girl with a benevolent smile. It reminded me of the stories of well-meaning yet completely uncomprehending fairy godmothers. "She's a year older than you, so she's going to be your older sister. Isn't that nice?"

I smiled as I recalled the girl. She had been there, four years old to my fifth year. As I watched, Kannazuki Seika squeaked and hid some more.

"Come on, don't be shy."

Slowly, the mousy girl crawled out. "You're... you're..."

"Hello," I answered. It cost nothing to be polite. "I am Shimotsuki Setsuka. And you are Kannazuki Seika. It looks like we will be family from now on."

Seika sniffed, her face suddenly sad. "O- Of course."

"My condolences for your loss." I was sincere, since Mama did not allow me to lie. There was no subversion, no wordplay, and no deviation. "I hope that you can settle here."

"Well!" Mama smiled at the civility I was showing Seika. "Shall we begin dinner?"

Maybe she had expected something else. No matter; Papa and I would search the Carpet. And this hapless girl would become Mama's newest victim of circumstance and necessity.

Yet as I saw Mama grab Seika's hand, nearly crushing the delicate fingers in her attempt to correct Seika's grip, I realised that Kannazuki Seika had done nothing to merit inheriting the threats that had followed me since birth.

Later, I dropped by Seika too-bright room and saw her trying not to cry as she slept alone. "Can I ask what happened to Professor Kannazuki?"

Seika looked sad. "He died."

As I suspected.

I could imagine it; there was only one other person who had been spending time with the Shimotsuki matriarch. Orion-niisan was in Central; there would be no way for him to run the Movement from boarding school, and it was likely that he would be travelling. Seika had a relationship with her, that was deeper and more significant than a casual or formal acquaintance. Seika would be extensively prepared for the throne.

I would be spirited away soon, and when I was Seika would be landed with the Arcadia Movement. At the rate Mama was going, it would kill them sooner or later. In no way could I allow Mama to manipulate Seika, whose life had been deliberately, methodically and secretly reshaped by her prospective foster mother for this purpose.

So, I told Papa. I told Nakamura-san. I paid attention to Mama as she taught her tricks, the nuances with words and how to lie without actually being artful. I doubted that she suspected anything; she never called me out.

A daughter cannot defy her mother. Yet, I believed that Seika had a right not to be manipulated by my mother. And that was the beginning of the choices I made.

* * *

_The summer day of my parents' deaths, it was evening. I was preparing to turn in for the night when the assassin came._

Fire and ice clashed, the ice melting into a puddle as I introduced my foot to the man's knee. I dodged and backed slightly, realising that the man had me cornered.

Papa arrived in time to knock the masked man out.

"Setsuka," he whispered.

"Papa-?" I mouthed as Papa stooped to carry me over one shoulder and walked out of the room in a hurried stride.

"She's dead," I heard Papa whisper in a broken-hearted voice. "Setsuka... your mother is dead. You're not safe here. Get out with Iemitsu, alright?"

I had no idea what to feel. How on earth was I supposed to react?

He took me and ran. After three more corridors, we came across three masked men, and they too were armed.

My father stared back at them with the strength of will that was uniquely my father. "You all know who I am. You know what I can do. But I'm holding a small child here. Make me do anything that could endanger her, and you_will _regret it. _Forever_."

It took my father three kicks to send them flying down the stairs, and my father carried me down to the ground floor and the entrance hall. Waiting for us was a stunned Seika, whom I was now more inclined of kindness towards, was clutching tightly onto Nakamura-san's white-knuckled hand. Both of them were covered in blood spray.

The scene was more horrific when I looked down. Mama's face was beautiful in death as she had been in life, despite the blood spattered all over her. All of her clothes had been stained in dark red blood, and her eyes were closed. Standing over her was the blonde woman in white, and overhead was The Splendid Venus.

"W- What happened?" Seika stuttered.

I looked down. "Mama is dead."

"N- No. No!" Seika shook her head in denial. "Baa-sama... she can't be dead. She _can't_! Rafael-jiisan!"

"So that's the man who defeated the King of Games once?" The woman laughed. "Pathetic! Venus... kill him. Kill them all."

I threw a card out, screaming as it turned the Venus into ice. With another card from Nakamura-san, the statue was shattered. Papa took the chance to vault past the woman to Seika and Nakamura-san.

"Iemitsu, you will take Setsuka and Seika away from here." Papa ordered. "Elysium Circle, dammit. Move!"

Nakamura-san bristled. "But, Master-"

"You're a Psychic. I'm not. I entrust you with my daughters right now, so help me-" Papa set me down and pushed me towards Nakamura-san as the shots rang out. China shattered and there was something awful that rang through as Papa staggered.

I whirled, staring as my powerful father, my strong father, had started bleeding from the chest. "Papa...? Papa!"

Ice formed over his wounds as I hugged him, but the blood... the blood...

"_Ma petite fleur_, live." my father's face was twisted, but his blue eyes that I inherited shone through. His blond hair was spiky and now traced with blood as he pressed the deck-box into my hand. "No matter what... You are my daughter."

"Rafael-jiisan!" Seika had broken out of her stupor, and settled into hysteria. Nakamura-san promptly knocked her out and took her over one shoulder.

"Papa...? Papa... don't." I whispered. My own breath steamed as I pleaded with his cold body. "Papa, don't die. Papa, Papa."

Another shot, another _bang_. Papa's body jerked before Nakamura-san took me over one shoulder and began running.

"Don't let the brats escape!" I heard the woman yell. "Seize that man!"

I unlocked my own DuelDisk, desperately drawing my cards. My father was dead... Papa... Mama... and my home.

That woman killed my family. She was going to die.

"_Final Flame!_" I heard the woman scream. I countered with that Spell of Pain, even as I saw the ghostly form of Guardian Eatos fly overhead, mourning my family. Mourning my father.

Fire consumed everything in the conflagration. My power, and her power, burned bright in the summer heat, and the flames spread out. The entrance hall would not be touched, and the evidence of her appearance would be erased.

The house, the shadows, the book, and most of my childhood burned down that day around the bodies of my parents, and one more man, I later found out. But not the woman. Not the wielder of The Splendid Venus. Regina Mackenzie was still alive.

Not for long, though.

Nakamura-san managed to appropriate a car and take us to the Arcadia Movement. The apartments there were furnished well enough.

Seika awoke and began acting hysterically, causing the lights to react. I knocked her out. I felt my eyes narrow as I did and the electrical lights overhead shattered.

So this was the power that Mama had given me up for. I cannot say that I agreed with her choice.

"Missy..." Nakamura-san nodded, slumped by the side of the couch.

I took a deep breath. "Yes, Nakamura-san?"

"With..." Nakamura-san hesitated. "With this... what do we do about Seika-ojou?"

I looked down at Seika's sleeping form, down to my deck, and I made a decision. "We make her disappear, Nakamura-san. We take over the Movement... and then, we hunt them down, like the Hunter I am. We hunt them down... without mercy."

* * *

Ages eleven to twelve, three years after their deaths and I caused Seika to disappear from any association with the Movement, saw me spending two years arranging the affairs of the Oceanic Movement after Robinson died. It meant settling in Canberra and more often than not spending a time in either Sydney or Melbourne. It meant learning the English language more often than not, and training the Oceanic members. Therefore, I was in the top office when the doors slammed open and – unfortunately – the boy stormed in. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and a passing resemblance to the celebrated Jim Crocodile Cook. He wore a tattered Stetson with a bandanna and other assorted clothings associated with the frontier wasteland. And his gloved hands were punching my desk.

"Where is," he growled. "the bounce that just charged in here after Robinson kicked the bucket, missy?"

I looked down at my papers on financial matters, decided that they were less interesting and that Kaido would sort it out in good time, and put them aside in favour of the matter at hand. "I am Shimotsuki Setsuka. Whom do I have the honour of addressing?"

He blinked. "Erm... James Cook. Just call me Jimmy, missy."

"Mr Cook." I decided. "And you have business with this office?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know why Wilson got the pink slip and where's the dill right now."

"Mr Wilson has been arrested and pending an interrogation following the wrongful appropriation of funds from the various charities supported by the Oceanic Movement branch of Sydney," I informed him. "As for the dill, I believe that you can find some in the kitchens. Please refer yourself to Madam Walker for enquiries as to the spice rack's exact coordinates."

"Erm, I meant Wilson, not actually 'dill' the spice," James answered, his arms flinging amok. It was almost endearing. "Well, there's a sitch at the Coat-hanger, so I'll-"

I later realised that he was referring to the Sydney Harbour Bay, and that the situation was the aforementioned Mr Wilson putting his anger out upon the Bay itself. His expression upon my arrival quickly turned murderous, his focus on I rather than the four others.

"The ice-queen girl, Shimotsuki Setsuka," he spat.

"What sort of forsaken frontier wasteland did you grow up in, if your choice of vocabulary is so limited?" I asked.

"Well, you're not in Neo Domino," he spread his arms wide. "Not in Japan. You're on that god-forsaken frontier wasteland you were talking about. This is Aussie land, not your namby-pamby castle. Get out of here."

"You stole from the Arcadia Movement, Mr Wilson," I answered.

"What the hell are you doing, missy?" James appeared, panting heavily.

Wilson smirked. "Oh, Jimmy, you poor idiot. Can't you recognise the ice princess herself? Shimotsuki Setsuka is pretty recognisable, and you should know if you were targeting to be the head of the Oceanic Movement."

"Who's that?"

I must confess that I did not think much of a man who, while ambitious enough to consider a career in administration, would not even recognise the one who would be his direct superior. "The head of the Central Movement."

"And of all the Arcadia Movements worldwide," Wilson slurred. "I bet the princess never got her hands dirty, and Nakamura did all the work."

"Well, perhaps you were correct in that respect," I reasoned. "After all, a child could hardly arrange for a single-person flight without undue suspicion. But, if you were referring to everything else, Mr Wilson, then I suggest that you stand down."

I raised a hand, and a card. Winter came early, and a drizzle that broke out suddenly turned into hailstones that pelted the ground around Wilson. James and the four others shivered. Myself, I did not care. The cold had never affected me that much.

Within moments, Wilson was turned into an ice statue, and I was glaring down the five of the first responders while they trembled.

"I am the head of the Central Movement," I said. "I am here to choose the next leader of the Oceanic Movement. During this one year, I will analyse every single active member in this frontier wasteland of a country-continent until I have formed a suitable profile. By the end, I hope to select an able leader with the willpower to carry out his moral responsibilities. Are there any questions?"

"Not a big-note oneself, eh?"

"Perhaps you could clarify it in something resembling standard English." I answered James, who had asked.

"Not a boast," he grinned, his eyes twinkling. "You took down a Class IV Duelist on your lonesome, and someone who survived the Never Never at that. Damn, and you're younger than the rest of us."

"Age is irrelevant." I replied.

"Nah, it is," James grinned as he leaned over. I found out what a kiss was then.

"Will you go out with me?" James grinned, holding on to his right ear where I may have damaged a few bones.

I also realised that punching James, while being an uninspired move, may have been completely justified. A good experiment was not made with just one sample. So I hit him again.

I do not know why James Crocodile Cook the Second was chasing skirts at thirteen, and chasing me at that. Despite a few parental complaints, the boy had not given up any pursuit, in a rather juvenile way of making his expressions of courtship known. Even when I posted Dewloren to throw him away from my immediate area, somehow he came back.

"Did you like the Madame?" he asked me once.

"She was my mother. My liking of her was irrelevant."

"...so you didn't?"

A child crying for her mother was more socially acceptable. So perhaps, I may have been completely remiss in misleading the press and everyone on my attachment to my mother. If anyone had ever analysed my stand on the Movement, they would have noticed that I had always spoken of my mother with respect to the Movement. They would have noticed that I have never made private comments of my mother – or indeed, private life in general.

James just looked at me while I silently pondered his question. "It's alright. I don't see my Ma that often. I prefer work with my Da anyway."

More silence, before he hit upon that shadow of memory. "I remember you. You were here when the shit about the Massacre was going on."

"Yes." I recalled a dark-haired boy then. Perhaps not much. He proposed when I used-

"...Blue Ice White Night Dragon to stop a bank robbery." he finished my train of thought.

He absently patted my hand. They were rough and warm, like how Father's hands had been before he was forced to wear gloves to hug me. Before my power over the cold could give him frostbite.

Was it tough for you? There was the unspoken question written in his expressions. Choosing this?

"You have nice hands," I reflected, changing the subject. He never spoke on it again.

On hindsight, this was probably the reason that James was almost always handsy after that. Even with a long-distance relationship, his energy did not abate even when eventually I chose him to lead, with MacKinnon caring for the daily business of the Movement. He was a fool, hot-tempered and loud... and somehow, he fell for me. Yet...

My opinion of fidelity was sorely tested when he began sending me photographs at fifteen. As it were, he soon found out that a photograph of him and any girl would result in a sudden investigation of the girl's relation to the Movement, and perhaps an attempt at effecting violence. Yet, my life was my own to choose – barring input from Nakamura-san.

I may have been held to responsibilities, but I was free in the way that came from obligation and power.

The Witch is dead. Long live the Queen.

* * *

The days when James was the most complicated part of my life and everything else was spare change were over. The Movement is no longer in my hands, and were placed in Seika's hands instead. She had done well; doubtlessly due to the effort of Nakamura-san and Kaido, but Seika had her merit.

I was not proud of what I had to do. I still was not.

I spend the days following my disappearance amidst the vicious ones of Duel Monster Spirits, managing backstabbing courtiers on one hand and fighting wars on the other. Being the Queen of Winter was not such an easy job, but I had made my choice and I lived with it.

So I am the Queen of Air and Darkness. I am the ruler of fully half of a spirit realm, forever conflicted between worlds. I am to test Seika for her leadership, and my boyfriend is on Duelist Kingdom. One thing I knew was that while James could not stop me, his very presence would at least force me to rethink my plans. It was that sort of infuriating quality that always led to-

"I love you," he sleepily answered, hissing as I caged his hips between my thighs. "I love you. Please, don't stop."

My nightgown must have ridden up, because it was his naked skin that I felt. Oh my, the short length of dresses nowadays.

James scowled at me as I rode him in a deliberately slow manner. I smirked back, making a rolling motion of my hips while I had his literal balls in a vice. It drew a groan and a little shuddering breath from him. Spirits love playing their games, even the highest and mightiest of them, and I could feel just how much the Winter in me was enjoying this one, how his squirming attempts to get free was arousing.

Before the eye of every spirit in alliance with Winter, in Lia Fáil, the centre of my power, and James was here, of his own choice. Just tonight... but what a night, and I was just... _entertaining_ him.

For now.

"Evil queen, damn," I heard his cussing.

I couldn't help it. I grinned. "And you swore yourself to this evil queen, James."

He grinned back at that.

I blinked as he flipped, and rolled until I was the one with my back on the Silver Throne. Winter's symbol beckoned overhead, but James's body heat was a raging conflagration in the heart of Winter. If I cared to concentrate, I could perhaps hear Dewloren complaining, but my majordomo could hardly object. He chose to crown me here as the temporal sovereign of Winter, after all. He was hardly the boss of me, rather the opposite.

Somewhere, I could hear Michiru heckling, and I smirked up at his flushed features. "Is that all, James?"

His hands were rough and warm on my hips, though I could feel blunt nails dig into cold flesh. "No. I'm going to change your opinion about the floor of the throne room as a christening venue. And then I'm going to make an argument for the very nice bed you have and I know you have. Talk to me. I love it when you're all official."

"I trust that you will make a superb argument for my bed," I gasped, my nails scoring his back. "What should I say? I could talk about Michiru's promotion. Such as that nice speech I have prepare- _James, don't you dare_-"

"Oh, I _intend_ to." James murmured, licking my earlobe before he dipped his head and bit me.

He won the argument.

It was a smooth victory for my James, I considered as I rose. My James... soon to die. He would die, and even if it was inevitable, he was... so proprietary.

I liked that thought.

With a choice, I destroyed my own chances at a normal life. I destroyed my chances of embarking on adventure, like the Munrungs of Carpet. But Seika will live. I had changed her destiny, and with it mine. And I shall make the best of my life now.

It's not all that bad, being the Queen of Winter.

* * *

_**Rafael is reading the opening of **__**The Carpet People**__** by Terry Pratchett to Setsuka.**_

_**I would like to comment that this is entirely in Setsuka's POV. Earlier fics I wrote in this series placed the Madame as a curiously benevolent character with a pragmatic bent. What Setsuka sees here is not the public face, but rather Diana Hunter that is the actual profile of the Madame.**_

_**Please review!**_


	45. XLII: Vow of Tribe

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XLII: Vow of Tribe**

The aftermath of the Duel Royal was awkward, to say the least. I had given Chancellor Tenjouin and Tenjouin-sensei a quick accounting of Yuuki Ayame's demise and the accidental circumstances.

It was a solemn procession at the crematorium, and Chancellor Tenjouin had been very understanding. She cried at the funeral too.

Nikki-chan gave me a look as I paid my respects. "Did you try?"

I considered, and nodded. "It was... a trap. Shimotsuki Setsuka... killed her."

Nikki-chan stiffly nodded, biting hard on her lips and trying not to cry. "Thank you, Kannazuki-sempai."

Mutou Ryuuki-san had turned up for the solemn event as well, standing with the Tenjouin family. Yuuki Judai-san had given me a very solemn nod and agreement, and a verbal affirmation that he did not hold the Movement responsible. Nii-chan did not turn up, but I found that the flowers on her grave did not wilt and had not wilted at all.

Yet, that was not to say that all was smooth-sailing. I had to entertain two more awkward meetings with the O'Brien father-son team and a global teleconference between all of the heads of the Arcadia Movements worldwide. KaibaCorp stock fell by twenty points, and with it the Arcadia Movement suffered too. Though Seto Kaiba, with some help from the Movement, had managed to give reparations to the two hundred or so students and the Movement itself, relations between the business world and the Movement had definitely cooled somewhat.

On the other hand, we have had positive reports of the Duel Academias worldwide ever since the Duelist Kingdom fiasco.

It was the last day of September that I was scanning all the activities that the Movement had planned when _they_ came in.

"We're heroes now!" Kaido had smiled as he turned in a very improved report stating that Psychics in the various Dual Academia branches had experienced better attitudes and peer treatment since Duelist Kingdom, and quite a few more curriculum proposals. "It's not entirely bad. And we've worked out a system of disappearance risks in our general pool."

"Seika-ojou..." On that day, Nakamura-san hesitated. "Are you sure that Orion-sama can manage your workload?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Orion assured as he looked through the stack of documents with me. He winced, gingerly patting his stomach.

"So, the reason she did that was to keep me off the island, huh...?" I heard him whisper. There was a look of self-recrimination about him, like how Rex-nii had looked when Nii-chan disappeared.

"Yes. I..." I heaved a sigh. "I don't know how to convince her anymore..."

"Seika-ojou..." Nakamura-san pressed the neatly arrayed invitation to me. "Ms Kaiba has issued an invitation to her party tonight."

I sighed, glancing at it. "I... Do I have to?"

"Considering that you and she parted on hardly the best of terms, I judge it prudent that you attend," Nakamura-san informed me. "And, since the invitation included a plus-one... I suppose that Orion-sama could have followed along, were it not for his own invitation."

"Me?" Orion echoed, his eyes narrowed as he accepted a similar stark-white and gold envelope. "Why?"

I opened the invitation.

_Kisara Kaiba  
cordially invites the holder of this invitation  
To the celebration of Neo Domino KaibaLand's 50th Annual KC Grand Prix  
On the first day of the month of October, to begin at six pm in the evening,  
in the Grand Amphitheatre of KaibaLand, 60 Tops, Neo Domino City_

_Dress code is preferred formal, though smart-casual is acceptable upon notification of staff upon receipt of invitation. You may bring along a companion of your choice. Please provide this invitation upon arrival as proof of good standing._

_Offered in good grace, to the head of the Arcadia Movement and a sincere ally of the Kaiba family. Accept it with no obligation in the capacity of these entities, as a gesture of goodwill, and no debt shall be accrued._

_RSVP The office of Ms Kisara Kaiba,  
Vice-Chairperson, Kaiba Corporation  
__0XX-XXX-XXXX_

_Sincerely._

Orion whistled as he glanced at the glided paper. "Invitations got fancy," he commented.

"They are usually given a week in advance, but given the metal content of the invitation, we had to send it in for checking," Nakamura-san regretfully informed me. "Suitable clothings and accoutrements have already been arranged for Seika-ojou and Orion-sama. The fitting is today."

I turned to look at Nakamura-san, who had not given any hint away. "You masterminded this, didn't you?"

"Most certainly not," Nakamura-san denied, his face stoic though he was possibly lying. "Mr Ariyashi was not told to keep the invitation to run checks as quickly as possible, and neither was your schedule rearranged to accommodate the event."

"Nakamura-san." I sighed. "I think you just want to dress me in a nice gown."

"There is that," Nakamura-san admitted.

There was a choke, and Orion-san was bent over the table, doubtlessly concealing his mirth.

"Of course, I have provided a tuxedo for Orion-sama as well."

Orion-san stopped laughing as the door opened.

"Seika-chan, we've just gotten two visitors," Yuko announced from the doorway. "They won't leave."

"Indeed? Nakamura-san-"

"You have no imminent appointments, Seika-ojou," Nakamura-san consulted the calendar.

"Rafael-san, Archibald-san," I greeted as the two came in. Yuko closed the door behind them loudly, though it just made a muffled sound. "Please, have a seat. Would you need refreshments?"

Rafael-san shook his head. Archibald-san was more taciturn.

"This is Orion Hunter, the nephew of the Madame Shimotsuki having just returned to us," I introduced them. "Orion-san, these are Corporal Rafael de Santos and Specialist Archibald O'Brien of the West Duel Academia."

"Yes," Archibald-san frowned in answer. "Kannazuki-san, Hunter-san. I come as representative of West Academia this time. As you may know, West Academia has traditionally done the training of its Blue Berets in a joint curriculum with West Point Academy. And yet... well, an entire Blue Beret contingent was on Duelist Kingdom Island, and were defeated by an amateur force of Psychics with no training in military combat and only three leaders, which was in turn taken down by a civilian force of slightly over ten Psychic Duelists."

"Indeed?" I felt my eyes widening. I had hardly known of the scope of that battle, save that there had only been one death: Ayame-san. To think of what we had done... on hindsight, I could see that indeed, other countries were looking at us.

"Therefore... West Academia would like to approve the creation of a curriculum that would involve how to handle situations outside of usual combat." Archibald-san hesitated, his eyes flickering to Nakamura-san and to Orion-san. "However, we have approached the two Movements in New York and Louisiana, and they have notified us that with such a move, we need to seek permission from the Central Movement, as the two of them are hardly qualified to speak on such matters which may affect the current détente. Their words."

"I am not equipped to give an immediate answer," I replied diplomatically. "May I understand the reasons which this request is issued, along with an official documentation of request?"

"The fiasco of the Duelist Kingdom Island showed us that there are, indeed, enemies that we have never been trained to handle," Archibald-san insisted. "Kujaku Satsuki, Tenjouin Michiru, Shimotsuki Setsuka... they outclassed us all. Even though we were better-trained than the rest of the island, we were outclassed by a team of eight Psychics who were trained by Shimotsuki in the past."

"Luck was on our side." I pointed out. "We did not face the true enemy at hand, and there was only a skeleton garrison on the island. The eliminator squad also escaped the moment the control room was seized." Also that Setsu-chan set up the whole thing as a trap for Ayame-san and to teach Yuuko-chan and me. It was an open secret in the Arcadia Movement that Shimotsuki Setsuka usually managed to achieve her aims one way or another, and that the best way to ensure victory was to make sure that no one died. None of us dying could be practically counted as a decisive victory.

"Luck meant nothing when you walked into the enemy base to attempt to open the gates," Rafael-san spoke up. "Luck meant nothing when James Cook crashed the doors open for us. You defeated Tenjouin Michiru, who was one of the three leaders of the eliminators then. That sort of courage requires exposure to the combat of Psychic Duelists, which the Movements have been hesitant to show us."

"There is that," I acknowledged. There was nothing I could use to dissuade Rafael-san, after all.

"The Movement has always been open to interactions between the rest of society and non-Psychics," Archibald-san argued. "Where's the harm in fighting together?"

"Because then the Army gets methods on how to handle Psychic Duelists," Orion-san pointed out. Somehow,

"There is Orion-san's argument, and there is the possibility of official recognition by the Duel Academias," I acknowledged. "I... I do not have the ability to make a decision now. The next time an appointment is not made, it would be very inconvenient for us, Archibald-san. I hope you may understand that."

"...I do," Archibald-san whispered, looking away. "I know what you guys face. And already... I know that we need the Movement. I'm sorry for imposing something like this on you."

"Was that all you need to address, Archibald-san?" I asked.

"Yes," Archibald-san stood. "I will take my leave until you get back to me. My contact details are with the receptionist. Excuse me."

He left. Rafael-san did not.

"Rafael-san?" I asked.

"Pardon me," he nodded. "I represent the Kingdom of Misgarth. Specifically, the royal family of King Ojin."

"What?" Nakamura-san turned his head. "Then...!"

"Stop, Nakamura-san," I said. "It does us no harm to listen."

"Specifically, it is dependent on the answer of two individuals," Rafael informed me. "Ryuusuke Diamondblade and Shimotsuki Setsuka. It was for that reason that I set out on the orders of the King to find these two individuals."

"The King...?" I echoed.

"Well... following the blunder of SORA on the part of the then-Prince Ojin, Misgarth fell into civil war," Rafael recited, as if having said so from memory. "The royal family scattered, and the Princess Linda and her child were found in Australia. By that time, Princess Linda was cared for in Australia by Mr Valon. Later, Mr Valon gave his life up to save the princess and her child before they were recovered by the royal family."

"How cruel," Orion mumbled. "I heard about it, but I didn't know..."

"But, how would the wishes of a dead man affect Ryuusuke Diamondblade and Shimotsuki Setsuka?" I asked. "Unless... these are the wishes of the King's grandson?"

"I was told to find the descendants of Rafael Knighton, later Shimotsuki, and Amelda Crowley, if just to assuage the conscience of the late Mr Valon." Rafael informed me. "For you see, the late Mr Valon knew the late Mr Knighton and Mr Crowley as old friends. From what I gather, they served together as well, once upon a time, and only now can the royal family of Misgarth repay its debt of honour."

It was very good, if rather implausible. For there were things that did not ring right with Rafael's words.

* * *

I was feeling a bit envious of the kids who managed to get back to Academy Island after the mess at Duelist Kingdom. School life is way easier than getting through the mess thrown at the Movement on a monthly, if not actually daily, basis.

I hated impromptu jobs. Particularly this one.

"Remind me why did I sign up for this?" I asked no one in particular. We were somewhere on the highways that connected Neo Domino together in a Honda SUT. I would have rode Carpe Jugulum, but considering where we were going it called for a car, at the very least, and Kaido had been reluctant to release the keys to the Pilot. Considering the three cars totalled by Youkai and I over two years, maybe he had a point that the SUT was the only thing capable of going through three Psychic Duelists and the Manjoume luck.

In the back seat, Yukio snorted. "Apparently, your dates consist of running from monsters and blowing shit up. You chose, you don't get to complain."

"I get Youkai. So why Ryuusei?" I pointed to Ryuusei, who was studying the perspex window. Yeah, so I forgot to clean it. So sue me.

"We need heavy assault power," Yukio flatly replied. "Yuko is busy sticking to Kannazuki like a human limpet, and this is familiar stomping ground to you guys. None of the usual guys are free, and Atlas had a baby to sit on."

"Reina would be fine," Ryuusei sighed. "Don't be crass, Yukio-san. So... we have someone holding down the local DA campus?"

"Zombie World, according to what Glen and Reggie reported," Youkai affirmed, clinging onto his seatbelt as he balanced the slim little notebook on his lap and I drove. "Extends to the campus fence, no more, no less. Too bad Seika took a day off, we could use some help."

"What about Kraehe?" Yukio asked. "If she's inside..."

"She's only one Psychic, and inexperienced as well." Ryuusei cut in. "Besides, odds are that this is more than a lone assault."

"Zombies," I shuddered as I swung by the entrance.

There are some places that just seem eerie, and schools are one of them. Usually bustling with students and other human activities connected to the established education system, seeing a school, any school, without any such human activity can be really unsettling. I got that impression, seeing the V-formation of the DA buildings, that this was the case. The shadows threw everything into muted shades of grey, even in the late afternoon. There were thorned vines tangled amidst the wire fence, and they lent some aura of mystery and general horror movie feel to it.

We got out of the car and walked in slowly through the broken gates.

"Left, right... front, back, up," Youkai affirmed. "Don't think anything can hide in the concrete, anyway."

"You've been watching too much animé," I chided as Ryuusei led the team in. "Yukio, what are we here for?"

"Rogue Psychic. Zombie World... well, for one thing, we know that she's not powerful enough to operate the worse effects of Zombie World."

"Why?" I asked.

"None of us are flaking off, Chase," Youkai answered, shuddering. "You notice something?"

I looked out and up. "No lights?"

"That, and I can't get a signal," Youkai put his phone extracted from seemingly nowhere back into a really tiny pocket that really shouldn't fit it.

We walked through the main building, and I grimaced at the utter silence of the administration branch. I found a corded phone, attached outside the general office, and dialled the NDPD. If the bad guys, whoever or whatever they were, were afraid of attracting attention from the outside world, we might be able to avoid the entire situation by calling in lots of police cars and flashy lights.

The phone rang once, twice. It went dead, along with the lights and the constant blowing sigh of the heating system.

I heard a snap. I whirled, and then I saw Youkai glance at a side hallway. I noticed a few things.

First, that Mototani had apparently been retained on the cleaning staff of Kings. Usually people who pissed Shimotsuki Setsuka and the entire Arcadia Movement off didn't survive, but I guessed that Shimotsuki just made his life hell for a while and left him to dry for being a hapless idiot prone to mailing letter bombs. A steel ladder was tipped over and lay on its side by him.

Second, there were droplets of blood around him, especially the ones closest to the ladder. They glittered like tiny brilliant rubies.

"What?" Ryuusei asked as I pulled back slightly. "What is-"

He stared at Mototani, or the body, for a second and answered the question for himself. "Crap."

Yukio stooped over. "This was recent. The blood hasn't oxidised."

Youkai swallowed as Yukio checked the corpse and I took a _really_ good look. Well, Mototani was breathing, but his throat had been torn out. Whatever time he had left was a mere formality. "I didn't _see_ anything, Chase."

"I heard a snap, didn't see anything either." I answered.

Yukio could hear our quiet conversation as clearly as if he'd been sitting with us. "Something grabbed him," he said. "Something moving fast enough to cross your whole field of vision in a second or two. Didn't stop moving when it took him. You probably heard his neck breaking from the whiplash."

There wasn't much to say to that. The whole concept was disturbing as hell.

"It's a great way to do a grab and snatch if you're fast enough." Yukio conversationally continued. "I was shown how it was done once." His head whipped around.

I felt myself tense. "What?"

"More lights just went out."

I snorted. "Only one reason to do that."

"To blind us," Ryuusei assessed. "Prevent anyone from reaching the vehicles or calling for help. At least the panic sign Uzuki sent us told us something. A tricky Duelist, someone used to setting things up and then controlling the field of their own accord."

We left once Mototani gave his last breath, and a few moments of going through the hallways later, I found the main hall. The Colosseum-like structure of the amphitheatre had not changed, but it was crowded now. The students had become aware that something was wrong, and an uncertain silence hovered over the place. Some of them looked injured.

A shock of red hair clothed in black hurried over. "What is it?" Himemiya Uzuki asked me, her expression pinched and worried. "Is Seika here?"

"Trouble," I said. "Seika is handling really important negotiations with the NDPD. We may be in danger, and I need you to answer a few questions for me, right now."

She opened her mouth.

"First," I said, interrupting her, "do you know how many security men are present?"

She blinked at me for a second. "Uh, four in the day, two after. But the security hasn't answered, so the Disciplinary Committees and the Berets are occupied with keeping order and the safety of the students. The teachers are around the other side."

Several short, breathy screams came as the lights blinked and flickered, and I heard Ryuusei shout for silence and call my name: "Chase?"

The PA system let out a crackle and a little squeal of feedback. It shut off again and came back on.

"_Testing,_" said a dry, rasping voice over the speakers. "_Testing one, two, three._"

Uzuki froze in place, and then backed up warily, looking at me. I stepped up next to her, and she pressed in close to me, shivering. "So glad Seika didn't come today," she muttered. "She'd be safe in the Movement."

"_There,_" said the voice. It was a horrible thing to listen to – like Linda Blair's impression of a demon-possessed victim, only less melodious. "_I'm sure you all can hear me now._"

"Oh, hell," I breathed.

"_This is Sara,_" continued the voice. "_Sara Wraith. I'm sure you all remember me._"

I glanced at Uzuki, who shook her head.

"_Then again,_" she continued, "_It doesn't matter. Not here, anyway._"

The voice started singing. The tune wasn't even vaguely close to the actual song, but the lyrics of 'Happy Birthday' were unmistakable. I was _never_ going to hear that song in the same way ever again; Shimotsuki and now this yahoo had settled that.

Uzuki's eyes had widened. "Huh...?"

"Who the hell is that?" I asked.

Uzuki shook her head. "I think it's one of the Central transfers. She couldn't fit in, moved here because of a complicated family situation or something."

"And you didn't recognise her?"

Uzuki gave me a slightly guilty glance. "The Disciplinary Committee has other things to worry about than its loners, and she was... well, quiet. She wasn't really very, you know – outstanding."

"Uh-huh," I demurred. "Tell me whatever you can about her."

"Um. About Seika's height, sort of... plain. You know, not ugly or anything, but not really pretty. Maybe a little heavy."

"Not _that_," I sighed. "Tell me something important about her. People make fun of her?"

"Some did," Uzuki answered. "The Committee keeps an ear on the ground, but..."

"Code Carrie." I muttered. "We're in trouble."

"Bullied student lash out in revenge, likely burning down the whole school and parts of Neo Domino in the process?" Yukio asked.

I blinked. "How did you...?"

Yukio rolled his eyes. "Stakeouts. I rent books from the Magic Formula."

The horrible, dusty song came to an end before I could comprehend the depths of Yukio's pop-culture background.

"_It's been a year since I left you,_" Sara's voice said. "_A year since I found what all you whining losers were looking for. And I decided to give myself a present._" There was a horrible pause. "_You. All of you._"

"Code what?" Uzuki asked me.

I shook my head. "Know where the announcement system is?"

"Yeah. Administration. Right by-"

"The security office." I sighed.

Sara's voice continued. "_The entrances are closed and watched. Feel free to run for them, though. The __taste is so much better when you've had time to be properly terrified._"

With that, the PA system shut off, but a second later, it started playing music.

"So how did we get in?" I realised.

"She probably intends to make us an example to the Arcadia Movement," Yukio absently replied, the virtue of having been in so many situations that it was hardly surprising anymore. "Right. So far, we have Sara Wraith, the suspected. Likely a loner, bullied... anything else?"

"She was... very into the occult," Uzuki shrugged. "Fantasy, vampires, that sort of thing."

"Zombie Duelist, opportunistic," Ryuusei chipped in. "Probably has help. Where are the teachers?"

"Here," I saw Marufuji-sensei walk to us, his steps brisk but reluctant. "We were leading the students in the West building here. I guess you're the reinforcements from the Movement?"

"Panic signal," Ryuusei answered.

Marufuji-sensei looked pained when he saw Ryuusei, though he concealed it pretty well. "I see... so what do we do now?"

"Do nothing," Yukio flatly replied.

"What?"

"Assuming that this Sara Wraith has even half a brain, she would know that the school's policy would be to put its students into a safe area while the teachers conduct an investigation," Ryuusei elaborated. "She probably isn't going for the teachers, since you managed to come back here. Mostly likely, she's waiting for all the students to come here before attacking."

"That's insane," Marufuji-sensei harshly exclaimed.

"No one said that sanity was required- look out!" Youkai dived. Where he stood, a crystal shattered, and a plume of smoke arose as we stepped away from it. From within the smoke, she stepped out.

Sara, or so I presumed her to be, was dressed in dark jeans, a red-knit sweater, and a long coat. She was sunken and shrivelled, as bony and dried up as a year-old corpse. She still had most of her hair, though it had clearly not been washed or styled. She stank. I don't mean that she was sweating. I mean she smelled like a year-old corpse that still had a few juicy corners left and wasn't entirely done returning to the earth. It was noxious enough to make me gag. There were screams, and a stampede to get away from the stage where she stood.

Her leathery lips peeled back into a smile, yellow teeth stained with drying brownish blood. She was enjoying this. Until her eyes fell on us. Her hands blurred, the motion too fast to see.

Yukio and Youkai were faster. Yukio threw himself towards the stage, and Youkai flipped to plant his feet on the raised wall with the leverage to propel himself as well. Yukio tripped her before Youkai even got to position to give her a knee to the midriff. How on earth did he have the leg strength to move himself about five metres diagonally through the air without ropes, I didn't know. I hoped he remembered that he wasn't immortal or Bruce Lee.

"You're surrounded," Ryuusei evenly answered. "You can't escape."

She cackled. "You can talk," she rasped, "when I say you can talk. Speak again, and I will rip you apart and throw you into the Bay."

"Sorry, I'm not buying that," Ryuusei answered. "By the Arcadia Rights Bill of 20XX, you're under arrest."

"Why, officer," she purred, and I felt repulsed for Ryuusei's sake. Even the dead girls were after him. "Are you trying to put me in _cuffs_? I didn't think necrophilia was a hobby for such a... delectable morsel."

"You're right," Ryuusei evenly answered as he unlocked his DuelDisk. "So, I guess I just have to win, then."

She leered. "And what makes you think I even need to accept your challenge?"

Ryuusei gave her a flat look, wide-eyed and serious. It pretty much conveyed that even if Ryuusei looked pretty, he had serious thorns and a way with computers. "You're pathetic."

Whatever it was, it got her attention as she unlocked her Gothic-looking black DuelDisk with a raspy snarl.

"Duel!"

Sara: LP 8000

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"Ladies first," Sara purred. "I summon Zombie Werewolf [1200/1200] to the field in attack mode. I'll then set a card, turn end."

The howling werewolf drew some more screams as it roared, and Sara giggled.

"Draw," Ryuusei considered the card. "I activate the Field Spell, Tomato Paradise."

Sara giggled as vines sprouted around the field. "Such an odd choice. How childish."

"I summon Lonefire Blossom [500/1400] to the field." Ryuusei declared. "I tribute it to special summon the tuner monster, Cherry Inmato [700/400] in defence mode. The effect of Tomato Paradise give me a Tomato Token [0/0] in defence mode. I set a card. Turn end."

"Draw!" Sara snapped as two giant tomatoes sprouted on the field. "I summon Malevolent Mech – Goku En [2400/1400]! This card can be normal summoned without a tribute, but at my end phase, it must be destroyed if it is the only Zombie on the field, and I take damage equal to its attack. Still, it looks like this turn is safe... Zombie Werewolf, attack the Cherry Inmato!"

Ryuusei barely flinched as the tomato's juice spattered the field. "When Cherry Inmato is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon two Inmato monsters from my deck. I summon Inmato [1400/800] and another Cherry Inmato, both in defence mode. Tomato Paradise activates, giving me two Tomato Tokens as well."

Sara scowled. "Goku En, attack the Cherry Inmato!"

"Using the second Cherry Inmato, I special summon one Inmato and my last Cherry Inmato," Ryuusei patiently replied. "Because my monster zones are all filled, Tomato Paradise does not activate."

"I end my turn," Sara snapped.

"And he's already managed to fill his field," Youkai frowned. "As expected of the Prince of Duel..."

"Draw!" Ryuusei declared. "I have two Inmato, two tokens, and one Cherry Inmato. Also, Cherry Inmato is a tuner monster."

"T- Tuner monster?" Sara looked taken aback.

"Tuning, level three Inmato to level two Cherry Inmato," Ryuusei announced. "Gathering stars will unleash a new future, become the path its light shines upon. To remember the once saviour! Synchro summon! Tech Genus Hyper Librarian!"

In a flash, the white robed magician appeared [2400/1800].

"With that, I summon the tuner monster, Spore [400/800] to the field." Ryuusei began. "Tuning, level one token to level one Spore! Gathering wishes will call out a new speed's horizon! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! The Power of Hope, Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron!"

A little race-car zoomed onto the field, beeping [200/1500].

"I draw a card due to Hyper Librarian, and then due to Formula Synchron himself," Ryuusei nodded. "Banishing level three Inmato in the graveyard to special summon Spore as a level four monster. Tuning, level three Inmato and level one token to level four Spore. Flashing ray that tears seas and stars, roar throughout the world and shake the souls! Synchro Summon! Jewel Flare Dragon – Stardust!"

The dragon that appeared was a lot like Stardust Dragon, yet not. It bore a covetous expression for a reptilian face, and it loomed possessively on the field. Again, it was creepy beyond reason, though for what reason I did not know. [2500/2000]

"One more card drawn," Ryuusei glanced at the field. "Activate the set card, Dust Tornado, to destroy your set card."

Sara cursed as the set Red Ghost Moon was destroyed. "But, my monsters are far more powerful than you can handle!"

"Monster Reborn," Ryuusei revealed the card to revive Lonefire Blossom, and thus net a token that soon gave way to Tytannial, Princess of Camellias [2800/2600].

"Tytannial, attack the Malevolent Mech," Ryuusei ordered. "Librarian, you take the Zombie Werewolf. And Jewel Flare Dragon, attack the second Werewolf!"

Sara: LP 8000 → LP 7600 → LP 6400 → LP 5600

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"When Zombie Werewolf is destroyed by battle, I can special summon another Zombie Werewolf from my deck with a little... bonus [1200/1200 → 1700/1200]," Sara leered.

"I set two cards, turn end." Ryuusei barely responded.

"Draw!" Sara snapped. "I summon Vampire Bat [800/800 → 1000/800]! Now, all Zombie-Type monsters on the field gain an attack boost of two hundred [1700/1200 → 1900/1200]."

"During my opponent's main phase, I can use Formula Synchron to Synchro summon," Ryuusei rebutted. "Tuning, level five Librarian and level two Formula Synchron. Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Bloom, Black Rose Dragon!"

_Black Rose Dragon _emerged, long black neck curled gracefully, golden eyes gleaming, and a pair of rose-petal wings spread wide [2400/1800].

"Che... I'll set a card and move Werewolf to defence mode, turn end." Sara sneered.

"Draw!" Ryuusei called. "I tribute Lonefire Blossom to special summon Gigaplant [2400/1200], which nets me a token once more. I use the effect of Black Rose Dragon; by banishing a Plant-Type monster from my graveyard, I can move one defence position monster you control to attack mode, and also reduce the attack power of the target monster to zero. I banish one Cherry Inmato to target Zombie Werewolf. Rose Restriction!"

"My werewolf!" Sara shouted as the werewolf was bound in the thorned vines of Black Rose. [1900/1200 → 0/1200]

"Battle. Black Rose, attack Zombie Werewolf!" Ryuusei called. "And I activate the Trap, Synchro Stream! When I control two or more Synchro monsters, I equip this card to one Synchro monster of my choice, such as Black Rose. Then when Black Rose attacks, it gains attack power equal to that of another Synchro monster until the end phase [2400/1800 → 4900/1800]."

"F- Four thousand?" Sara mouthed as the werewolf met a fiery death.

Sara: LP 5600 → LP 700

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"Tytannial," Ryuusei raised a hand as the queenly creature held herself high. "Strike down the Bat!"

Sara: LP 700 → LP 0

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"I lost... I lost?" Sara kept shaking. "Why... why?"

"_Get lost already!_" Someone in the crowd shouted, and a stray paper cup flew to hit her. The ice still inside scattered across the stage.

"_Freak!_"

"_Monster_!"

"_Demon_!"

"Oi, that's still petty..." Youkai was held back by Yukio, who just drew a card.

Ryuusei coughed. The theatre fell silent.

"We are going to take Miss Wraith custody," he told the crowds. "She will be judged by the Arcadia Movement. Under that reminder, please hold back your abuse."

"_Why should we?_" someone shouted. "_She tried to kill us!_"

"She," I heard Sara growl, "still can. Overpowering Eye!"

There was a swift pattering sound, and Sara was there in a flash, her hand out... and the fingers stained reddish-brown, definitely not with henna. I could only watch as those ridiculously sharp fingernails went for the jugular-

-and a bell rang out, Sara falling off balance in pain.

The Battle Fader floated overhead as Yukio jumped, managing to get to Sara in time. He latched a pair of cuffs on her hands, twisted, and completed cuffing of the other hand before shoving a boot to her midriff. There was an _oof_ sound as Yukio essentially kicked Sara down the steps of the benches of Duel Academia Kings, watching her thump down and to the ground with a surly eye. In the end, there was a sort of extra bounce, and she landed at my feet, looking rather woozy before spitting over my shoes.

"Oh come on!" I yelled as I jumped, but not fast enough to save the poor babies from ignobly being barfed on.

I _hate _impromptu jobs.

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_**Please review!**_


	46. XLIII: Mirror of Oaths

_**Call of Darkness**_

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**XLIII: Mirror of Oaths**

I studied Nakamura-san as he crossed his arms. Usually, Nakamura-san would not do that; they leave his hands occupied when he could need them, he told me once. Nakamura-san was, indeed, nervous.

"The favours of the royal family of Misgarth has no impact on the Arcadia Movement, unless Misgarth wishes to violate international treaty by harbouring known international criminals wanted by the Movement," Nakamura-san hesitantly ruled. "The Psychic Duelist known as Shimotsuki Setsuka... has been declared a wanted criminal along with her known associates. But, if so required, I shall see if Ryuusuke Diamondblade is within the complex. Then, and only then, will I give you an audience with him."

"Well... I haven't actually thought this out," Rafael-san admitted. "I have to say... that I just wanted to inform the head of the Arcadia Movement before I tried to contact the two of them face to face. After all, a royal decree should be delivered face-to-face."

"A royal decree?" Yuko echoed in disbelief with Orion-san.

"The de Nidhogg dynasty was saved by Mr Valon and his friends," Rafael-san answered honestly. "Mr Crowley was in Misgarth, and assisted the relief efforts greatly. Mr Knighton was a great supporter of the royal family along with Madame Shimotsuki, and also contributed much in his own personal work to restructuring and the actual war effort. Mr Valon safeguarded the life of the current Crown Prince of Misgarth, at great detriment to his own. And even afterwards, much assistance was rendered to us from the Arcadia Movement to the economy of Misgarth, stopping only when the economy stabilised three years ago. It would not be much to admit that we of Misgarth owe our current survival to them."

"I see..." I shakily picked up a pen. "N- Nakamura-san... please inform Ryuusuke of an appointment with me the day after, at four. Rafael-san... thank you for telling us this first. I... I think, Mr Shimotsuki would have been surprised that there was someone... who looked so much like him..."

"Uhm..." Rafael-san panicked as I shook in my chair. "Have I... somehow offended the head of the Arcadia Movement?"

"So... Setsu-chan was helping all along," I realised. "I see..."

"She was helping the Misgarth economy?" Orion-san frowned.

"I thank you, once more, for allowing us this chance," Rafael-san bowed as he stood.

"N- No, it's our pleasure," I bowed in answer as he turned on one foot, leaving.

I sank back into the chair, glancing at the numbers spread before me once more. All of them detailed the pressing problems of abuse, family problems and... and abandonment.

"Why has the current family-oriented policies not been addressed?" I asked Nakamura-san.

"Education can only take so much impact," Nakamura-san sadly replied. "And there are always parents... who cannot accept their children as they are."

"Neo Domino has banned familial abandonment for over ten years, but these cases continue, and the results when enforced don't tend to be pretty," Yuko spoke up. "Yukio and I discussed this once. On average, about thirty percent of all cases we receive tend to be conclusively resolved, so only in three out of ten cases do parents actually try to fix these relations between their Psychic kids or kids with the Sight. That still leaves about seven out of ten cases on average with the Movement. Of course, we don't receive that many cases of Psychics in Neo Domino City itself, but it looks like a worldwide trend that started especially after the Peru riots. Peru was actually justified, but then the rest of the world gives us this..."

"And Setsuka hasn't resolved these cases?" Orion-san asked.

"Japan's laws on adoption and family tend to be stricter," Nakamura-san shook his head. "We try to consider the pressures placed on both parents and children, but most Psychics in the Movement are more sympathetic to the children to consider the problems of the parents. Kaiba Corporation was our greatest backer, but recently we've had a few setbacks, you know. If it weren't for Fudo-kun taking Kisara-sama for training these past five months..."

"What is the main reason listed?" Orion-san blinked.

"Usually, family disgrace," Yuko supplied. "About ten percent of cases tend to be actual fear, and from that ten percent, in ten percent there's some justification, usually in a family trauma brought on by a senile relative. Sometimes it becomes a walking excuse for a cult, and even more think it's a case of possession by spirits, no matter how weird that sounds."

"That's not right," Orion-san frowned. "I mean, Izayoi Aki and Fudo Ryuusei are officially out in public as Psychic Duelists, right?"

"We're talking about Class I to II Duelists, who often do not possess the fine control or the raw power to defend themselves," Nakamura-san severely answered. "Fudo-kun is a Class V, and Izayoi-sensei a Class IV, Class V considering her experience. Their raw power is already enough to ensure that Professor Fudo and Seika-ojou are well taken care of."

"The Knights are trying, but a force of fifty, even with Psychic Duelists all of Class III and higher, is still not going to be very effective," Yuko pointed out. "Not to mention that only about ten thousand people all over Neo Domino tend to take active practice in honing their skills."

"In many cases, the child's first showing of their powers tend to terrify the parents as well," Nakamura-san acknowledged. "A strong familial inheritance line can be traced between Psychics from the Billet-doux Report complied by the Madame before her demise, and added on by Missy. In many cases, the previous exhibiting of powers by relatives tend to have a great traumatic impact on parents such that they attempt to deny the existence of all signs in their child at early age. When the power truly manifests in their teens, Psychic Duelists are unprepared and often fall short of the NDPD or the Knights of Arcadia before the Movement can intervene by any legal standing. Therefore, Missy often faced the dilemma between separating guardian and child forcibly, and intervening on the behalf of a defenceless innocent with no fault than to inherit the gift we share."

"I think I understand," I nodded. "So, the Arcadia Movement's involvement in these cases usually mean that they are interfering in family matters, which technically should be the purview for the family courts."

"Usually, the Arcadia Movement would render shared custody of the minor with the actual guardians, or they take on orphans as a ward of the Movement," Yuko wryly murmured. "Since Japan, together with most Asian and African countries, is not a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, by international law sometimes our visiting members who are minors can be technically classed as victims of international child abduction unless accompanied by an adult."

Orion-san and I paused to stare at Yuko. "Why... do you know that?"

"It's... complicated," Yuko admitted. "Yukio and I both had to brush up on international law after the mess involving the Peru riots about three years ago. It was for a good reason, I swear!"

"A good reason?" I asked.

"Well..." Yuko paused. "You know how the Peru riots started? Frankly speaking... Yukio started and ended it."

* * *

Sara was still struggling, but against Yukio's hold on her hands, there was no point except that my sneakers were pretty much ruined. She was loaded into an armoured van, ready to be taken down to the Central Building for processing.

"Say, Tenjouin-sensei..." Sara turned her head to grin manically at the older brown-haired teacher as she was hauled off by clearly nervous officers. "The Fabled Lady gives her regards."

Tenjouin-sensei flushed, glaring red. If there was a time that I thought hostility could come from Tenjouin Fubuki, it was now. "What about her?"

Sara just smiled. "She gave me power."

The officers loaded her into the car and drove off before long.

"We have a janitor and a security guard dead... what a nightmare," Detective Inspector Ushio groaned. "Okay, what the hell happened?"

"Rogue psychic," Yukio shortly answered. "Apparently with the ability to assimilate the powers of a zombie or vampire, we're not too clear."

"Zombies have powers?" Ushio blankly replied.

"Zombie as in the Duel Monster type," Yukio clarified. "She should have cracked her skull twenty times over when I threw her down the steps. Instead, she survived, and she still retains all her faculties. I judge that she might have increased tolerance, functional immortality and the ability of revival, not to mention a lack of any feeling of pain or possibly physical feeling entirely, given the state of decay-"

"Freakish, as your lot are wont to do."

There was no outward changed, but as Yukio tilted his head fractionally, I saw the speaker. It was a pompous man with blue hair and eyes, and dressed in a suit that was pretty good quality for off-the-rack. Not tailor-made; it was an ill fit on the portly frame. But the blue of the eyes...

"Yamada-san," Yukio neutrally acknowledged, without any inflection right as he turned back to Ushio. "Where was I? Ah, yes, her body contains no traces of formaldehyde or any preservatives, as far as I can tell, so it was an undiscovered murder that was left for the better part of a year. Does that help you?"

"We'll see what to do," Ushio neutrally replied, shaking his head. "Zombies... how do I tell Mikage-kochou this..."

"Detective Inspector Ushio, I believe that as representative of the Neo Domino Prosecution, we have a right to all reports," the man, Yamada, frostily commanded.

"Yeah, through the Prosecution's Office." Ushio lightly replied. "Not through on-the-scene reports, and you know it."

"Facts tend to twist themselves in the presence of any member of the Movement in any given time," Yamada answered.

"Well, not as long as the NDPD is here," Ushio muttered angrily. "Are you questioning my officers, Attorney Yamada? Are you questioning _my_ integrity?"

"Youkai, you take over the report," Yukio said to my boyfriend as he began to move off.

"Someone you know?" Youkai asked, his expression sympathetic.

"Unfortunately."

"Where are you going?" Yamada had just finished warding Ushio off and was now looking towards Yukio's direction. "Where's... Yoko?"

"_Yuko_ is at the Castle." Yukio flatly replied, not turning to face him. "You'll see the report when we send it to NDPD, and not before. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more abuse victims I'd like to rescue from a system who lets children with special needs fall through the cracks."

"I knew you'd never see it my way," Yamada huffed. "We gave you everything."

"You never gave us what was needed," Yukio woodenly replied as he stalked off. Well, stalked off, for him. It still looked like a march.

Youkai warded the officers off with the necessary half-assed explanation, and then let Ryuusei take over as he turned to me. "We should get Yukio away."

I blinked. Youkai's cerise eyes were only that wide at two kinds of events, and we weren't in bed, for one. "Er... Yukio going batshit crazy?"

"It's... complicated," Youkai lamely replied. "They're..."

"The family resemblance is pretty clear," I wrinkled my nose. "Family?"

"...father," Youkai said nothing else. He hardly needed words to convey the entire awkwardness of father and son on opposite ends of the metaphorical battlefield.

I was stopped by Tenjouin-sensei and Marufuji-sensei before we left.

"About Sara... what will happen?" Tenjouin-sensei looked worried. "Her parents... just..."

"Parents?" Youkai asked.

"They're... dead," Marufuji-sensei answered. "From the officer's report, it sounds like... they ended up like how Mototani looked."

"As of right now," Youkai blandly answered. "we will have to pass her case through not only the NDPD, but also the Council alongside the head. If necessary, barring an intervention from the head of the Arcadia Movement herself, Sara Wraith might even face the death penalty."

"No way..." Tenjouin-sensei echoed.

"Under the Arcadia Rights Bill of 20XX, what Sara Wraith had tried to commit, on top of having committed, was not only cold-blooded murder but attempted terrorism under sound mind, without influence," Youkai answered professionally. "A psychic who voluntarily killed those who cannot defend themselves do not deserve pity from the Arcadia Movement or the justice system."

"So the Arcadia Movement will protect their own members first?" Tenjouin-sensei murmured.

"If any of us were to indeed do such an act, there are two things that would happen to it." Youkai cryptically replied as he ran off after Yukio.

"What... are those two things?" I hesitated before asking, my footsteps following him behind.

"One is we kick ass to kingdom come," Youkai answered. "The other is summary execution."

I swallowed. "And that's for any public disturbance?"

Youkai bit back a dark chuckle. "No way, or I'd probably have been executed several times over for our messes. It's like the difference between knowingly committing murder in broad daylight and accidentally running someone over. But knowing Yukio, he'll probably cause a flood if it would get Attorney Yamada away from Yuko and him."

Yukio was waiting in the car when we got to it. No one had dared to even approach the Honda; I saw a road-sweeper actually cross the road at the sight of the lightning-struck tower emblem. This was a moment when Machiavelli's fear vs love problem could really be questioned.

"He's not coming to the Movement building," Youkai assured Yukio as he and I got into the front seats of the car. "Yamada Yuuta wouldn't lower himself to visit us personally."

I paused as there was a knock on the tinted window. I scrolled it down to come face-to-face with an older blue-haired woman.

Since she wasn't in blue, or even a traffic warden, I kept my best smile back. "Yes?"

"My apologies... I am Yamada Yukie," the woman spoke to me. "May I ask... if Yamada Yukio is willing to speak to me?"

"No, I'm not," Yukio automatically snapped to me. "Not to her."

"You tell her," I bitterly replied to him.

"I have nothing to say to a woman who abandoned both her children."

I swallowed. This must be how soldiers feel standing next to a landmine about to go off. It certainly felt like that next to a volatile Yukio. I mean, usually Yuko would be the hot-and-cold one, not the ice-face.

Yukie looked ready to cry. "I see that Yukio... still doesn't want to talk to me. My deepest apologies."

I waited for her to leave before scrolling the window up. "That wasn't nice."

"She was the one who told me to get out of the house," Yukio sourly replied.

"Well, she looked like she regretted it," I defended.

"Her opinion wasn't present when _he_ lashed me," Yukio shot back. "She told me herself to get out when I showed them my powers. What she regrets doesn't matter since she hasn't tried talking to me for five years."

Family business. I had no idea how to navigate the whole mess. I mean, I hadn't grown up in a normal nuclear family myself, having spent my formative years in the cold treatment of the Manjoume family, and then in a ragtag family in Satisfaction Town. The closest mother figure I had ever approached in my life was divided between Nico, Carly-san and Aki-sensei.

Yukio's treatment with his father maybe I could get, having received something close to it from my own father and Uncle Jun. Even after we fished Uncle Jun out of the bowels of Pegasus Castle, we still weren't that chummy. To a proud man, having to be rescued was pretty bad for Uncle Jun. We Manjoume are like that.

For a proud man to know that his son held that terrifying power...

I remember, having to go through the tough studying the Manjoume family put its children through. How Mother just watched, but didn't interfere. How she whispered that it was all for my future. It didn't really help that when she died, the blade of betrayal just bit deeper.

At least mine has the excuse of being dead; I don't think Yamada Yukie really tried at all.

So I did the only thing I could; I locked the car.

"What about Ms Wraith?" I changed the subject.

"Mototani was unquestionably her victim, as well as the security guard," Yukio nodded. "Unless we have another Carrie case on our hands, at which I pronounce their sentence completely justified, if over the top."

"I didn't know you read King," I muttered. "You look like a Murakami fan."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive," Yukio acknowledged. "Back to the current topic, it's likely that Wraith could be given the death sentence. Only those who are prepared to be shot at should shoot, and she wasn't prepared to be stopped. There were barely any precautions against us, even Himemiya could take her down. I plan to write a strongly worded report and get Hazuki-san on the case."

"Dammit, she's a kid, not a teenage paramilitary expert," I sighed. "Uzuki was correct in calling the Arcadia Movement, I mean, have you _seen_ Wraith? She looked like the zombie Terminator."

"And Himemiya Uzuki was the ace of the camp you have so erroneously named Camp Kaboom," Yukio acidly replied. "Fire kills zombies, I believe."

I was instantly reminded of Yukio kicking Sara down the steps, hands bound and unable to defend, and wondered if Yukio went into a fight with the same calm that seemed to follow him every time. "You... looked like you could handle yourself there."

"Shimotsuki-sama was a most able teacher," Yukio told us. "What about those who had not been trained by her? I estimate that about twenty or so students could have _died _before we came."

"Do I know it," Youkai wryly answered. "Feel less homicidal yet? That's an exaggeration, Yukio. Ten at most."

"Shut up, Misawa, unless you want the pipes to blow," Yukio snapped back. "Or treat us to sushi."

Youkai turned back to me, his expression hopeful.

I heaved a sigh. "Fine."

I unlocked the door, and Ryuusei got in to look at Yukio's sour expression. "What's with him?" my friend asked.

"The... family business," Youkai admitted.

"Ah." Ryuusei understood. "About Peru?"

"Peru?" I asked as we drove off.

"You didn't know- right," Youkai caught himself. "It was the anti-Psychic rioting fiasco when Yukio brought that boy... what was his name?"

"Ricardo," Yukio shortly answered. "Ricardo Rojas. They called him _El Diablo Manchando de Sangre. _The blood-stained devil." He could declare such a title with a straight face. Yukio Yamada, the literal iceberg.

"Yeah, he brought that guy over, and there was rioting because we smuggled back the son of a diplomat or something that was abusing him." Youkai related to me solemnly. "Death toll of about ten, and many casualties before Rojas decided to fly back, and then..."

"_El levantamiento de la tormenta_, the rising of the storm," Yukio whispered. I chanced a look at the rear-view mirror, and it was the first time I had ever seen the ice face anywhere near haunted. Lips parted, eyes drifting, almost like a statue melting.

"The kid didn't want to go back," Youkai quietly murmured. "So he smuggled a very powerful forbidden card back to Lima. Raigeki. The result fried his tormentors... and the rest of the orphanage... and a few stray picketers. The Yamada family was brought in the persecute the boy, but it was close thing. Yukio managed to get him relocated to the European Movement. Yukio actually came to blows with Shimotsuki for that, on top of engaging Yamada Yuuta in verbal repartee."

I nearly giggled – in a manly fashion, of course. "The coldest man I've ever met, faced down his saviour the ice queen?"

"It... was not one of my prouder moments," Yukio admitted himself.

"Still. You _argued_ with Shimotsuki?"

"It... was foolish," He dropped his gaze to the Plexiglass window, his face pensive. "We had already won the case. The Peru Arcadia Movement was a very important player for Latin America. It would have been wiser to extend an olive branch, not make enemies with the ruling government. Especially with lawyers such as Attorney Yamada."

His solemnity calmed me. "Then... why did you do it?"

"I found I could not play nice with the people who would threaten a victim with execution for defending his life."

When I first met the man, he was a literal cold fish. He needed some thawing, and occasionally I had insight on how he worked. In any argument, Yukio could argue with the best of them. His long, convoluted arguments could turn a screw sideways and bend it straight given enough effort and time. Where Yuko was the nice twin – which _never_ really meant defenceless – Yukio was the complete opposite. Yuko had short, happy pronouncements, and Yukio had arguments that placed so many points in one spoken moment that the argument was already forewent. Yukio actually thought before he spoke.

Yet, it was the short sentences that gave more insight that any argument constructed on the spot.

"He's alright, you know," Ryuusei chipped in. "We get letters and everything. You just spoke to him the other day, Yukio-san."

Yukio smiled, a candid and vulnerable curve of his lips that floored me because I didn't think that he could do it. I thought for a moment that the rear-view screen was broken. "Perhaps. The fact remains. I wish... he had a better life."

The thing about ice, was that sometimes you shatter it, and then water comes out of the rock-hard surface. Water is change, emotions, and I realised that under the still façade was a maelstrom of emotions, held in check by incredible willpower and intent.

I continued staring at Yukio's back, when he was walking back up the foyer of El Castle, or the headquarters of the Arcadia Movement, set in the very heart of the Daimon Area.

"I think, once upon a time, Boss asked Yukio three questions for forming the Knights," Youkai thoughtfully murmured.

"I was there, too," Ryuusei nodded. "She told him to imagine the turmoil of the situation as a very long night. The questions were: What is the Movement? What would your knights be? And what would be our purpose?"

"Whatever his answer was, it passed," Youkai commented. "What do you think his answer would be?"

"... I don't know." Because I was too busy reinventing what I knew about Yamada Yukio. The same man who had no qualms about kicking someone down a flight of steps felt sad at the thought of a kid who had been a victim of circumstance and abuse. The same abuse which I guessed Yuko and Yukio had gone through. Yuko had... smiled. He had been cheerful, with the bustling enforced cheerfulness of denial.

Yukio... Yukio had faced the darkness. He had thrown himself into it. Somewhere under the cold façade trained onto him was a good man, trying to do the right thing but knowing only one method for it. He had deliberately set out to create a group to help prevent such cases and help the taxed Movement with their cases, and he was passionate about it, desperately trying to help even if it meant facing his estranged parents. Why else face down Shimotsuki, who by all accounts trained him, and whom he respected over Seika? That he desperately cared for the Movement and its ideals, Yukio hid well.

"Invitation for you," Ryuusei appeared, handing me a cream-coloured invitation with gold filigree. It felt delicate just touching it. "KaibaCorp Grand Prix, opening party."

I groaned. "Oh, come on. My shoes are ruined!"

"We're going together," Youkai insisted, tugging on my wrist. We rode the elevator up and I was about to enter the office when I heard Yuko talking:

"So, Yukio and I were standing in front of the terrifying Boss, and she was levelling her glare at us. And then, she was asking Yukio and Kasai these questions after giving them a situation, that this was akin to the middle of the night. 'What is the Movement? What would your knights be? And what would be our purpose?'"

"So, h- how... did Yamada-san... answer?" Seika timidly asked.

A sharp rap. "Yuko."

"Eek! Nii-san," Yuko nervously swallowed. "Erm, I was just telling Seika-chan how you and Kasai managed to get the Knights approved by Shimotsuki-san, you see."

"The answer to those three questions," Yukio answered, so naturally as if he hadn't needed to even memorise the answers by rote and already knew it all. "The Movement is the full moon, to reflect the sun's rays into the night and reveal those hidden in darkness. We, the Knights of Arcadia, would be the multitude of stars that shine through the night. Our purpose would be: to illuminate the night until the sun rises into day. When the sun rises, we are eclipsed. We will be there when the sun sets into night again. When the moon must hide itself in darkness, we shall be there. We are not brilliant like the sun, or far-reaching like the moon, but we will be enough until day comes once more. Now, Yuko. Why are you distracting Kannazuki-san when you should be checking up on Martha's orphanage?"

"You're scary, Nii-san..." Yuko joked.

"Oh? So I'm _Nii_-_san_ right now?" Yukio murmured, a scarily cold aura reeking off of him. "Come here and say that again, little brother."

"I apologise with every fibre of my being..." Yuko murmured. "Oh, and Yuuki asked when can he get Kiyoshi out of the infirmary."

"When he's in a body bag." Yukio snarled.

Seika reached for a piece of paper. "Erm, Yamada-san... the NDPD regulations state that a Psychic Duelist suspected to be of unsound mind must be checked into an approved psychiatric clinic for an analysis, before his case is to be examined by the criminal courts of Neo Domino."

"Then put him under Neo Domino Arcadia Rights Bill of 20XX paragraph ten, the part under requirements for summary execution," Yukio answered. "You can do that, right? I can handle the execution part now."

"Yukio!" Yuko snapped. "You're talking about our cousin's boyfriend!"

"You mean the same one who used him to enter the Movement, unleashed the Despair of the Dark that killed five of us and injured twenty more, and then tried to kill us all, including Yuuki?" Yukio irritably shot back. "I think it's perfectly justified. Have you seen him? It would practically be a mercy killing."

"There's still a chance of curing him if he's alive," Yuko insisted, though he did not sound too convinced.

"His mind's broken. There's no way we're going to piece him back," Yukio shrugged. "I only regret that the traitor can't see his current state."

"Yamada-san!" Seika insisted. "I have given Kiyoshi-san a free pardon! Please refrain from violence upon someone who was also a victim of circumstance. Please, try to understand what Kiyoshi-san went through!"

"I understand all too well," Yukio shot back. "Which is why watching him is all too heart-rending. And yet, he has betrayed us."

"Just now... the night has turned into day," Seika announced. "There is no need to punish Kiyoshi-san any more, Yamada-san."

Yukio twitched. Yuko's hand readied a card. Youkai actually took out a whole five-card hand. Even Nakamura-san looked wary. I stepped up, ready to fling myself bodily to protect Seika. Youkai might be fast, but Yukio specialised in ripping people apart.

"That's what you think," Yukio bit back. "The way I see it? Since you took over, it's been approaching sunset. The night will come back before long."

I winced at the clear dig at Seika. Way to abuse the metaphor. Yet, the girl remained firm. "Even so, the sun is still here. Sunset and sunrise both occur at the same rate."

"Wrong," Yukio shortly replied. "Sunsets are faster."

It was a bit hard for me to find Yukio's attitude to Seika at fault when I considered that maybe he had a _valid_ reason to be hard on Seika. The Movement needed a leader who wouldn't give under the intense pressure Japanese nuclear families exerted as their right. Yamada Yukio had faced almost every horror that awaited those he called his friends and himself, should the Movement and all it stood for was dismantled and blown into dust. He knew the stakes, and doubtlessly, he had felt the stakes.

There was nowhere else for Yuuki, Yuko and him to go. The Movement wasn't perfect, but it was the work of so many people over time, helmed by pragmatic heads and cool strategic minds and passions towards a better future for them. And all his stuff was in it.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	47. XLIV: Aquamirror Cycle

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XLIV: Aquamirror Cycle**

Arguing with Yamada-san over Kiyoshi-san took the better part of an hour. While Yuko and I were all for leaving Kiyoshi-san with a clinic that could hopefully do better for him, Yamada-san was rather adamant of Kiyoshi-san's betrayal of the Movement, and possibly cheating of his cousin. I really did not want to know Yamada-san or his history of assassinations if this was the usual attitude he took with the Psychics who betrayed the Movement.

Facing Yamada-san, I was reminded of facing Setsu-chan on the _Flying Dragon_ once more, suffering from an ignoble defeat. I had thought that Setsu-chan would at least use Dewloren, but she did not even use a single Synchro monster to defeat me. I was not even worth her respect or an effort for her ace monster.

"People can change," I insisted.

"Yes," Yamada-san agreed. "After a very traumatic event. Such as death."

"Why?" I asked. "Why do you insist on this? The poor man can barely survive on his own power anymore, not with the state he's in, much less plan. What does his death merit?"

"Closure for him, and peace for us," he automatically answered.

"And what about Yuuki-san?" I asked. "Your cousin would be heartbroken."

"...heartbreak is good for character," Yamada-san stiffly replied. "That man threatened the Movement. He threatened Psychic Duelists, Class I and II Duelists who had nothing to do with the greater conflict at large. He aimed who those without the ability to fight back first. His death means one less possible threat and one less drain on the resources of the infirmary and the Movement in general, that could be diverted to others who need them. It is a duty for the head of the Arcadia Movement to provide closure and sanctuary and assistance for its members. That includes getting rid of threats. The most logical move who therefore be the termination of the traitor."

"You've really thought about this," I stiffly acknowledged. "What happened to becoming a star for the Movement? Do you wish for the Movement to emulate your example by bloodshed? That is not justice!"

"Justice is a delusion," Yamada-san answered. "Plato has proven that the concept is a virtue by which one's reputation is maintained, and when that social sanction is removed there goes one's moral character. By the law of Neo Domino, or by common law or equity, Kiyoshi cannot be held responsible for an inter-dimensional war that happened above the skies of Neo Domino, nor can he be charged with the Despair of the Dark. Given the horrors that he has legally gotten away with now, by exactly _which_ court of justice will you be charging him under, Kannazuki-san?"

He took a deep breath. "I too, seek justice for the Arcadia Movement. Yet, Kiyoshi has done things that no court can punish him for, and therefore it is up to us to mete it out. True, he is pitiful, he is a wreck. But he has chosen his path, and he must have known what awaited him should he fail. Now these are the consequences."

"It's not fair," I whispered.

His cold blue eyes turned pinched. "Life never is."

"Yuuki-san will fight you."

"I know."

"He'll hate you."

"I know."

"Then why do you do it?"

"So that no one else needs to."

"Do you really think that there are people who would try to kill Kiyoshi-san?"

"...I think," Yamada-san answered after a pause, "that you underestimate how many members of the Movement found safety here, and when Kiyoshi threatened our home they make baying bloodhounds look slothful and unobtrusive."

So here I was, watching Yuuki-san tiredly stand to greet me from beside Kiyoshi-san's bed. I could see the dust, the concealed neglect.

I turned to the doctor. "Why has no one relieved Yuuki-san?"

"Eh?" Dr Erik blinked. "But Yuko-kun did."

"What about the rest?" I asked. "Is there no one else who cares about Kiyoshi-san?"

"Word's out that he betrayed the Movement willingly," Dr Erik confided. "Well, Psychics tend to have a different way of showing their hate, but in this case they just ignore him. Better than the last time someone tried to inject thallium into his IV."

I took a deep breath. "It's cruel... why?"

"For better or worse, the safety of the Movement has been taken for granted," Dr Erik reasoned. "After all, what's the point of a sanctuary if others can break in so easily? And for someone to violate that sanctuary, and the one at fault within their power... the members of the Movement have tasted the blade of fear and hatred from the rest of the world, and it is here that they are safe."

Blue eyes met as Yamada-san looked at Yuuki-san. "What is it?"

"Yukio!" Yuko snapped, moving to block him. "Stop already!"

Almost every eye was on Kiyoshi-san. Ever since we had brought him back into the infirmary, the infected wounds seemed to have stabilised. Parts of the gangrene had been surgically removed with no great physical loss, although Kiyoshi-san still required sedation.

"Don't you dare," Dr Erik said to Yukio. "Not here."

Yukio stiffly nodded. "I'll throw him into the Bay harbour if I have to."

"Yukio-nii..." Yuuki stood to block his older cousin. "Can we take this outside? Yuko-nii..."

"I'll cover you," Yuko promised.

"I forgive you, Kiyoshi-san." I told the sleeping figure. "So rest here, with the blessing of the office I hold."

"That should keep the babies out," Dr Erik wryly nodded as I rushed out after Yuuki-san and Yamada-san.

"What do you have against Kiyoshi, Yukio-nii?" Yuuki-san was whispering loudly. They had walked to the dormitory concourse, directly outside the infirmary, and were currently facing each other and ignoring everyone.

A few more Psychics rushed to leave; Yamada-san looked to be truly on the warpath.

"He betrayed us," was the flat reply.

"And he hasn't suffered enough?" Yuuki-san whispered. "Or have you forgotten about the family?"

"They abandoned Yuko and I. I don't see them as family."

"I'm family too."

"I know." Yamada-san looked determined, if rueful. "And that's why it's all the more important. He would have killed us. He would have killed _you_."

"You..." Yuuki-san sighed. "Kiyoshi can't do anything now. Not to us. Are you going to strike down someone who's already a vegetable?"

"It'll be a mercy killing."

"You're serious, Yukio-nii." Yuuki-san narrowed his eyes.

"I'm glad you realise that."

Yuuki-san shook his head. "My words cannot convince you alone."

"Yes."

"So, there is only one way left to settle this," Yuuki-san glared as his DuelDisk unfolded on his arm.

Yamada-san just put his own DuelDisk on in answer.

"Duel!"

Yukio: LP 8000

Yuuki: LP 8000

"I shall begin, draw," Yamada-san announced. "I set a monster and two cards. Turn end."

"Draw," Yuuki-san quietly murmured. "I summon Evoltile Casinerio [1600/400] to the field in attack mode. Then I activate the Field Spell, Molten Destruction [1600/400 → 2100/0]. Casinerio, attack the set card!"

"Gishki Ariel [1000/1800] has a flip effect that allows me to add Gishki Beast from my deck to my hand." Yamada-san announced quietly as the monster was destroyed.

"At the end of the battle phase, when Casinerio destroyed a monster by battle, I can tribute it to special summon two level six or lower Fire Attribute Dinosaurs from my deck, as long as they have the same name. The monsters summoned like this have their effects negated and are banished at the end phase," Yuuki-san continued. "I special summon two copies of Evolsaur Terias [2400/600] to the field."

A green-grey dinosaur with bone armour appeared on the field, growling [2400/600 → 2900/200].

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Yuuki-san called. "Exceed summon! Come, Evolzar Solda!"

The fiery-white dinosaur-like dragon spread its wings, growling [2600/1000 → 3100/600].

"I set a card, turn end." Yuuki-san finished.

"My turn, draw," Yamada-san announced. "I summon Gishki Beast [1500/1300]! Due to its effect, I can special summon Gishki Ariel [1000/1800] in defence mode from my graveyard."

"Gishki Ariel?" Yuuki-san backed slightly as the Spellcaster arose. "Why...? I choose not to use the effect of Solda."

"Good move," Yamada-san remarked. "I construct the overlay network between these two monsters. Exceed summon! Arise, Bahamut Shark!"

The shark bared its teeth. It did not resemble a shark or a fish as its name implied, and rather more like a dinosaur. Leathery wings of blue and white sprouted from its back, and it gave a roar as it bared teeth and claws at everyone [2600/2100].

"He's serious..." I heard Yuko mumble. "He's serious..."

"The effect of Solda activates!" Yuuki-san called.

"I'll bite you to the death," Yamada-san countered. "Trap card, Breakthrough Skill! During this turn, all the effects of Solda are negated."

"What?" Yuuki-san gaped.

"I detach an Exceed material from Bahamut Shark to special summon Number 47: Nightmare Shark from my extra deck," Yamada-san announced as the other monster appeared. "In exchange, for the rest of this turn Bahamut Shark cannot attack."

Another blue and white shark shimmered into existence. Unlike Bahamut Shark, this one put me to consider the legendary beings called mermaids. It had no legs, but instead a tail. It bore wings on its back, large ones like a stingray's. Its fin protruded between the shoulder blades. Its snout was the shark's one, awkwardly positioned with gills where the cheeks should be. Its arms, which were anatomically incorrect of a shark, and protruding out of a human torso, bore sharp implements [2000/2000].

"By the effect of Nightmare Shark, I attach Lost Blue Breaker from my hand to Nightmare Shark as Exceed material," Yamada-san finished. "Now, I activate the Spell, Chain Summon. When I have successively summoned two or more Exceed monsters, I can special summon from my extra deck another Exceed monster from my extra deck, but with a lower rank than the monsters I have already summoned. I choose Armour Kappa [400/1000] and special summon it in defence mode."

The armoured kappa knelt on the ground.

"Three Exceed monsters... and he still has a hand of three," I heard Uzuki comment.

"Damn, Shimotsuki trained him well," I heard Chase-nii say. "But he usually uses a Gishki deck, right?"

"No... right now, he isn't Yukio," Nii-chan murmured. "He is the shadowy master that leads the Knights of Arcadia, and arguably one of the most powerful psychics. He is the Arcadia Movement's Cold Wolf."

"I use the effect of Nightmare Shark: by detaching one Exceed material from it, I can choose a Water Attribute monster I control, and that monster can attack directly, but only that monster can attack this turn." I heard Yamada-san announce. "Of course, I choose Nightmare Shark himself. Nightmare Shark, attack Yuuki directly with Jaws from the Deep!"

Yuuki-san staggered back, and we saw the pain he tried to conceal as he stepped back slowly.

Yuuki: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Yukio: LP 8000

"Activate Spell, Xyz Treasure," Yamada-san dismissively finished. "Since there are four Exceed monsters on the field, I can draw four cards. I set two cards, turn end."

"Draw!" Yuuki-san called. "I summon Rescue Rabbit [300/100], and then banish it to special summon two Sabersaurus [1900/500] from my deck. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon, arise, Evolzar Laggia!"

Wings flared as the other monster appeared with a roar [2400/2000 → 2900/1600].

"Now, Yukio's spells and traps are negated," I heard Chase-nii comment.

"Go, Laggia!" Yuuki-san ordered. "Attack Nightmare Shark with Overarching Flame!"

"Armour Kappa!" Yamada-san called as he slotted a card from his hand to the graveyard as the kappa formed a shield with its hands. "The effect of Armour Kappa: by discarding a card from my hand, for this turn none of my monsters are destroyed, and I take no battle damage this turn!"

"What? That's broken!" Yuuki-san retorted as an invisible bubble formed around Yamada-san and his monsters.

"Unfortunately, this effect can only be used once per Duel," Yamada-san continued as the dinosaur's fire slammed ineffectually into the bubble.

"Dammit! Turn end!" Yuuki-san snapped.

"Draw!" Yamada-san called. "I use the effect of Breakthrough Skill in the graveyard. By removing this card from the game, I can choose to negate the effect of a select monster on the field this turn, and I choose Laggia."

"Shit..." Yuuki-san murmured. "No matter what, the effect of Laggia would be sealed for the rest of the turn!"

"That's the point," Yamada-san pointed out as Yuuki-san cringed at the hand that seized at his monster. "Now, I can activate the Field Spell: Lemuria, the Forgotten City!"

Pillars arose all around as the smoke and heat subsided. The field was flooded with water that gushed out of the ground, as if from natural springs. We were in the sunken kingdom, hidden from the world once more. The two fiery dragons screamed as they sizzled the water about them [3100/600 → 2600/1000] [2900/1600 → 2400/2000], while the sharks and kappa glared [2600/2100 → 2800/2300] [2000/2000 → 2200/2200] [400/1000 → 600/1200].

"I tribute Armour Kappa to special summon Sharkraken [2400/2100 → 2600/2300]," Yamada-san announced as a blue octopus-shark mutant monster appeared on his field.

"Sorry, Solda's effect is still active!" Yuuki-san defended as he destroyed the monster, Solda crying in triumph.

"Oh, and I detach an Exceed material to special summon Black Ray Lancer [2100/600]," Yamada-san continued.

"Destroyed!" Yuuki-san called as the lancer imploded and Solda consumed its last material.

"Trap card, Aquamirror Cycle," Yamada-san called. "Now, I return Bahamut Shark to the extra deck, and pick up Gishki Beast and Black Ray Lancer from the graveyard to add to my hand, or the extra deck in the case of Lancer. Now, the Trap card, Xyz Drop. This card becomes an Exceed material to Nightmare Shark."

"Again!" Yuuki-san swallowed.

"I summon Gishki Beast, and special summon Gishki Ariel once more with the effect of Beast," Yamada-san announced as the two monsters appeared. "I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon! Arise, Bahamut Shark!"

The giant shark appeared once more, growling [2600/2100 → 2800/2300].

"Now, the attack restriction on Bahamut Shark has been lifted," Yamada-san announced. "I detach one material from Nightmare Shark to choose Bahamut Shark. Bahamut Shark, attack Yuuki directly with God Soul!"

Yuuki: LP 6000 → LP 3200

Yukio: LP 8000

"Turn end." Yukio finished.

"I... draw!" Yuuki called. "I play my own Xyz Treasure to draw four cards. Now, I summon Evoltile Najasho [100/2000]. I activate the Trap, Evo-Instant, allowing me to tribute Najasho to special summon Evolsaur Cerato [1900/1400 → 2100/1400] from my deck, and then Evolsaur Najasho lets me special summon another called Evolsaur Diplo [1600/800] by its effect. In the presence of Diplo, your last set card goes boom!"

Yamada-san did not react as the set card imploded.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Yuuki-san called. "Exceed summon! Appear, Evolzar Dolkka!"

Again, the resulting monster had a sinuous neck, and bore teeth and claws and talons. It was white, and had only one pair of wings, but it still gave its best shot at growling. [2300/1700].

"Even without material, Solda can still match your monsters," Yuuki-san declared. "Dolkka will seal all monster effects, while Laggia handles the Spells and Traps. Solda, attack Nightmare Shark with Overwhelming Flame!"

"Trap card, Poseidon Wave," Yamada-san defended. "I negate the attack of Solda and you take sixteen hundred damage."

"Laggia, negate it with Solemn Roar!" Yuuki-san defended as the card was destroyed. Nightmare Shark gave a roar as it was burnt.

Yukio: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Yuuki: LP 3200

"I'll set a card, turn end," Yuuki-san called. "Now, at least you can't attack directly with Nightmare Shark anymore."

"I draw," Yamada-san tonelessly replied. "You have fielded your three ace monsters, the Evolzar... and what of it?"

"That's... this is my resolve," Yuuki-san defended. "I won't stand by and let you tear through Kiyoshi in revenge. True, Kiyoshi did his share of wrongs... but, there was no one for him before, no one to care for him, and no one he wishes to protect. Can't you understand that feeling, Yukio-nii? With no one to help?"

"...we need more agents in Central."

"That's not the point!" Yuuki-san retaliated. "The problem is that I will stand up for Kiyoshi this time! Last time, I didn't insist on it, and he came back like this! That's why, I won't abandon him ever again! I won't lose someone I care about again!"

"... fool," the word was spoken through gritted teeth. "He tried to kill us all. He _would_ have killed us all. Or did you forget that in the end, he called for his monsters to kill you as well?"

"I..." Yuuki-san closed his eyes. "I know. I am prepared to shoulder the consequences. As long as he lives... I have no regrets."

Yamada-san let the point hang there for a long moment. Nobody moved.

Yuuki-san began shaking under that calm stare. "You shark, you don't believe me."

"Orcas are the wolves of the sea," Yamada-san answered, but did not avert his eyes. He blinked, very slowly, the gesture so gentle as to be non-existent.

Yuuki-san broke eye contact first, and Yamada-san settled it by turning to me. "Kannazuki-san, is the termination of Kiyoshi necessary in your view? Keep in mind that I have the best interests of the Movement at heart, in the best way I may understand them."

Of course he would torture me with this dilemma. I frowned, but then realised that there was no hostile look in his eyes, but rather calm acceptance. The fact that Yukio-san was deferring to my judgement... I did not know.

"I think NDPD might be thankful that you did not shed blood," I answered. "After all, judging from his state, he has paid enough for his crimes."

"That would be debatable," Yamada-san murmured.

"Would it not be crueller for us to force Kiyoshi to live despite everything?" It sounded like the cold assessments that Setsu-chan might give. I had the feeling that Yamada-san was waiting for something like this. "He can live to reflect forever. There is no worse punishment that we could think of than one Kiyoshi has trapped himself in."

"There is that delicious irony. In that case, I surrender." Yamada-san placed a hand over his deck.

Yukio: SURRENDER

Yuuki: WIN

Yuuki-san stared at the retreating back. "Why?"

"... I decided that I would give him another chance," Yamada-san replied, walking off. Leaving us to stare angrily... sadly... thoughtfully, behind him.

"He was teaching me."

"What?" Chase-nii turned to look at me.

I shivered. "He was teaching me. That sometimes, I must choose who lives... and who dies."

* * *

We had to beg off treating the Wonder Twins after that fiasco, partly because the Yamada people needed to gather and discuss for a while – or so Yuko said when he started rearranging Yukio's schedule for dinner – when Youkai dropped the bombshell on me.

"I have to _what_?"

"Go with me to the family dinner," Youkai put both hands together in a sincere and overly dramatic gesture of pleading. "Apparently Yamamoto-san wasn't distracting enough for Ryokai-nii, so Tsu-nii made sure to emphasise our relationship and so Akio-nii and Ryo-nii are going to give us the fifth degree while my honey-trap of a cousin escapes with his boyfriend."

"What, I'm your pet distraction now?!" I yelled, or spoke loudly. My daily speech didn't come with question marks or exclamation marks that often. When I resort to the interrobang was on days where I thought Youkai was going overboard, because he was special like that.

"Well, Ryo-nii didn't talk all that much to you." Youkai shrugged.

"I thought you didn't care about family approval," I accused. "I mean, you never got the third degree from Nico and West the last time we went to Satisfaction Town."

"Putting aside the gay subtext behind your sensei's catch-phrase, and apparently Nico's a yaoi fan-girl..." Youkai plodded on, and I really didn't need to know _that_... "I don't. But Akio-nii and Ryo-nii and Tsu-nii practically raised me, and their family. So..."

Like a little bit of shared DNA would mean anything, would be the right words. And yet... and yet, it reminded me of Uncle Jun. I hadn't actually introduced Youkai to him as my boyfriend officially. We hadn't spoken since the mess at Duelist Kingdom. Was it bad that I was too busy with my life to keep in touch with the man who was my only blood relative left?

"...do that thing you like," Youkai carefully did not look at me.

I blinked. "What?"

Youkai gritted his teeth. "I'll even go out in public... in the _yukata_."

I knew for one that he hated the dark blue Japanese summer wear, to the point of even going without once just to get away from it. I could hardly see the point; I mean, he still kept fine-boned feminine-looking features in anything. Youkai said that it wasn't the point, and the argument somehow ended up around the Inari Shrine where – ahem – I may have physically convinced him otherwise.

It didn't take, but we found out that I had a thing for yukata. With him.

"Well..." I paused, trying not to blush openly. It was the curse of the family complexion that it still showed. "You don't need to... but I guess... _fine_. What time?"

A relationship was a give-and-take thing. He sure knew my buttons.

"Thank you_._" Cerise eyes twinkled. "And all it took was promising to wear the hated article. In _September_."

"You could always wear Tsugare-san's winter kimono," I snipped back.

I heard a choke, and Youkai actually paled in a gesture a lot like horror. "_No_."

"I think you'd look fetching in that," I tried to imagine it.

"I am not going to wear the wisteria purple monstrosity of tradition that Tsu-nii is stuck in because of a prank by Ryo-nii and Akio-nii turned wrong," Youkai actually shuddered. "I ran away from home and I never looked back to Jii-sama partly because of that... that _thing_."

"Wow. You can name the colour exactly. Are you sure it wasn't made for you?" I leered.

"My answer is not going to change. And before you even think about it, I will tell Akio-nii to bankrupt you."

"It's fraud, using my lawyer against me," I sighed, but agreed. No need to tell him that I was thinking of something red or black.

I sent a message to Carly-san, telling her that I wasn't about to return for dinner. Rex sent back three messages, each filled with their own stream of invectives – and I had to admire that he knew how to curse in Spanish – before adding that Ryuusei was over here, and so Reina was fawning over him and so left Rex to check on the Throne, his D-Wheel. Babies loved Ryuusei for some odd reason.

So, the evening saw me in front of a ridiculously traditional house, and wondering if a leather coat was overkill. I left Carpe Jugulum on the porch, and I tried to smarten myself before I was shoved into the place with Youkai's impromptu push.

"What, it's you," Hibiki-san merely blinked from where he was straddling Ryokai.

I tried not to look at their twining legs, or the contrast that Ryokai's traditional clothes made with the Western clothes Hibiki-san wore. Considering that fine-boned feminine-looking features ran in the Misawa family ever since Misawa Daichi, I failed to be able to detachedly recover.

"Are we interrupting something?" my mouth shot off.

"...No," Misawa Ryokai answered after letting the question hang around long enough to pointedly eviscerate it. Very slowly, he took a long of Hibiki-san's dark hair, pressing a kiss to it. "Were you about to join us? For dinner, of course. I wouldn't dream of giving up the aperitif before the meal."

Youkai groaned as I got up. "Ryo-nii, enough with the innuendo. Chase, you look less like a pale nerd now."

"Shut up," I coughed. "I now require major brain bleach just to forget that your cousin may have propositioned me."

"That would be nothing compared to Nii-san slipping up," Ryokai snorted, but motioned for Hibiki-san to get off of him.

Even in a casual shirt and jeans, Hibiki-san made it look like something fresh off the catwalk. "What, so Nowaki managed to convince you to show up?"

"Unfortunately," I admitted as we were led off to a normal dining room. "Yamamoto-san?"

"We look like a frat house," Yamamoto-san chipped in from where he was seated next to Tsugare-san. I leave it to your imaginations exactly what were they up to; Tsugare-san's lips were red. "Are all your family this... glaring?"

"We're the prettiest part of the family," Youkai gleefully chipped in.

"Right, right," Yamamoto-san answered, nodding in disbelief before dinner was served. It seemed like every other family dinner, except a lot of things were strained. It was clear that having dinner together wasn't actually part of their normal schedule, or any of our normal schedules once

"I don't think I've gotten everything about... Nii-san's friend," Ryokai slowly began. "Koichi-san works from London, right?"

"Yep, I run a detective agency focused on cases involving Duel Spirits," Yamamoto-san nodded once he finished the piece of steamed chicken he was chewing. "London has a lot of old history and ghost stories, so I keep an exorcist on speed dial. I also work with the London branch of the European Arcadia Movement occasionally to help those with the Sight and those who had just come into their powers. It's become pretty standard for me to call the Movement's people on a monthly basis because so many cases I have are the results of Psychics."

"The Arcadia Movement has been a large part of our lives," Ryokai commented, his amber eyes downcast. "For a very long time."

"E- Erm, so, Misawa-san is a businessman, right?" Yamamoto-san quickly changed the subject.

"...that's one way of interpretation," Ryokai cautiously answered. "The chief focus of my work is on real estate and charity. Even if I can never have enough land, there is no need to hoard wealth, after all. Actually... the nature of my business tends to... a supply and demand curve. That is to say, I supply... shall we say, _restricted_ goods to those with the demands, and oversee contracts and agreements."

"... do I want to know?"

"No, you don't."

"How nice," Youkai smirked. "Ryo-nii has someone to talk shop with."

"Nii-san is working with you in that detective agency, right?" Ryokai mentioned as the post-dinner coffee was served. "How is he? Rather, how are the two of you? I can't imagine any agency with such a speciality as yours could have much business."

"You'd be surprised," Yamamoto-san evasively answered. "Tsugare is very... resourceful. He can pretty much infiltrate a mark, and it's just his lack of Sight and training in detective work that makes my presence even necessary nowadays. It's amazing, how Tsugare can interrogate so thoroughly."

"The Madame was an able teacher." Tsugare-san supplied.

"He _is_ trained by the Arcadia Movement," Ryokai answered tightly. "At least this honey-trap managed to catch a fly permanently."

"That's cruel, Ryokai," Tsugare-san scolded, even though the easy air indicated that it was a joke.

"With a fly in the honey, who the hell would tap you?" Hibiki-san supplied.

"Akio...!" Tsugare-san turned to my boyfriend. "Youkai! Do something!"

"...at least you don't have to make like a Bond girl now?" Youkai offered.

Tsugare-san slumped, even as a laughing Yamamoto-san caught his hand.

"Well... actually, I wanted to cover the terms of the will," Ryokai concluded once a host of minutiae were covered over one cup of coffee. "Jii-sama pretty much left me the sole beneficiary, which I am intending to invest into the Arcadia Movement."

"I thought we've had a permanent place on the advisory council since the start," Tsugare-san considered. "And if he left anything for me, you can keep it."

"Keep my share too," Youkai grimaced.

"It's the family business," Ryokai answered. "Say... you guys know about the Duelist Kingdom thing, right? How much of it is true?"

"We were there," Youkai nodded. "Yes, Kaiba went nuts, but it was a misunderstanding. Why?"

"It's..." Ryokai sighed. "You guys know how the business world functions, right?"

"Right..." I drawled. "And how is this related to the Arcadia Movement?"

"The... Movement... always has mixed reactions," Hibiki-san admitted. Both his left hand and Ryokai's right hand were tightly drawn together, as if both their owners were reliving some traumatic event. "We're talking about people, children, adults, who knows, with superpowers which could take down a city block. At its worst, we're talking about an organisation like a militia. Don't try to argue, all of you take orders from one person."

"... yeah," Youkai sourly admitted.

"Okay," Tsugare-san shrugged.

"Right now, we have an event that could topple KaibaCorp," Ryokai spoke up. "And the Misawa family is shifting its focus, which is going to result in an erosion of our former power base. But the thing is, we still have the Arcadia Movement, which is by all accounts still gathering power and allies, and so the political landscape of the Arcadia Movement could change in favour of the Movement. By investing the remains of the money with the Movement, I'm allying the family with it, which could cause another shift. Now, any civilian-organised militia would be bad, but try to imagine how the Movement looks, as it is and being helmed openly by Kannazuki Seika? There's a reason why Nakamura was officially the head when Shimotsuki took the throne. There's also news that the Movement could become a military organisation, which is... quite bad."

"Because any nation with its own super-soldiers is a recipe for disaster, especially if all of them can be contracted by one organisation," Youkai nodded.

"I'm glad you understand," Ryokai nodded. "In the two years following the death of the Madame, Shimotsuki Setsuka managed to cut down every other Psychic organisation and expand the Arcadia Movement, making it the most prominent one. So while there may be a social and economic shift to acceptance, especially in the light of many Duelists sponsored by the Arcadia Movement at one time or another, politically the Movement is a danger to any ruling government. I think with the move from the US Army we have people realising that there is an inherent danger in housing super-powered paramilitary experts anywhere. Now I hear that the Duelist Kingdom thing was sabotaged with the Arcadia Movement, which therefore gives a positive bent to Senator Izayoi's famed stance on Psychic Duelist support in the upcoming bills to be introduced. The real danger comes in a coup d'etat and if Kannazuki Seika was influenced by anything."

I tried to draw some umbrage for Seika's sake. I was left blank. I mean, Ryokai had a point. Having a kid manage the Arcadia Movement was like placing that giant robot into the control of that kid and giving him full control of it. It's like that nuclear arsenal, except that in this case nuclear power might fall short to Psychic Duelists like Jimmy, Ryuusei and maybe Aki-sensei. Even _Shimotsuki_ might take over the world for Seika, in her saner moments, and this was the girl who tore her cousin's guts out with her bare hands.

"KaibaCorp is holding that KC Grand Prix to recover from that... fiasco," Ryokai nodded. "Akio and I have been sent invitations."

"Really? Me too," I crossed my arms. "How many do you think would appear?"

"Quite a lot," Ryokai answered. "From a business perspective, this is the perfect time to introduce a successor, assure investors and the public that everything is fine and it was just a hiccup; I mean, Kaiba is old, there's a way to spin that. But Akio and I are actually invited as contestants for the KC Grand Prix."

"The two of you?" Tsugare-san looked stunned. "Congrats, then. So what about it?"

Ryokai and Hibiki-san swallowed. "Erm... Nii-san," Ryokai swallowed. "I need you."

Tsugare-san flushed. "Me?"

"And Koichi-san as well," Hibiki-san shuddered. "You see... we... may have a situation on our hands. There are claims that Kaiba is offering the Chaos Emperor Dragon."

"Holy shit," Yamamoto-san swore, his blue eyes wide. "That's... that's going to rock the boat. I mean, you could feed a small country on the worth of that card, and he's giving it away?"

"Might not be him, but Kisara Kaiba," Youkai pointed out, having known due to my connections. The Kaiba heiress had been over a few business deals with the Manjoume Group – and Uncle Jun – plus Ryuusei was training her. After Ayame's death, Ryuusei was, and still is, terrified that Shimotsuki would off Kisara next if the Kaiba heiress was not performing to standard. "It might mean something."

"They say that transferring ownership of the card creates legends," Yamamoto-san quietly murmured. "That whoever holds that card would wield the power of the Envoy of the End. From owner to owner, the card had always been in the hands of the rich and powerful. For about twenty, maybe thirty years, it had been with the Kaiba family, and the sheer prestige of owning it would be the breaking news of the Duel world. This is going to make waves."

"Waves enough to drown out Duelist Kingdom," I realised.

Hibiki-san considered it. "Is that possible?"

"People are strange, strange creatures," Ryokai acknowledged. Meaning that yes, it was highly possible.

"And meanwhile, if the card was stolen or misplaced or something, then KaibaCorp can claim plausible deniability," I chipped in.

Kisara might just be more capable than I thought, after training, no, _enhancements_. A true Kaiba did not need something as plebeian as training.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	48. XLV: The White Stone of Legend

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Edited 29 May 2013**_

* * *

**XLV: The White Stone of Legend**

It was somewhere around the afternoon that the fitting happened, and when I realised that Kisara Kaiba was here.

She looked more healthy than when I last saw her bound to a wheelchair. She stood before me, painfully beautiful. It shone from her, intense and bright like light from her skin itself. She was draped in white, and wore the colour well despite her pale complexion, now that she was not sickly or weak. The power of Summer seemed to have resolved that permanently.

"K- Kannazuki-sama," Kisara bowed to me as an equal. "It is a pleasure that the head would give me some of her time to assist me."

"I- I see," I hesitantly answered. "I know that Setsu-chan always helped members in the case of formal events... but, this is my first formal event. Please take care of me."

"W- What a surprise," Kisara stuttered. "Aside from Duelist Kingdom... I have not been involved with public life for too long. So please, I should be asking you for advice, Kannazuki-sama."

"Let us try together," I suggested as Kisara-san smiled. I led her to the waiting tailor.

"I believe that white and blue are the colours most associated with the Kaiba family," Nakamura-san suggested to the tailor. "Ms Kaiba?"

"Kisara would be fine, Nakamura-san," Kisara nodded demurely as a measuring tape was stretched on her arm. "I... I believe that it would be fine as well. But... I think Kannazuki-sama would look better in white and yellow."

"Yellow?" Nakamura-san considered. "I was thinking... black."

"Black is a rather drab colour." Kisara-san replied. "What I think, is that Kannazuki-sama would look brighter in yellow. Shimotsuki-sama also wore colours other than black, such as dark blue, but she always stuck to dark shades to symbolise the troubles that the Arcadia Movement was going through. She also stood out more in cool colours, so it worked for her. Now that the Arcadia Movement is walking in the light, I think that if Kannazuki-sama was to begin wearing bright colours to show that change."

"That's a good idea," Nakamura-san agreed.

"I think..." I shied off, considering it. Although the dress might be expensive, such things were usually charged to the Movement's taxes, so... "Okay."

Kisara-san chuckled as I was measured and the dress, more or less already made, was quickly fitted onto my form. I felt nervous, especially compared to her luminous beauty, but it felt... warm. Familiar.

"Thank you, Kisara-san," I bowed once the dresses had been finished and the tailor left.

"I should be thanking you instead," Kisara-san replied. "Kaiba Corporation... I... I wouldn't know what to do about Jii-sama if I had died. In the beginning, when I was adopted by Jii-sama... I always felt that I was letting him down when I could not be perfect. But... even though the training was harsh, Shimotsuki-sama, and now Kannazuki-sama, you two helped me, your presences gave me strength. Together with Rex-san, and now Ryuusei-san, I was able to gain confidence in myself."

"Rex-nii?" I asked.

Kisara-san blushed. "Two years ago... Rex-san and I... we went out together. That... was before Halloween that year, before the Kaiba Dome accident. After that... Rex-san was always busy. I... I know that he found his friend at last, and that... after the incident... I hope to see him again."

Seeing her smile was sad and hopeful at the same time, I reflected. "That's... nice."

I don't remember... if I had ever experienced love. "Nakamura-san?" I asked when Kisara left.

"Yes, Seika-ojou?"

"Erm..." I fidgeted. "Do you think... that I could ever experience love?"

"...I think it would be a brave man who would attempt to date the head of the Arcadia Movement," Nakamura-san diplomatically answered.

"True... there's a danger to it," I sighed. "From within the Movement too."

"And from outside," Nakamura-san agreed. "Still, Seika-ojou, do not lose heart. If Missy was able to experience love, I am sure that you will find someone."

"I... see," I whispered. I did not feel convinced, myself. "Erm... I don't know who to ask to the party tonight."

"I live to serve, Seika-ojou. And I am sure that Yamada Yuko-san would be happy to accompany you."

* * *

The opening party for the KC Grand Prix was held in the Grand Amphitheatre of KaibaLand, which was someone's idea of putting a Savage Colosseum rendition in where the Kaiba Dome stood after tearing it down. Its gate had an honest-to-goodness guard house, with a pair of guards. Neither one of them looked like they were carrying weaponry, but they held themselves with an armed arrogance that neither myself nor Youkai missed.

I held up the invitation. They let us in.

"Why do I have to come?" Youkai tugged at the bespoke suit that he had had to squirm into; the pants looked like they were sprayed on. I heartily approved.

"You're my plus-one. So please, make like arm candy," I supplied. Youkai rolled his eyes at me, but grabbed my arm.

A black limo pulled up along the drive as we walked in and lingered. The driver came around to the rear door of the limo and opened it. Music washed out, something loud and hard. There was a moment's pause, and then a man glided out of the limo.

He had brown hair down to his shoulders in a mullet, paired with fair skin, light brown eyes and a pretty tall height. There was a small hoop earring in his left ear and a necklace with a Celtic knot. Around his neck, and I noticed because it did not match the three-piece suit he had on, with a dark green shirt and black jacket. He had the body for it. Muscle, but not too much of it, good set of shoulders, and the suit made him look suave. Hell's bells, _I _noticed how good he looked.

"You're drooling," Youkai admonished.

"I'm not drooling," I said.

"I know the guy has great abs, but this is overkill."

"I'm not drooling! You are!" I scowled and stalked on up the entrance way to the main hall.

And wiped at my mouth with my sleeve. Just in case.

The man smiled, bright enough for a toothpaste commercial, and then reached a hand back down to the car. A pair of gorgeous legs in four-inch glittery red platform wedge sandals slid out of the car, followed by a slender girl in a red three-quarter length halter dress. She had blonde hair cut in a Farrah Fawcett style, fair skin, and an hourglass figure. A gold peace sign medallion hung suspended between her tracts, and complimenting her figure was a white fur coat and a glittery red beret jauntily perched atop blonde locks.

The man turned toward me, and both his eyebrows lifted. He looked me up and down, and burst out into a rich, rolling laugh. "Chase Princeton?"

That got my hackles up. It always bugs me when someone knows me and I don't know them. "Yeah," I said. "That's me. Who the hell are you?"

If the hostility bothered him, it didn't bother his smile. The girl with him slipped beneath his left arm and nestled against him, watching me with sharp eyes. "Oh, of course," he said. "We never really met. Drake Lancaster, at your service."

"I knew that." I defended, trying to recall. "Erm... you were with Justin Aquila and the surfer guy from the Louisiana Movement, right?"

Drake smiled. "Well, we've crossed swords before. Stygian Dirge, Team Black Knights versus Team Underworld." His tone of voice suggested muted glee rather than pity. "Ah, right. Mr Princeton, allow me to introduce my girlfriend, Marin Skyheight. Marin, Chase Princeton. He was the second wheeler of Team Black Knights when they were still around."

Marin, the girl beneath his arm, gave me a sweet smile. I half-expected her to extend her hand to me to be kissed, but she didn't. She just moulded her body to his in what looked like a most pleasant fashion. "Pleased to meet you, Princeton-san."

"Charmed," I said, indicating to Youkai. "This is Misawa Nowaki, but call him Youkai. He hates his first name for some reason."

"Youkai," Marin mused. "Odd choice of a nickname."

"In Japan, red eyes and white hair are usually associated with demons," Youkai replied. "Skyheight... the businessman?"

"My father," Marin answered.

"Still, with the return of Fudo Ryuusei... I suppose the gathering of Team Black Knights in public view is going to make a stir?" Drake offered. "You guys were the hope of DA Kings, and I believe you still are. I did enjoy your strategy in the Riding in the Riding in the Battle City tourney."

"Oh, thanks," I shrugged. I had gone as a favour because bad things happen when Kiryu-sensei leaves Satisfaction Town for any reason.

"Shall we go inside?"

"Let's."

We all trooped up the front stairs, affording me an uncomfortably proximate view of Youkai's legs along the way – and a new appreciation of pants that looked sprayed on. A pair of tuxedo-clad doormen who looked more human than gorilla swung open the mansion's doors for us.

The entry hall of the Grand Amphitheatre had been redecorated since the last time I'd been here. As successor of the Kaiba Dome, the old-style décor had been lavishly restored. Marble was laid out instead of gleaming hardwood. All the doorways stood in graceful arches rather than stolid rectangles. Alcoves every three metres or so sported small statuary and other pieces of art. It was lit only by the spots on each alcove, creating deep pools of shadow in between. Classy, for a large hall to a modern gladiator Colosseum.

"And as usual, the Blue-Eyes," Youkai noted as he looked around. Yeah, dragons were a huge motif here. We started together down the hall, and through the curtained doorway, and emerged into Party Central.

We stood on a concrete deck, elevated about three metres off the rest of a vast courtyard. Music flowed up from below. People crowded the courtyard in a blur of colour and motion, talk and dress, like some kind of Impressionist painting. Glowing globes rested on wire stands, here and there, giving the place a sort of torch-lit mystique. A dais, opposite the entryway we stood in, rose up several feet higher in the air.

I had just started to take in details when a brilliant white light flooded my eyes, and I had to lift a hand against it. The music died down a bit, and the chatter of people quieted some. Evidently, we had just become the centre of attention.

I passed the invitation over to a waiting man. A moment later I heard a voice, over a modest public address system.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, Chase Princeton, representing the Manjoume Group, and guest._"

"You know, it's surprising that Kannazuki-san hasn't come yet," Youkai commented as we walked down to the main part of the Colosseum. The canopy was open instead of closed, leaving a view of the night sky which added some mystique to the event. Youkai's looks gave everyone an excuse to keep away, even as I exchanged tense and light greetings with a few associates of the Manjoume Group.

Drake and Marin were presented after us, and promptly surrounded by a sea of sharks in bespoke clothings.

"I'm more surprised that I can't find your cousins," I looked around. "Is Tsugare-san in drag today?"

"Unlikely," Youkai cast his eyes about. A few people looked away from staring at him, and I don't blame them. Youkai's cerise gaze was an acquired taste.

"_Kannazuki Seika, representing the Arcadia Movement, and guest. Orion Hunter, representing Hunter Securities and Co, and guest._"

More quiet than during my entrance as they descended the steps.

Seika was hanging off the arm of a nervous-looking Yuko. She was a vision in the yellow and white with lace tulle sleeves, the colour magnifying her short stature into something more graceful. She had a handbag hanging off of one arm, which was big enough to accommodate a D-Pad and large enough to brain someone, no doubt a throwback to Shimotsuki's advice of being armed – the ice-queen never needed to be armed, but _still_.

Orion was in a dark blue tuxedo, the lapels flush against his chest and set off by gleaming dark buttons, the tie gold against a dark blue shirt. Following them was Nakamura-san. Yuko and Nakamura-san were both fitted in suits and tuxes but without the cummerbund. The three of them all carried an air of organised violence with the casual disregard of skilled effort. Nakamura-san in particular carried the air of James Bond; scarily dangerous-looking even out of his usual spheres.

A lot of stares, both discreet and indiscreet, followed them as Seika descended the steps slowly with Orion. Unfortunately, there was no amount of glitz that could hide the sheer stiffness of her limbs or the fear she gave off, but it was an effort.

Three men approached the steps, waiting for her. Ryuusei was in formal wear this time, dark red against black. The Professor wore black and white, and was beaming as Seika took his hand. Rex stood protectively near them, meeting the occasional glare amongst the audience with a challenging grey-eyed stare. Even Reina, standing nearby, joined him in sheer intimidation of the masses as only the Atlas family could.

Applause broke out, polite and loud before the mingling began.

"What took you?" I hissed to Yuko once Youkai and I could get to the contingent.

"We were debating between Yukio, Yuuki and me," Yuko shortly answered. "I had to foist Yuuki off and bribe Dr Erik to guard Kiyoshi, and then bribe Kasai to keep Yukio occupied while I took this. Is there food?"

"Chase-nii!" Seika looked radiant; whatever make-up she had on had that effect. "Nii-chan, Rex-nii! You're here!"

"And hungry," I shot a dark look at Ryuusei and Rex. "Finally, you guys made it."

The Professor raised placating hands to us. "Well..."

"We came with Uncle Jack," Ryuusei answered for him. "It's true."

"Jack was... very persuasive," The Professor shot a doubtful look towards the tall man in a white and purple ensemble that looked like something crossed with the ponchos of Satisfaction Town and Old West cowboy material.

As I watched, Uncle Jack waved to us, and Reina happily cooed, waving back as Jack Atlas held court in the midst of high-class paparazzi. "Dada!"

"Right," Rex answered her in a harried voice as he brought her over to Uncle Jack as the Professor led everyone to the food table. Say anything about KaibaCorp's reputation, its catering was top-of-the-line. Way better than trifles, at any rate.

Halfway through the meal, a commotion started. "_Ugh_!"

I had to force myself not to stare.

"Rafael-san?" Seika blinked.

Indeed, Rafael de Santos was at the centre of the commotion, as well as Drake Lancaster. They weren't fighting; in fact, Drake seemed very keen on getting Marin away from the woman that was standing across her. I tried not to stare, but a cat-fight was always entertainment, and considering the contestants, every red-blooded vaguely heterosexual male was staring as well. Which was further proof, if needed, that maybe I was bi.

Marin Skyheight's beauty was up to code. You could run a check-list from it: lovely mouth, deep eyes, full breasts, slender waist, flared hips, long and shapely legs. Check, check, check. Marin Skyheight was a vision of a woman – but to be honest, the other woman made her look like the ugly stepsister. The newcomer was the real thing. She was grace. Beauty. Elegance. As such, she was not so easily quantified.

She would have been about the same as the average Japanese, even without the heeled faux-Victorian boots of Italian leather. Her hair was so dark that its highlights were nearly blue, a torrent of glossy streams held partially in check with a pair of milky ivory combs that should have looked messy but were outstanding. She had eyes of ice-blue, with hints of violet twilight at their centres. Her clothes were all effortless style: silk black dress and jacket embroidered with abstract dark blue roses, with elbow-length black opera gloves that shimmered in the light.

Thinking back later, I couldn't clearly remember her facial features or her body, beyond a notion that they were superb. Her looks were almost extraneous; they were hardly any more important to her appeal than a glass was to wine. It was at its best when invisible and showing the spirit contained within. Beyond mere physical presence, I could sense her nature – strength of will and intelligence, blended with what could be a sardonic wit and edged with a lazy, sensuous hunger.

In the space of five seconds, my attention to detail fractured. My own orientation aside, I still felt a sudden attraction and terror for her. Conscience withered a heartbeat later. Something hungry, confident, and unrepentant took its place. I realized, on some distant level, that something was wrong, but there was no tangible, tactile sense of truth to the thought. Instincts ruled me, and only the most feral, vicious drives remained.

It terrified me.

"Ms Skyheight," the other woman spoke, her voice low and sensual, and smoky as Hell itself. Taking a good look informed us as to the dispute; the other woman was giving an eye to Drake. Well, she gave Rafael a smouldering stare as well, so perhaps it evened out?

Marin looked furious, her voice frosty. "Watch where you're going."

"I intend to. I cannot say the same for you. After all, I doubt that the seventies were the best decade of the twentieth century."

"It's always in style," Marin shot back.

"I believe dark colours superseded the psychedelic generation, Ms Skyheight."

"You look like you're going to a funeral, Ms Mizore," Marin bit back. "Are you propositioning my boyfriend dressed as part of a hearse?"

"Please, call me Setsuna," the other gave a small smile. "And I do not believe I was just propositioning your boyfriend, as you seem to believe."

"Then call me Marin," Marin offered coldly. "On second thought, no thank you. I wouldn't want the media to think that I was chummy with a B-list actress."

"I resent the implication, Ms Skyheight," Mizore Setsuna murmured. "I did not think that you would want a part in the... festivities. I thought your family background might... shield you from certain... inappropriate topics."

"W- What?" Marin flushed. I saw Youkai blushing at the implied proposition. "I- I have a boyfriend!"

"And here I expected that the heiress of Skyheight Industries would be of open mind," Setsuna heaved a theatrical sigh. "It must be so useful, knowing that your fame is only due to your family."

"_Excuse me?_" Marin roared.

"Am I wrong?" Setsuna pressed. "Hanging out with one of California's top Duelists, and yet you have never publicly Dueled despite attending the Paris branch of Duel Academia. How sad for Mr Lancaster."

"I'll show you!" Marin pulled out her own DuelDisk from her bag.

"Setsuna..." Rafael groaned, half in embarrassment and half in mortification, which was basically the same thing; it translated to a desire for a hole to swallow him up.

"Shall we?" Setsuna smirked as she pulled out a D-Pad, which fanned out immediately. "I shall indeed answer this challenge as a real Duelist would."

Unexpectedly, Setsuna then slotted a dark blue single-eye visor over her left eye. "D-Gazer, set."

"Duel!"

Marin: LP 8000

Setsuna: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Marin called, before a tiny ballerina and a card appeared on her field. "I'll summon Cyber Tutu [1000/800] and I set a card, turn end."

"My turn, draw," Setsuna indicated. "Oh. I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge [800/900]."

"What?" Marin blinked as the icicle-lookalike appeared on the field. The Hero monster stood to glare at the Cyber Tutu, who squeaked. That... was unnervingly real.

"Once per turn, I can discard a card from my hand, and Ice Edge can attack directly this turn," Setsuna declared as she slotted a card into her graveyard slot. "Ice Edge, direct attack!"

"Trap card, Doble Passe!" Marin called as Cyber Tutu flipped to lash out at Setsuna.

"Quick-play Spell, Twin Pillars of Ice!" Setsuna called as two pillars protected her. "When this card is activated, it gains two Ice Pillar Counters. I can remove one Counter to negate your attack."

Marin: LP 8000 → LP 7200

Setsuna: LP 8000

The monster shot forward like a bullet, and Marin was knocked back as ice shards from one pillar shattering from Cyber Tutu's kick littered the field. "This..."

"This is the new Duel technology by Kaiba Corporation, Alternate Reality Vision," Setsuna answered. "Should you take more than a thousand points of damage, there would be a true physical impact produced. Anyway, to continue. I'll set two cards, turn end."

"Draw!" Marin called. "I'll summon Cyber Petit Angel [300/200]. With its summon, I can add a Machine Angel Ritual from my deck to my hand. Now, Cyber Tutu, attack that Ice Edge!"

"I remove the second Ice Pillar Counter to negate the attack of Cyber Tutu," Setsuna countered as two icy pillars rose from either side of her. "Now, because there are no Ice Pillar Counters left, Twin Pillar of Ice is destroyed."

Marin scowled as her monster was redirected to kick the second pillar. "I set a card, turn end."

"My draw," Setsuna murmured. "I play the Spell, Polymerization. By fusing Ice Edge with the Slushy in my hand, I can fusion summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero to the field."

The monster wore white armour and a white cloak, and arrived in a gust of frost-rimmed wind that gave the air a chill [2500/2000].

"Absolute Zero, attack Cyber Petit Angel with Iceberg Rush!" Setsuna called as it charged.

"Trap card open, Mirror Force!" Marin called, but soon her face fell as ice began to form over her monsters.

"You didn't know?" Setsuna looked amused as the two monsters imploded. "When Absolute Zero is removed from the field for any reason, all my opponent's monsters are destroyed. For this effect, Absolute Zero is one of the deadliest of Elemental HEROes. I believe that all Duel Academias have done a piece on the HERO archetypes at one point or another. Either way.. roll back and replay, I activate the Trap, Call of the Haunted. Revive, Blizzard Princess."

Marin backed slightly as the white princess arose, her eyes gleaming.

"Blizzard Princess, direct attack!" Setsuna ordered. "Glacial Ball!"

The princess lashed out with a foot.

Marin: LP 7200 → LP 4400

Setsuna: LP 8000

"Turn end." Setsuna called.

"Draw," Marin announced. "I activate Spellbook Inside the Pot, allowing the two of us to draw three cards. Now, I play the Ritual Spell, Machine Angel Ritual, and tribute the Cyber Prima in my hand to ritual summon Cyber Angel Benten [1800/1500]!"

The offering was made, and in a flash of light, a woman with long black hair wielding a fan attached to a long chain appeared on the field. "Now, I equip her with Ritual Weapon [1800/1500 → 3300/3000]. Benten, attack Blizzard Princess!"

"How pitiful," Setsuna murmured. "Trap card, Ice Barrier. The attack of Benten is negated, its attack power becomes zero [3300/3000 → 0/3000], its effect is negated, and it cannot change its battle position."

"I see," Marin acknowledged as she set a card. "I activate the Spell, Preparation of Rites, and add Cyber Angel Idaten from my deck to my hand and Machine Angel Ritual from my graveyard to my hand. I play Machine Angel Ritual, offering Benten as a tribute to ritual summon Cyber Angel Idaten [1600/2000] in defence mode. With the effect of Idaten, when she's summoned I can add a Spell from my graveyard to my hand, such as Machine Angel Ritual. With that, I end my turn."

"My turn, draw," Setsuna called. "This Duel has not been very entertaining, Ms Skyheight. I would have expected something more from the heiress of Skyheight Industries, if not a daughter of the LeNoir line."

"My way of Dueling has no impact on my family businesses," Marin defended.

"Perhaps it just proves what a suitable ideal you symbolise as the modern princess," Setsuna suggested. So far, everything about Mizore Setsuna had been a calculated assault on Marin Skyheight. The elegant to the gaudy, the promiscuous and flirting to the distant and chaste, the dark to the bright.

"I didn't realise how... _suppressed_... Ms Skyheight was." Setsuna continued. "Perhaps it is American repression? That cannot be good for you, both of you. Rafael, we should do something."

Drake's blush would have been entertaining if not for Rafael's identical one and Marin's outraged look.

"We're Dueling, aren't we?" Marin snapped. "Well, get to it! Or has the sight of Cyber Angel Idaten managed to terrify you?"

"Oh, that," Setsuna yawned in boredom. "I tribute Blizzard Princess to summon Mobius the Frost Monarch [2400/1000]."

Marin shielded herself as her monster imploded into an ice statue once more as the Frost Monarch appeared, clad in a dark blue cape and armoured in white.

"Mobius can destroy up to two Spells or Traps upon tribute summon, so that useless Impenetrable Attack is destroyed," Setsuna dispassionately observed. "And I play Monster Reborn to revive Blizzard Princess."

The princess reappeared, grinning.

"Smashing Ground." Setsuna revealed the card that destroyed Idaten, leaving Marin defenceless. "Too bad, Ms Skyheight. Mobius, direct attack with Frost Storm! Blizzard Princess, finish this with Glacial Ball!"

Mobius unleashed a flurry of snowflakes that was augmented by Absolute Zero's cold, and more snowflakes fluttered as Marin was slammed back.

Marin: LP 4400 → LP 0

Setsuna: LP 8000

"A capital mistake, announcing your set cards," Setsuna tapped a finger on her lips as she slid the Gazer off of her face. "I win."

Suddenly, the lights went out. I froze, and I thought Youkai was ready to flee before four spotlights shone down to the dais in the middle of the stadium, to the lone figure standing there.

"_Welcome, one and all!_" Kisara Kaiba spoke into the microphone atop the podium. "_I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long, but it's a family tradition, I'm afraid._"

This prompted laughter across the stadium, before her expression hardened slightly.

"_But, ladies and gentlemen, the event at hand! Hosted by the one and only Kaiba Corporation, welcome to the opening ceremony of the Fiftieth Annual KC Grand Prix!_"

Cheers erupted.

"_Duelists, please assemble at the stage!_"

KC Grand Prix. It was, at its simplest, one of the oldest of Duel Monsters Tournaments. It was a stage where up-and-coming pros across the globe were recognised and given a chance to show their stuff in any KaibaLand. I had done it myself with Rex, and in the end Rex had won. He won a date with Kisara herself.

"_These eight Duelists have proven themselves some of the best newcomers across the globe,_" Kisara continued. "_First is Archibald O'Brien, who remains as one of the great talents of West Academia's newest graduates!_"

"Archie?" I muttered as the man waved to a few cheers.

"_Master of the Mist Valley, and widely reputed to be the East Coast's top Duelist, Drake Lancaster!_"

"Go, Drake!" Marin cried out amidst numerous coos and screams as Drake showed himself.

"_Of course, representing the land down under, the flaming Jurrac Duelist, Jimmy Cook!_"

Jimmy whipped his hat off and grinned. Huh... I realised now that I have never seen him dressed up. He pulled the tuxedo look off really well.

"_Neo Domino's resident Dragon master, of a whole different kind, Misawa Ryokai!_"

Ryokai wore a suit this time, and answered the screams with a lazy amber-eyed glare.

"_The mechanical master, winner of the Tops Street Riding Duel tournament, Hibiki Akio!_"

Akio smirked, waving to cheers.

"_The master of Photons, the lord of light, Madas Elvin!_"

The man waved eagerly and proudly, and I winced at the sheer volume of screams.

"_Following us all the way from the Kingdom of Misgarth, wielder of the sun and moon, Rafael de Santos!_" Kisara called.

Rafael earned quite a few whistles himself.

"_Last but not least, the beautiful Fury, mistress of the winds, Kujaku Satsuki!_"

I started. Ryuusei started. There were many blinks as Satsuki lazily waved, her blonde ringlets fluttering in a night breeze. She wore a purple three-quarter gown that was strapless, matched with a wide belt and knee-high boots and gloves. There was applause and rounds galore.

On the stage, Kisara gave no outward reaction.

"What?" I hissed. "Satsuki's wanted... right?"

"Nope," Youkai swallowed. "NDPD never mentioned anything. Jounochi-san didn't press charges..."

"Let's hope Kisara holds up," Ryuusei frowned. "Otherwise, five months' training..."

"_This year's sure to be another great competition! But before we begin, it's time to announce our guest of honour, and perhaps our champion!Please welcome the King of Riding Duels himself, Fudo Yusei!_"

Cheers erupted from the crowds beyond any previous sound volume that it hurt my ears as the spotlights shone down on the generation's most famous Duelist. The Professor waved to the screaming and cheering fans in the crowd of well-dressed Duel fans and cameramen.

I heard a gasp, and I turned to Seika. Her eyes were wide, and she was staring at the stage where all the Duelists were coming down for a private photo session. Orion gasped openly.

I followed their stare to see Mizore Setsuna beside Jimmy and giving him a kiss. Some distance away, Rafael was staring at her as if she had stabbed him in the heart, until she led a blushing Jimmy with one hand and a winning smile and a wink. Then he blushed and gave her a speculative look.

It took me maybe half a minute after they walked away before I was able to reboot my brain. After that, I ran a quick review of what had just happened through the old grey matter. Rafael and Setsuna were involved, and so were Jimmy and Setsuna. The thing is, Jimmy was hardly the type to cheat on anyone, much less his absent love. Setsuna was pretty, pale, supernaturally glamorous, and just a little scary. I could do the maths. I was willing to bet that Mizore wasn't her last name, or that Mizore Setsuna was her name at all.

She looked a hell of a lot more like a Shimotsuki.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	49. XLVI: A Rival Appears!

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Note: the KC Grand Prix is not the focus of this. The real puzzle happens after Chaos Emperor Dragon is delivered into the winner's hands. I feel sorry for Drake for being sidelined like this, but I can assure that Drake Lancaster will have a greater role to play in the next arc. Meanwhile, right now a few other characters will have the focus of the show! Enjoy.**_

_**LLS**_

* * *

**XLVI: A Rival Appears!**

The next day opened with good weather, the air crisp and clear as we eagerly awaited for the surprise that was said to blow everybody's minds. The band was ready to play along with a special guest singer, the idol Lynn Medusa. I sat in the stands with Uzuki and Yuko, waiting and scanning the crowds.

"Did you see her?" Uzuki demanded. "Ms Kaiba was so cool!"

"Yes, yes!" Chase-nii snapped. "I mean, can the act get any more obvious?"

As if on cue, the noise of a plane's engines sounded overhead.

"Flashy entrances, Kaiba style," I heard Youkai say.

Everyone looked up to see a jet fashioned after the Blue-Eyes White Dragon shooting over the arena. It was anatomically correct, right down to tail and claws and jaw. A speck was visible, falling from the jet, and I could see it rapidly expand into a person, a woman in a long white coat. She was free-falling down, down, down... and she wasn't wearing a parachute. The only thing she had on was her dress... and her DuelDisk.

She activated the Duel Disk on her arm and played three cards.

Light burst into being around her, forming into three immense white dragons, with cobalt-blue eyes and streamlined bodies. Two on the left and right roared and dived down beside the woman, while the third slowed to catch her and fling its head back. All three arrested their flight inches from the stage, the up-draft vicious as they landed with solid thumps and the woman swiftly dismounted to land on her feet.

She stood proud, white hair billowing out in the wind as her cobalt eyes ran over the crowd. Like any Kaiba, she wore white and blue, a white chiton-like gown matched with blue accessories. It belied the beauty of her face and the brittle strength of her figure, like a glass statue. She was hardly even breathing hard, after the free-fall saved by a giant dragon.

Fierce applause sounded throughout the stadium, despite nervous murmurs at her display of control and power. Kisara gave a slight nod, deactivating the Duel Disk and letting her three Blue-Eyes White Dragons fade away with one last roar. The eight participants were standing about, waiting.

"_Are you ready to duel?_" the MC called. His words were greeted by even more cheers. "_I can't hear you! Are you ready to duel!"_

The screams came even louder and he passed the microphone to a waiting Kisara-san.

"_This is not a festival, or a show._" Kisara's words rang out. "_It is a survival game Duelists bet on with their honour. We'll see the cries of the Duelists before they die, and the only joyful scream will belong to the chosen Duelist. Right now, KaibaLand will become a literal Colosseum. Glory or death? You have to win for survival. Let us all see how you survive!_"

More cheers. I felt rather terrified of the meaning of those words myself as the pairings were revealed, as well as the location.

"_Then I officially declare that the KC Grand Prix has officially begun!_" The band and they started playing as fireworks shot up into the sky. The massive LCD screen within the amphitheatre lit up as Duelists began running for their locations.

"Look!" Uzuki screamed as she leaned forward, nearly crushing Yuko underneath her.

The spectators erupted into a roar of cheers as Rafael-san brought out Sun Dragon Inti. More cheers arose as Misawa Ryokai-san summoned the Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis.

I craned my head back to stretch my neck, and I saw the screen of the blimp overhead. Displayed on it were not images from the tournament, but rather stock footage of the three Egyptian God Cards. Giant God Soldier of Obelisk walked proud and strong through searing flames. Following immediately was a view of the sun as the Sun God Dragon of Ra flew down and stopped in the middle of the screen. Then it was covered by black storm clouds as Saint Dragon – God of Osiris descended from above and roared.

I cheered as James-san brought out Jurrac Meteor, but Madas-san managed to save his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon with Interdimensional Matter Transporter. James-san just smirked as he brought out a Jurrac Aeolo before Jurrac Velo and struck the finishing blow.

"Where's Fudo-san?" Ryuusuke asked me.

"Nii-chan?" I blinked. "I... I don't know."

"I saw that beautiful date Rafael-san brought," Uzuki tittered. "No wonder Rafael-san is so devoted, almost like love. I think he's jealous of Cook-san stealing Mizore Setsuna's attention..."

I was distracted. "It's Setsu-chan."

"Eh?" Uzuki blinked as I got up and walked off. "Seika?"

"I need the toilet!" I called as I ran down the steps. If... If Setsu-chan had followed Rafael-san here...

I took a roller coaster towards the jungle field that Rafael-san was currently in, and I ducked under a rope of vines as I got in. The jungle was eerily silent as I walked in.

"Where...?" I came to the field.

Sun Dragon Inti's light blazed bright red against the gold of the Sun Dragon Overlord, and both wielders seemed tired.

"You... really are annoying," Misawa-san commented. "So, we both control the sun. Heh... as long as one of us doesn't have Lucky Stripe."

"But, it looks like Cook just managed to beat me in speed," Rafael-san commented as he glanced at a passing blimp. "So, Inti, attack Sun Dragon Overlord and finish this!"

Misawa-san just pressed a button. "Rush Recklessly."

The field blew up, and with it the last of Rafael-san's life points.

"Still, that legendary dragon got beaten..." Rafael-san sighed as he turned to look at me. "Oh, Kannazuki-san."

"Rafael-san," I bowed politely. "I need to ask you about your girlfriend."

"Setsuna?" Rafael-san blinked. "Why?"

"Where is Setsuna-san?" I pressed. "If she's with James-san..."

"I see." Slowly, Rafael-san nodded, turning off to run towards a path. I followed him with Misawa-san behind me.

"First- time meeting you," the dark-haired older man greeted me. "Misawa Ryokai. You know my brother Tsugare and my cousin, Youkai."

"Nice to meet you," I hurriedly answered. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances, but-"

"Yeah, we need to get to the Aussie," Ryokai-san answered as we ran. Hidden speakers began playing a song:

_On the edge of a dark mist,  
I heard sounds in the water.  
Before I even knew it,  
I was chasing after a figure I couldn't quite see.  
"Where are you dancing that mechanical waltz?"  
"Who are you, to wander in so far, not knowing?"_

_I was captivated, swept away by your blue eyes,  
There was no way I could escape.  
I felt broken and put back together,  
and lost sight of who I was.  
Even this coincidence, this fate is the trick of a larger mechanism,  
There was no way I could resist.  
I reached out both my arms and said,  
"I've fallen in love with a youkai."_

I skidded to the field as I saw a familiar person draped over James-san, their lips locked together in an embrace. They parted as I saw them, and I saw cold blue eyes and her stare... directed at him.

_Within the deep dark of night,  
I heard mumbling sounds of water,  
As our fingers were intertwined,  
I saw a dream had spilled over.  
"Why are you shaking? What are you afraid of?  
Won't you tell me, what's the matter?"_

_My green hair waved, wind-swept,  
I won't ever let us be separated.  
Everything was brought forward, then shattered,  
Swept away somewhere...  
Vividly, vibrantly, feverishly burning,  
I couldn't come close,  
but I grasped both your hands and said,  
"I've fallen in love with a human."_

"Good work, James," Setsu-chan murmured to him softly. "I am so happy."

"I aim to serve," James-san whispered. "I love you."

"How insincere." But she kissed him. She gave him that even when she never gave me the time of day.

_Eventually their waltz came to a close ...  
"Could you please forget about me,  
Even my name?"_

_I lost everything, but returned, back to that place,  
But I can't turn back my emotions .  
The stronger she wished, the further away she felt,  
The youkai finally realized...  
Even this coincidence, this fate is the trick of a larger mechanism,  
Parting was so sudden, but in the end...  
"Farewell to those days! To the human I loved so much..."_

_The song of a broken Youkai..._

"Setsuna?" Rafael-san gaped.

_In this place with walls of white,  
Only her heart had broken .  
As she searched through the mist,  
I was left behind in the night..._

"What are you talking about?" Setsu-chan blinked at his intent look. "Seika. Who is this?"

"This... this is Rafael de Santos, Setsu-chan," I squeaked. Why? Why did she hide from him...?

"Oh? Are you sure?" Setsu-chan glared at him with cold ice-coloured blue chips of eyes.

"You look... just like her." Rafael-san shivered. "Where is Setsuna? I saw her... I saw her with Kujaku Satsuki! She has to be here!"

Setsu-chan ignored him to walk over, towards the kneeling Madas-san.

"Galaxy-Eyes... lost..." Madas-san gaped.

"Precisely," Setsu-chan smiled. "So don't move, please."

Madas threw himself out of the way as the white blast she threw narrowly missed him.

"Please don't run," Setsu-chan sighed, slowly walking towards Madas-san. "That selfish dragon from the outer space, the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. That monster is not of this world. We must introduce it into the rules of this world. So, do not move. It will be over very soon."

Madas quickly pulled his DuelDisk. "You want a Duel? I'll oblige you!"

"I want to kill that dragon," Setsu-chan offered as she put on a D-Pad that fanned out into a snowflake shape once more. "If I cannot achieve that through direct combat, then I shall do so through ritual combat. James, how would you judge this man?"

James-san scratched his head, assuming an air of casualness, as if he had not just exchanged a kiss with Setsu-chan. "Well, I don't quite get you, but... I guess that his skill's around Class III?"

"Very well." she unlocked her D-Pad.

"Duel!"

Madas: LP 8000

Setsuka: LP 8000

"I will not be ignored. I will stand out and a champion, as the king!" Madas snarled. "No one will ever look down on me again! So keep that in mind when you lose!"

Her head tilted. "I do not see any difference between the multitude of mediocre Duelists I have faced and you. Since you claim so, I hope that you have the skills to back it."

"I activate the Field Spell, Photon World!" Madas-san declared. "When a Photon monster is normal or special summoned, all other players that do not control a Photon monster will take damage equal to one hundred times the level of the monster summoned. From my hand, since I control no monsters I special summon Photon Thrasher [2100/0]. Take four hundred damage!"

Setsuka: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Madas: LP 8000

"I then normal summon Photon Crusher [2000/0], and so you take another four hundred damage." Madas-san rebutted. "I construct the overlay network using these two monsters. Exceed summon! Come, Starlord Galaxion!"

A shining, dual sword-wielding knight appeared, and the futuristic-looking warrior looked suitably threatening [2000/2100].

"I'll detach two Exceed material to special summon from my deck my strongest servant," Madas called. "The galaxy that lurks in the darkness, become the light of hope and my very servant! Let the embodiment of light now descend! Grab hold of the stars, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon [3000/2500]!"

What looked like a star appeared, and all the light in the area seemed to bend towards it, being sucked into the star before it gathered form into a radiant dragon, Western-looking with glowing red and blue plates all over its body. Its yellow eyes gleamed as it roared.

"Take eight hundred damage!" Madas-san called as miniature photons shot out like bullets, only to be deflected.

"When I would take damage from a card effect, I can reduce that damage to zero and special summon from my hand Guard Penguin [0/1200] in attack mode," Setsu-chan rebutted. "Eight hundred is all I will take this turn."

Setsuka: LP 7600 → LP 7200

Madas: LP 8000

"I'll end my turn here with a set card," Madas called. "Try to get past my monsters!"

"Understood. I draw!" Setsu-chan called, glancing at her hand. "I'll summon Tin Goldfish [800/2000] from my hand."

An orange-coloured mechanical fish appeared on her field.

"When this monster is normal summoned, I can special summon a level four monster from my hand, such as Abyss Soldier [1800/1300]," Setsu-chan called as a fish-human cross-bred soldier carrying a three-pronged forked spear appeared. "The effect of Abyss Soldier; once per turn I can discard a Water Attribute monster from my hand to return one card from the field to return it to your hand. Of course, my aim will be Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

"Shit, Galaxy-Eyes!" Madas-san swore as the dragon disappeared as briefly as it appeared.

"I'll set one card, and activate the Spell, Card of Demise to draw until I have a hand of five cards," Setsu-chan called. "With that, I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set card."

"Lumenize!" Madas-san called in alarm.

"I see," Setsu-chan neutrally murmured. "I construct the overlay network with Guard Penguin, Tin Goldfish and Abyss Soldier! Exceed summon!"

"Exceed Summon?!" James-san, Madas-san and I echoed.

"Show yourself! The most powerful ruler of the deep sea! Your sharp fangs shall exterminate everything!" Setsu-chan called, and with her cry a sharp, crisp breeze blew across the field. "Number 32: Shark Drake!"

From under her feet, a geyser sprouted. A triangular head-like piece with a blue circle in the centre and a red gem in the upper centre appeared. The gem unfolded, lower arms before upper arms formed, before its head was pieced together.

The monster unfolded itself, a deep carmine-maroon shade that loomed with malice aforethought. Its body shape was similar to the Bahamut Shark, I reflected, and it was a mark that both of them were Sharks. Unlike Nightmare Shark or Bahamut Shark, the hind legs of Shark Drake were bloated, and its fore legs and back wings resembled fins more than anything else. Its head was slim and jagged like an arrow, but it still bore all the marks of some creature who sole purpose was to tear and bite through everything in its path [2800/2100].

"This card represents one of the few bonds I have left," Setsu-chan murmured, her ice-like eyes gleaming as it growled overhead. "With this monster, I'll bite you to the death. Shark Drake, attack Starlord Galaxion!"

"Shit..." Madas-san muttered.

"And chain, quick-play Spell Absolute Zero!" Setsu-chan added. "I can target an Exceed monster on the field with no materials attached, and make its attack power zero. Of course, that means that your Starlord Galaxion [2000/2100 → 0/2100] is defenceless. Go, Shark Drake! Depth Bite!"

The monster's jaws opened and it charged forth, tearing the warrior to shreds.

Madas: LP 8000 → LP 5200

Setsuka: LP 7200

Madas-san flinched, staggering up from where he had been knocked over. "But... even so..."

"At this time, I shall activate the effect of Shark Drake," Setsu-chan continued, ignoring him as Shark Drake ate one of the Exceed materials floating about it. "Once per turn, when this attacking card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can detach one Exceed material, and special summon the destroyed monster to my opponent's side of the field in face-up attack position."

"What?" Madas-san blinked as Starlord Galaxion revived. "But... why?"

"... but, the monster loses one thousand attack power [2000/2100 → 1000/2100], and if the summon is successful, Shark Drake can attack once again during this battle phase." A small smile played around her lips as Setsu-chan finished her words. "This monster will bite you until even your bones are finished. So, Shark Drake. Attack once more with Depth Bite!"

The warrior stood absolutely still, resolute even in the face of certain death.

Madas: LP 5200 → LP 2400

Setsuka: LP 7200

"Take this as revenge for Photon World." Setsu-chan flatly murmured as Madas-san was bowled over once more. "I will set two cards, turn end."

"This is completely different," I realised.

"What?" James-san peered close. "You're right. Shark Drake's effect is mostly offensive, meant to spearhead rather than defend. But, ice-themed decks on a whole would focus on lockdown, not attack power... and such an effect is not just sadistic, it's incredibly overpowered!"

"So... this is interesting. My turn, draw!" Madas-san called. "I'll activate the Spell, Trade-In, discarding Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon to draw two cards. I'll activate the Equip Spell, Galaxy Zero! I will revive Photon Crusher with the effect of it having no attack power [2000/0 → 0/0], being unable to attack and having its effects negated. Photon World will inflict four hundred damage!"

Setsuka: LP 7200 → LP 6800

Madas: LP 2400

"I'll then summon Photon Circle [1000/1000], so take another four hundred damage!" Madas-san called as the spell-caster appeared and miniature comets flew at Setsu-chan again.

Setsuka: LP 6800 → LP 6400

Madas: LP 2400

"Annoying," Setsu-chan pronounced as the dust clouds died, but left her otherwise unaffected.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Madas-san called. "Exceed summon! Arise, Starliege Paladynamo!"

Another white-armoured winged warrior carrying a sword appeared [2000/1000].

"Trap card, Torrential Tribute," Setsu-chan pronounced. "When any monster is summoned, all monsters on the field are destroyed."

"What?" Madas-san yelled as torrents swept the field. "But, your monster-!"

"Chain Trap, Xyz Reborn," Setsu-chan rebutted as Shark Drake reappeared from the torrential drowning, one lone material floating about it.

Madas swallowed, paling at the chance of looming defeat. "I- I'll activate Photon Sanctuary, special summoning two Photon Tokens [2000/0] in defence mode. Of course, since Photon World is still active, you'll take eight hundred damage!"

Setsuka: LP 6400 → LP 5600

Madas: LP 2400

"And what about it?" Setsu-chan asked flatly. "Your last stand has had no effect. I do not care."

"Turn end," he growled.

"Draw," Setsu-chan savoured the word. "I'll summon Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier [300/500] to the field. Then, I play the Spell, Shien's Spy, to give you control of it."

"Oh, no," Madas-san paled as the icy-looking bird hovered over.

"Shark Drake," Setsu-chan shortly commanded. "Attack Blizzed... and finish this. Depth Bite!"

Madas-san ineffectually crossed his arms in front of him as the attack came.

Madas: LP 2400 → LP 0

Setsuka: LP 5600

Madas-san barely had time to react before Setsu-chan jumped and, in a flash, a blade appeared in her hand. "Wait, don't kill me-!"

She stabbed into the air above Madas, and there was a distant, ear-splitting roar. The astral dragon reappeared, not as the holographic picture, but as a fully breathing, living dragon. It opened its maw, and gave a distant roar. There was an Arctic howl of wind, a flash of light, and something like a fog bank that rolled around it.

Madas stared up in horror as a rope of light that trailed from it to him snapped, fraying before the entire thing, dragon and all, crystallised into an ice sculpture. The form of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was left, powerlessly glaring in defiance of her. He too fell to his knees as she glared at it.

I shook my head as she continued to stand there, facing the dragon before her frozen-berry lips moved. "So it was a distraction."

"What?" I said. "What's going on?"

"Far be it for me to answer," Setsu-chan glanced up at the frozen dragon. "Time to kill."

"Stop..." Madas-san cried out, spreading his hands to protect the dragon. "This is my spirit partner! I will... protect him!"

"And what about it?" Setsu-chan asked. "I do not care even if you were the Emperor of Japan. I am Winter, and I do what needs to be done. So what if it is yours?"

"It doesn't matter how long we've met or when we've met..." Madas-san answered, struggling to his feet. "What matters is that he's my partner! You'll get to him over my dead body!"

Setsu-chan's eyes narrowed, and she drew a sharp icicle and prepared to stab down. Madas-san closed his eyes as the sharp point descended.

"Setsu-chan!" I cried, dashing forward.

Setsu-chan whirled, levelling the blue-white fire of Winter at me. I stopped as the fires struck, but it was intercepted by yellow flames and shattered into green light. Golden fire flared, consuming the icy statue, and the ice cracked in contact with the heat bloom.

Setsu-chan turned around, placing a metre between herself and the statue. With a roar, the ice shattered, and the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon flapped its wings, before it faded out like a ghost.

Madas-san was still shaking as he collapsed to his knees. "I nearly... got burnt alive..."

"Complete," Nii-chan appeared, a sphere of fire in his hands. "Rondo of Rinne complete. May the seasons turn and turn and turn."

"I see what you have done." Setsu-chan frostily commented.

"I have done what needs to be done." Nii-chan answered. "You wouldn't have killed him, would you?"

"Well played." There was a minute incline of her head. "I do not dislike those who have spirit."

So saying, she turned, leaving with James-san.

A heartbeat later, Rafael-san was chasing after them, yelling with sadness apparent in his voice. A moment later, Nii-chan put an arm around me and we left with Misawa-san. Madas-san was left alone, staring at the spot where Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon had been.

* * *

The first clue that there was something wrong was when Seika first ran off. My second clue was when Youkai dragged me to see Hibiki-san Duel personally, and we ended up seeing real Duel Spirits and Kisara and Satsuki facing off.

Wait, back up. That last part hadn't happened.

"Why are we chasing after Kannazuki-san now?" Youkai asked as he began running after me.

"I just realised that Mizore Setsuna could be Shimotsuki in disguise."

Youkai considered, his eyes widening. "But... her eyes are different."

"There's this thing called contact lenses, and you think eye colour is distinct anymore?" I snapped.

"So what's the plan?" Youkai asked as we jumped queue towards one of the convenient coaster cars that seemed to connect all of KaibaCorp together.

"This," I pressed the console button for the jungle field, where Rafael and Ryokai were supposed to be Dueling with Madas and Jimmy. The car's doors closed and we were hurtling off before long in a glorified open-top mini monorail. "If I'm right, Seika probably noticed the similarities between Shimotsuki and Mizore Setsuna. And Mizore was around Rafael, it doesn't take too much imagination to think-"

"That she might be with Rafael," Youkai finished, but then the console of the car flashed.

_Duel in progress, Duel in progress._

"We're taking the long way, then," I groaned as the car swerved through... Well, I thought it might be a whole wind turbine field inter-spaced amidst a series of ordinary-looking buildings so fake that I felt like I had walked into a picture drama or something. Youkai put my thoughts in perspective.

"Feels like we've just walked into Academy City." I commented. Someone's estate should be collecting royalties from KaibaCorp. Unless it was the other way round.

I saw them, then. Archie was holding up his DuelDisk in a feeble parody of defence from Satsuki. Satsuki, on the other hand, did not look too interested in murdering him. She wore a violet tartan skirt with black stockings and white shoes, matched with a violet shirt worn under a black vest with shining buttons. The usual high school uniform look, then.

"Archie!" Youkai pointed.

"Duel!" their shouts fairly echoed about.

Archibald: LP 8000

Satsuki: LP 8000

"I'll go first, draw!" Archie called. "I play the Continuous Spell, Hazy Pillar. This card allows me to normal summon Hazy Flame monsters with one less tribute. Now, I summon Hazy Flame Peryton [1600/1700]!"

A flaming horse appeared on the field, pawing the ground.

"Now, I send a Fire Attribute monster from my hand to the graveyard, and tribute Peryton to special summon two Hazy Flame monsters from my deck, such as Hazy Flame Sphynx [1900/1900] and Hazy Flame Mantikor [2200/300]!" Archie called as the two quadrupedal leonine monsters appeared in a rush of heat and flame. "I use the effect of Sphynx, declaring a card type, such as Monster. I shall mill the top card of my deck to the grave, and as declared, it's Manticore of Darkness, a monster card. Now I get to special summon a Fire Attribute monster from my hand or deck, such as Hazy Flame Hyppogrif [2100/200]."

"Three level six monsters..." Satsuki nodded.

"I construct the overlay network with these three monsters," Archie declared. "Exceed summon! Arise, master of the bestiary of flames! Hazy Flame Basiltrice!"

Orange and yellow flames erupted in a flash as the monster growled. It looked like a Chinese dragon, the really eye-searing colourful type with googly eyes and a gold serpentine scaled body and claws resembling that of chicken's. Aside from the flaming bat-like wings, the beak-like head and the fact that it had three pairs of claws and talons, it would have been a close relative of Orient Dragon [2500/1800].

"Hazy Pillar allows me to target an Exceed monster I control, and attach a Hazy Flame monster I control or in my hand to that Exceed monster as Exceed material. Also, Basiltrice can accommodate up to five materials, so there's space. I attach Hazy Flame Griffin in my hand to Basiltrice." Archie called as the monster took the card from Archie's hand into its mouth and poked it to Archie's Disk plate. "And, Basiltrice gains effects depending on the amount of material it holds. At three or more, it gains two hundred attack and defence power per Exceed material [2500/1800 → 3300/2600], at four or more it cannot be targeted by my opponent's card effects, and at five, it cannot be destroyed by card effects period. End phase, I discard a Beast, Winged Beast or Beast-Warrior Type monster from my hand to the graveyard to revive Manticore of Darkness [2300/1000], and I choose Hazy Flame Griffin. Turn end."

"Draw," Satsuki studied the field. "Archibald O'Brien, son of Austin O'Brien, listed as a Specialist under the US Army. They say that you'll be the first part of the Duel corps if the rumour mill is correct and if the Duel corps idea is passed."

"The Arcadia Movement is rather lax with its members," Archie admitted. "But... I get a good feeling when I see Kannazuki-san trying. If I capture you, I might be able to get into the Movement's good books."

I bristled at the callous implications behind Archie's words, but then Youkai just snorted. "The underlying implication being that Satsuki's a girl rather than anything else," he muttered.

I considered. True, some people, especially the enemies, thought of Psychic Duelists as weak in physical attacks. They all assume that Psychic Duelists were going to stand back and chuck Magic Missiles at them or something, then scream and run away the second they get close enough to let the Psychics see the whites of their eyes.

Okay, granted, so that _is_ how a lot of them generally operate. All the same, you'd think they would remember that there's no particular reason why a Psychic Duelist couldn't be as comfortable with physical mayhem as the next person.

"But you couldn't have known that I would be here," Satsuki reasoned.

"I got lucky," Archie admitted. "But I guessed, you know? The prize on offer would be something to get our hands on."

"Obviously. I activate my own Continuous Spell, Hysteric Sign," Satsuki decided. "It allows me to add the Spell, Elegant Egotist from my hand to my deck. Now I summon Harpie Queen [1900/1200] and I play Elegant Egotist to special summon Harpie Lady One [1300/1400 → 1600/1400] [1900/1200 → 2200/1200]. You know, if I were to use a card that doesn't target, then you'd be in trouble."

"Do you have one?" Archie challenged.

"More than you know," Satsuki raised her right hand. "I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! When the queens of the storms combine with the will of the cold, the result will bring the hailstorm down upon everything! Exceed summon! Soar, Sylphine, the Sub-Zero Siren!"

Snow began to fall. Ice formed on her eyelashes, and Satsuki's breath steamed. The temperature dropped several times, and from the skies above the monster spread blocky sharp dark blue wings as it descended. Against its light-blue, almost white skin, the female winged monster had dark blue crystalline plates that served as a skirt, as armour on her arms and legs, and all over her head. Her bodice was white, and so pale as to blend with her skin [2000/2200].

"That monster..." my eyes widened in realisation.

"The effect of Sylphine; by detaching one overlay unit, until my next standby phase, I can not only negate all face-up cards my opponent controls, but Sylphine also gains three hundred attack power for each face-up card on the field besides herself." Satsuki called. "Perfect Freeze!"

The winged monster spread its claws, and ice covered the field. Black ice, as in clear ice, the water crystals so impossibly thin as to be able to see the mirrored surface over the concrete on the field around them [2000/2200 → 3200/2200].

"What the hell?" Youkai shouted as our coaster car gave a screech as it came to a stop, probably from the frost gathering in its spokes or mechanical failure. Meanwhile, the Basiltrice gave a small scream with the Manticore, right before both of them froze over [3300/2600 → 2500/1800].

"My Basiltrice!" Archie shouted in alarm.

"Sylphine, attack the Basiltrice with Ice Ray!" Satsuki called right as the winged monster blasted the ice statue to bits.

Archie: LP 8000 → LP 7300

Satsuki: LP 8000

"I shall set a card, turn end." Satsuki finished.

Archie struggled, shivering for a moment as he got back to his feet, the impact from the attack having knocked him over. "I... draw. Hazy Pillar... can't be used yet, so... I summon Hazy Flame Cerbereus [2200/200 → 1000/200] by its own effect, but its attack power becomes zero. I construct the overlay network with Manticore and Cerbereus, Exceed Summon! Come, Gauntlet Shooter!"

The monster looked like a warrior made out of Lego blocks of red, yellow and black. Its eyes glowed as it the field [2400/2800].

"I detach one material to use his effect and destroy your bird-brained beast!" Archie called as the monster levelled both hands at Sylphine. "Gauntlet Shoot!"

"Counter Trap, Destruction Jammer," Satsuki called. "I discard a card like another copy of Hysteric Sign, and the effect of Gauntlet Shooter is negated and the card destroyed."

Archie bowed as a thin shield caused the blows to glance off and the hand-missiles to hit his monster instead. "I'll set a card, and then since I have no monsters on the field, I special summon Hazy Flame Hyppogrif [200/2100] from my hand in defence mode. Turn end."

"At the end phase of a turn when Hysteric Sign is sent from my hand or the field to my graveyard, I can add three different Harpie cards from my deck to my hand. I choose Harpie Queen, Harpie Channeler, and Harpie Dancer," Satsuki called as she took the three cards and showed them to Archie.

"So it's like the Harpie version of Ojamagic," Archie nodded. "Right."

"My turn, draw," Satsuki called as the iced field showed visible signs of melting. "The attack power of Sylphine goes back to normal [3200/2200 → 2000/2200], and the attack negation therefore concludes. I summon Harpie Channeler [1400/1300], and discard Harpie Dancer to special summon Harpie Queen [1900/1200] from my deck. Chain, Inferno Reckless Summon!"

The second Harpie Queen and a blonde dancer Harpie [1200/1000] arose from the ground, therefore completing a quartet of Harpies, plus Sylphine.

"I construct the overlay network with both Harpie Queens," Satsuki called. "Exceed Summon! Arise, Lightning Chidori!"

There was a sound not unlike the squawking of an entire flock of birds, and before long the light condensed into lightning, which took on the shape of something resembling a bird [1900/1600]. It cried out as Archie's set card vanished.

"Hey!" Archie retaliated.

"When Lightning Chidori is Exceed summoned, I can target the set card of an opponent and return it to the bottom of your deck," Satsuki lightly answered. "The effect of Harpie Dancer: I bounce Harpie Channeler back to my hand to conduct another normal summon of Harpie Channeler, and so reuse its effect. I discard the last Harpie Queen from my hand to special summon Harpie Lady Two [1300/1400] from my deck. Now, I construct the overlay network with these three monsters. Exceed summon! Take to the skies, Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon!"

The blood-scarlet dragon that appeared was slimmer, with the same decorated headpiece and collar as the original Harpie's Pet Dragon, but somehow more malicious [2000/2500].

"The effect of Sylphine activates," Satsuki tonelessly declared as the icy monster raised a hand and the field froze over once more [2000/2200 → 3800/2200]. "Then I use the effect of Lightning Chidori and detach a material to bounce Hyppogrif to the top of your deck. Static Shock!"

"I've been looking for a copy of that," Youkai thoughtfully nodded as the fiery statue was whisked off the field. "It's nice to know that one of our enemies has it."

"I assure you, that you will not survive this," Satsuki nodded as she faced Archie with three Exceed monsters. "My monsters, direct attack with all of your strength!"

Archie: LP 7300 → LP 0

Satsuki: LP 8000

"Finished," Satsuki drawled as Archie was blasted back into the building across the field- ow. "Victory is certain-"

We had hardly blinked at her victory when Satsuki jumped back. Fire, white and bright, suddenly burnt the spot where she stood, and it looked hot enough to burn her head and neck off.

"What?" Satsuki glanced about, before her gaze alighted away from us and up to the skies.

From above, Kisara landed neatly on her feet, which was pretty awesome considering that she had just leapt off the back of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. In her white dress, Kisara hardly seemed dangerous, but her dragon gave a loud growl as it gnashed its jaw. Her beauty itself seemed intense, like a weaponised aura that cloaked her in power.

"Kaiba Kisara," Satsuki gave grudging acknowledgement. "What are you doing?"

"Protecting my place," Kisara simply answered. "We are technically enemies, aren't we? If you are here, and she is here, it means that you are here to kill someone. Ryuusei-san and that woman cannot kill mortals not connected to the Courts; that is the purpose of the champions. If your job is to kill for her, my job is to stop you."

"Can you even afford to spout such big words, Kisara-san?" Satsuki retorted. "You've only just taken on the mantle, after all. Unlike you, who had this fate forced upon yourself, I _chose_ this fate. I am prepared for the danger and death I will deal."

"I can't really do anything about this, can I?" Kisara answered sadly. "Sooner or later, I will die. However, I cannot die yet. So, before that, at least, I must fulfil this job. In that respect, we are equal. It is my purpose to stop you, Satsuki-san."

"The first round hasn't even been finished yet," Satsuki defended.

"Hibiki Akio, Misawa Ryokai, James Cook II and you have been selected," Kisara tonelessly replied. "By the tournament brackets, after an intervention, James Cook will emerge in the finals. You will be eliminated here and now."

"But, there's no Duel..." Satsuki's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't risk the reputation of KaibaCorp now, so what are you intending?"

"I know that she has sealed the spirit of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon already," Kisara announced loudly.

What the hell?

"Galaxy-Eyes?" Youkai sputtered. "That legendary dragon?"

"I know that you will target it, even to go as far as to kill Madas Elvin if needed." Kisara continued. "My purpose is to stop you. Not even Shimotsuki-sama should get to decide who lives and who dies. Life is too precious to be wasted that way. So when she sends you to kill someone, someone else gets in the way. That's me."

I had assumed that Summer's champion would have the same job Satsuki did, just for a different crew. I hadn't really thought about it, metaphorically or otherwise. But, Kisara wasn't the same girl five months before, sickly and weak. She was the Summer champion, and she was currently standing up to a champion of the Winter Court and her counterpart without batting an eye. I recognised the calm, the stillness that was almost like serenity – it was focus and confidence. Kisara knew the danger, and though she didn't want to fight, she was quietly ready for it, and ready to accept whatever consequences it might bring.

Ryuusei must have been thorough on training Kisara, after the mess of Ayame's death.

Their DuelDisks made twin clicks as they stood opposite each other.

"Duel!"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	50. XLVII: Blue-Eyed Maiden

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XLVII: Blue-Eyed Maiden**

Nii-chan called us to return as he began to study the statue. Stuck being dismissed quickly, I was unable to do anything, and ultimately, I followed Misawa-san to his next Duel as Rafael-san returned to the stands with a message from me to Uzuki and Yuko.

"You're the one who's been caring for Nowaki now, right, Kannazuki-sama?" Misawa-san asked me.

"Y- Yes, Misawa-san," I answered.

"Please, call me Ryokai. It's the least I can do for the one who's been looking after the Movement which cared for Nowaki and Nii-san," Misawa-san lightly murmured, though he looked troubled. "Kannazuki-sama, you knew the Madame as well, didn't you?"

"...yes," I admitted. "I was about to be adopted into the Shimotsuki family when they died."

"I see. You must have had it hard."

"N- No. Jii-chan, Baa-chan and Nii-chan are all very nice," I quickly replied. "I... I miss Setsu-chan sometimes. I wondered... once, if I could call her my sister, but..."

"But you parted ways," Misawa-san thoughtfully nodded. "I... I wanted to give my cousin, my brother, a chance at freedom."

"Eh?" I paused.

Misawa-san shook his head. "It's... a long story."

"I will wait until Misawa-san could tell it to me."

"I... do you know what my family does?" Misawa-san asked.

"I have an idea," I answered. "The underworld of Neo Domino is widely said to be the heart of power of the Misawa family. And you are its current head."

"Jii-sama would have placed either Nii-san or Youkai into that spot," Misawa-san admitted. "Having a Psychic at the helm would have added to the illusion of power, you see. And at that time, I couldn't do anything much. I left Nii-san to the Madame, and later I left Youkai to Ms Shimotsuki. Without Psychic powers, or resources, or anything beyond ourselves, Akio and I were truly powerless, held by duty and obligation."

"I do not believe that being powerless would mean much, Misawa-san," I answered. "I too, am powerless. I am sure that Tsugare-san and Youkai-san understand what you did."

"I gave my brother a freedom with a lack of obligations, and took up a freedom of duty and responsibility," Misawa-san whispered. "I... I envied them, sometimes."

"Power has responsibility," I warned.

"I know," Misawa-san faintly answered. "I think you understand me."

"I think we do," I nodded. "To see what others can do is painful sometimes. But Misawa-san, you are happy, are you not?"

"I... I do not regret my choice, but... I would like my family to live together once more," Misawa-san answered. "It is impossible."

"Why? Tsugare-san and Youkai-san like you, their brother and cousin," I protested. "If-"

"The problem is not with them, but rather with myself." His reply was short and succinct.

Misawa-san then swallowed. "About ten years ago... I was at the Puzzle Area with Akio. I was there when Madame Shimotsuki Seiran meted out divine judgement upon the underworld of Neo Domino."

I swallowed, suddenly understanding. "I... I'm so sorry."

"It was a raid on a card fence that quickly escalated to gangland warfare," Misawa-san continued. "It very quickly turned one-sided when she arrived."

He swallowed. His fists on either side of him tightened, although he remained outwardly calm, standing as an odd anachronism in his _hakama_ and _kosode_. "It is... to be expected. We did not even try to negotiate when she arrived. And then... and then the storm began. The winds bellowed. There was a laugh... all of them were... dead. I don't remember much of that night, and Akio wouldn't tell me... but they say, that she claimed responsibility for it. For what happened that night."

What happened that night... "October tenth was the White Witch Massacre," I whispered. "And in June... Madame died, and with her the truth."

"It could only be her," Misawa-san shivered. "We were the ones at fault. So was the Arcadia Movement. And yet Nii-san and Nowaki left home, to the only place which would accept them, and away from the house. Who else could it be?"

I reflected myself, on the nature of the Shimotsuki family. "She wouldn't absolve herself of such an act. Not without a reason."

Misawa-san gave a hollow laugh. "Herself, against more than two hundred men. It was two hundred casualties in the end – all killed in action. I saw friends, comrades and acquaintances, blown down before that woman... and I am thankful that they have you now."

We arrived at the volcanic field, where Hibiki-san stood waiting.

"What, so we're competing now?" Hibiki-san joked.

"Looks like it," Misawa-san answered as he stepped up. "So, what should we do?"

"Can't be helped," Hibiki-san smirked. "Shall we, Ryokai?"

"Oh, yes, Akio." Misawa-san unfolded his own DuelDisk.

"Duel!"

Akio: LP 8000

Ryokai: LP 8000

"I'll go first, draw!" Hibiki-san called. "I summon Scrap Beast [1600/1300]!"

A mechanical black tiger rose up from the floor and roared, its steel teeth clicking. "I'll set two cards and end my turn," Hibiki-san waved.

"Draw!" Misawa-san announced. "Well, since I don't have a monster, I special summon the Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit [2100/1400] onto my field."

In a flash, a white and gold dragon with gold armour and radiant mechanical-looking wings appeared, growling.

"But, during this turn, Tefnuit cannot attack," Misawa-san continued. "So, I play the Spell, Trial and Tribulation. Depending on the number of monsters tributed during this turn, I can activate one of a myriad of effects at the end phase. I tribute Tefnuit to special summon Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet [2000/1600], and so due to the effect of Tefnuit, I special summon a Dragon-Type normal monster from my hand, deck or graveyard, with the cost of making its attack and defence zero. I special summon from my deck Wattaildragon [2500/1000 → 0/0]."

The electric-looking dragon appeared, about to unleash a roar but a flash of light pierced it still, like pins through the wings of a butterfly. Wattaildragon growled, but softly, as if lethargic.

"Now, I tribute Nebthet to special summon from my hand the Hieratic Dragon of Su [2200/1000]," Misawa-san called as the purple dragon was replaced with a blue dragon. "By the effect of Nebthet as well, I can special summon a Dragon-Type normal monster from my hand, deck or graveyard. From my deck, I special summon Luster Dragon #2 [2400/1400 → 0/0]."

The emerald dragon appeared, growling as well.

"I construct the overlay network with Luster Dragon and Wattaildragon," Misawa-san called. "Exceed summon! Arise, Hieratic Dragon King of Atum!"

The resulting dragon was a majestic being of blue and gold, royal colours that enhanced the majesty of its form [2400/2100].

"Once per turn, by detaching one material from Atum, I can special summon a Dragon-Type monster from my deck with the cost of its attack, and the attack and defence power of the summoned monster becomes zero," Misawa-san continued. "I choose Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King [0/0] and place it in defence mode, which makes the attack and defence change moot."

A golden sphere shone on the field, the blue and gold dragon growling.

"Constructing the overlay network between Su and the Hieratic Seal, Exceed summon! Arise, Photon Strike Bounzer [2700/2000]!" Misawa-san called as the warrior appeared onto the field. "Photon Strike Bounzer, attack that Scrap Beast!"

"Quick-play Spell, Scrapstorm," Hibiki-san countered. "I can send one Scrap monster from my deck to the grave, draw a card, and then destroy Scrap Beast. So your attack target is lost, and Scrap Searcher [100/300] is special summoned to the field in defence mode."

"Roll back and replay, Photon Strike Bounzer, attack Scrap Searcher!" Misawa-san called as the bird was destroyed. "I set a card, turn end, and since I tributed two monsters, I can return Tefnuit and Nebthet to my hand by the effect of Trial and Tribulation."

"My turn, draw!" Hibiki-san called.

"Continuous Trap, Hieratic Seal from the Ashes," Misawa-san called. "Once per turn, during my opponent's turn, I can send a Hieratic monster from my deck to the graveyard."

"Fine. I summon Scrap Chimera [1700/500]." A mechanical lion with wings and a tail resembling a twisted snake appeared and roared. "Its effect allows me to revive the tuner monster, Scrap Beast, back to the field," Hibiki-san announced.

"Have you forgotten? The effect of Photon Strike Bounzer can negate that effect and inflict one thousand damage to you for the cost of one material!" Misawa-san called as the bouncer monster's hammers clashed and Hibiki-san stood his ground from the damage.

Akio: LP 8000 → LP 7000

Ryokai: LP 8000

"So you're trying to prevent me from special summoning a tuner, huh?" Hibiki-san assessed. "It's only once per turn, Ryokai. From my hand, I special summon Scrap Orthros [1700/1100] by controlling a face-up Scrap monster. Of course, Scrap Chimera is destroyed by the effect of Scrap Orthros, and so when a Scrap monster is destroyed Scrap Searcher arises. I play Monster Reborn to revive Scrap Chimera to the field. Tuning, level four Chimera to level four Orthros. These broken remains that litter the ground, can be pieced back into the great dragon! Synchro summon! Assemble, Scrap Dragon!"

A great big black mechanical dragon rose up, and its magenta eyes flashed as it let out a roar [2800/2000].

"The ability of Scrap Dragon: I can pick one card I control and one card you control, and then destroy them. So I pick the Bounzer and Scrap Searcher."

Scrap Dragon unfolded its wings and fired a rain of missiles that struck down the targets.

"Trap card, Soul Rope," Hibiki-san called. "I pay a thousand life points to special summon Scrap Shark [2100/0] from my deck."

Akio: LP 7000 → LP 6000

Ryokai: LP 8000

"Scrap Dragon, attack the Hieratic Dragon King!" Hibiki-san called as a purple laser made short work of the glowing dragon. "Scrap Shark, direct attack!"

Ryokai: LP 8000 → LP 7600 → LP 5500

Akio: LP 6000

"I shall set one card, turn end." Hibiki-san declared.

"I draw," Misawa-san glanced at it. "I summon Hieratic Dragon of Eset [1900/1200 → 1000/1200] to the field by making her attack power one thousand. Now, I tribute Gebeb to special summon Nebthet, and by that I special summon a Dragon-Type normal monster from my hand, deck or graveyard with the cost of making its power zero."

"Upon the activation of a Spell, Trap or monster effect, Scrap Shark is destroyed, and I mill another Scrap monster from my deck," Hibiki-san neutrally answered as the mechanical-looking shark imploded in a rush of shrapnel.

Misawa-san nodded. "I special summon Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord [0/0]." A giant circular egg glowed overhead, crackling with power. "Activate the card, Advance Draw to draw two cards at the cost of tributing the Seal. Now I use the effect of Nebthet, tributing the Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit in my hand to destroy Scrap Dragon."

"When Scrap Dragon is destroyed by my opponent's card, I can special summon a Scrap monster from my graveyard as long as it is a non-Synchro monster, and I believe that Scrap Goblin [0/500] is a good choice," Hibiki-san defended as the creature appeared. It was small, made up of an assortment of parts including an old camera for a body, an old sink tap for a helmet, metal clips for feet, and even an old discarded fork for a left arm.

"When did _that_ get in?" Misawa-san asked.

"Scrap Shark."

"Oh..." Misawa-san shook his head. "Anyway, from my hand, deck or grave, I special summon Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord [0/0] in defence mode with the effect of Su. I play Magic Planter to send Hieratic Seal from the Ashes to the grave and draw two cards, and the Seal from the Ashes allows me to revive a Hieratic monster such as Eset once more. The effect of Eset allows me to make the levels of all Hieratic monsters on the field equal to that of a chosen Dragon-Type normal monster on the field, such as Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord. I construct the overlay network between Eset and the Seal! Exceed summon! The gathering of the powers of the Nile, from the ancient black lands of Khemet, shine! The completed Ennead, the Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!"

With a roar, the magnificently large red and gold dragon appeared on the field [3000/2400]

"I detach a material and tribute Nebthet to destroy Scrap Goblin," Misawa-san declared.

"Upon the destruction of a Scrap monster, Scrap Searcher is special summoned from the graveyard," Hibiki-san called as the tiny mechanical bird appeared, its wings crossed. "And the destruction of Scrap Goblin allows me to search my deck for a Scrap Chimera to add to my hand."

"But the effect of Nebthet allows me to special summon from my graveyard monsters like Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King [0/0]," Misawa-san considered. "Sun Dragon Overlord, attack the Scrap Searcher with the power of the Ennead!"

The light struck the bird down, and yet Hibiki-san was untouched.

"I'll set two cards, turn end." Misawa-san declared.

"My turn, draw!" Hibiki-san called. "I activate Foolish Burial, allowing me to mill Scrap Golem to the graveyard. I summon Scrap Chimera, allowing me to special summon from the graveyard the tuner monster, Scrap Goblin [0/500]. Tuning, level four Chimera to level three Goblin. The puzzle pieces fall apart, and with them the past memories that make up our past. Synchro summon! Reign, Scrap Death Demon!"

A column of light engulfed them, and a horned demon with wings made entirely out of scrap metal and spare parts appeared [2700/1800].

"Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted," Hibiki-san called. "I special summon Scrap Golem [2300/1400]. Once per turn, Scrap Golem allows me to special summon a Scrap monster from my graveyard to either player's field. So, I'll give you the present called Scrap Searcher."

"Really?" Misawa-san sceptically asked as the mechanical bird appeared.

"When Scrap Searcher is special summoned, it destroys all non-Scrap monsters on its controller's field," Hibiki-san informed Misawa-san as the bird's feathers exploded, consuming the Seal and the dragon.

"Counter Trap card, Hieratic Seal of Reflection!" Misawa-san quickly announced. "When a Spell, Trap or monster effect is activated, for the cost of tributing a Hieratic monster on the field, that effect is negated! I tribute Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King and negate Scrap Searcher!"

"What, you managed to block it," Hibiki-san observed. "I'll end my turn then."

"Draw!" Misawa-san called. "Trap card, Xyz Reborn allows me to special summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum again with one Exceed material. So, I use the effect of Hieratic Dragon King of Atum to let me special summon Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb [1800/400 → 0/0]. Now I activate the Trap, Hieratic Seal of Banishment. For the low cost of tributing a Hieratic monster, such as Gebeb, I will banish your Scrap Death Demon entirely from the field."

"What?" Hibiki-san snapped as his monster disappeared, leaving him defenceless.

"In exchange, I special summon Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King, which I tribute to summon Hieratic Dragon of Su [2200/1000]," Misawa-san called. "My dragons, attack and finish this with the force that was present at the creation!"

The three dragon laid down their attacks, destroying the last of Hibiki-san's life points.

Akio: LP 6000 → LP 0

Ryokai: LP 5500

Curiously enough, Hibiki-san and Misawa-san had just drawn into a hug that was becoming slightly less decent when the blimp overhead floated.

_The final round,_ it read. _Jimmy Cook vs Misawa Ryokai._

* * *

Satsuki stared at Kisara. Kisara calmly looked back. For what reason were they fighting, I had no idea, but the only thing that could have completed this urban _High Noon_ scene was for a tumble-weed to blow past.

"The emergency crew should be here soon..." Youkai doubtfully considered the scarily thin roller coaster frame. "I could get down-"

"You are _not_ giving me cardiac arrest when I'm terrified about them," I pointed towards Kisara and Satsuki. "What the hell are they up to...?"

"I'm the one who would get cardiac arrest, being this close to a Psychic Duel," Youkai doubtfully snapped back.

"You can fly. You'll be fine."

"I'm talking about _you_, you numbskull!"

While we were arguing, the champions of the two Courts had begun.

"Duel!"

Kisara: LP 8000

Satsuki: LP 8000

"I shall begin, draw!" Kisara called. "I summon Blue-Eyes Maiden [0/0] to the field in attack mode."

Right there, a white-haired maid in an off-white sleeveless dress appeared, standing.

"I'll set one card, turn end." Kisara seriously answered.

"My turn, draw!" Satsuki called. "I summon Harpie Channeler [1400/1300]. Now, I discard Harpie Queen to special summon Harpie's Pet Dragon [2000/2500 → 2300/2500]. When I control a Dragon-Type monster, the level of Harpie Channeler changes to level seven. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed Summon! Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger!"

A thunderclap echoed as the dragon-riding knight appeared [2600/2100].

"I play the Spell, Oni-Gami Combo, to let Gaia attack twice," Satsuki gloated. "This turn, you'll take double the pain. Gaia, attack with Lightning Charge!"

"When Blue-Eyed Maiden is targeted for an attack, I can negate the attack," Kisara defended as the knight was warded off by a shield of light. "When I do so, I can change the position of Blue-Eyed Maiden, and when that happens, I can special summon from my hand, deck or graveyard, one Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Appear, our strongest servant! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

White wings spread, and the legendary pure metallic-looking dragon appeared with a loud roar [3000/2500].

"Che, but this turn Gaia can attack twice, and Gaia has a trample effect!" Satsuki snapped. "Gaia Dragon, attack Blue-Eyed Maiden once more!"

"When did I ever say that her effect is only once per turn?" Kisara questioned as the maiden stood, the knight was warded off, and a second Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field [3000/2500].

"Two Blue-Eyes..." I gaped.

"Well..." Youkai looked ill.

"I'll set two cards and end my turn," Satsuki reluctantly muttered.

"Thank you very much," Kisara tonelessly answered. Draw. I activate Cards of Consonance, discarding a Dragon-Type tuner such as The White Stone of Legend from my hand to draw two cards. Due to the effect of The White Stone of Legend, I can add the third Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to my hand."

"In one turn, to search out so many Blue-Eyes White Dragon... as expected of the Kaiba family," Youkai analysed.

"I activate the Spell, A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, to return one Blue-Eyes to my hand and destroy all other Spells and Traps on the field," Kisara called.

"What? But your set cards..." Satsuki gasped as her two cards imploded.

"My card was Wild Tornado," Kisara answered as Gaia Dragon was whipped into the storm and disappeared. Kisara's long white locks soon dropped without the buffeting winds about. "I equip Blue-Eyed Maiden with Heart of Clear Water. Since this face-up card was targeted by a card effect as well, from my hand, deck or graveyard, I can special summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon once more from my hand. I play Ancient Rules, allowing me to special summon the last Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

The third and last of the legendary dragons themselves appeared on the field, teeth bared and ready to rip a new piece from Winter's champion.

"My dragons..." Kisara raised a hand. "Finish this."

Satsuki: LP 8000 → LP 0

Kisara: LP 8000

"I'm hungry," Youkai suddenly said.

I handed him a chocolate bar I dug out of a pocket. Duster pockets are real useful. "Here."

He slowly blinked, took it and bit down. "You do realise that this is a Kinder Bueno, right?"

"I thought you liked Nutella." I argued.

"I do," Youkai thoughtfully answered. "I just don't think the manufacturers intended it for what we use it as. And there's unfortunate implications right there..."

"You don't complain when you're licking it off-" The resulting explosion cut off my spiel on belabouring the obvious.

"Great," Youkai looked torn as he glanced towards where a Blue-Eyes and the Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon were facing off.

"This is our fate," Satsuki snarled as she managed to dodge and feint to Kisara, finally getting within strike range. "There's no helping it."

Kisara promptly dodged and lashed out with a low kick that Satsuki barely managed to dodge in time. "Why? Is it truly fate that we have to fight each other, kill each other?"

"Yes," Satsuki replied, barely panting. "You may not understand now, because you didn't choose this. The world is not so gentle. Amongst Summer, or Winter, or in the human world, we are the vessels of the rulers' power amongst mortals."

"It's so lonely..." Kisara shivered. "Do I... Must I?"

"We are serving powers far higher than humans can comprehend," Satsuki firmly answered. "We fight to achieve the balance and maintain it. Many of us come and go, connected in the mantle of power we hold. Winter gives way to Summer, Summer gives way to Winter. That is the way of the Courts. Even you, who never chose this, must do so or die. Please, don't die."

That brought me short. Why would Satsuki wish that her enemy live?

"I'm climbing down," Youkai sighed. "Chase?"

"Hold on." I said.

"Don't make her kill you, Kisara-san," Satsuki whispered, her eyes wide and pleading. "Please don't let her kill you. Please-"

"_What_. Is. This." The air itself seemed to tremble at her words. The winds themselves stopped before her gaze. Youkai stopped climbing out, and I leaned over to cling onto his wrist in case he fell from sheer terror.

Satsuki stood, bowing deeply and formally to the woman who stood on the freaking _air_ above the roller coaster itself, as it it were a stage. "Your Majesty." Her voice was toneless, unquestioning.

"How is Summer's newest champion?"

Kisara shivered, but stood her ground. She did not even look at Shimotsuki.

"She is an able champion, and I trust that she would be an able companion of Ryuusei-san." Satsuki tonelessly replied.

"Very good, my knight." Shimotsuki Setsuka nodded in approval. "You have done well. Come, there is no more to be done. We have been played."

"What?" Satsuki echoed.

"Indeed," Shimotsuki answered. "The little problem of the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was a distraction for us of Winter. There is little point in remaining here. Let us depart this place to Lia Fáil."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Satsuki whispered as Shimotsuki disappeared.

"You can dissolve the contract, right?" Kisara said to her.

"I can't. Neither can you." Satsuki turned away. "I knew what I was doing. I made that choice. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you have to bear this."

Satsuki disappeared at the same time as Youkai jumping off with me, and we just barely managed to cling onto Gulldos's back in time to see Kisara turn on one heel... and disappear.

Oh, come on.

"It sounds like Satsuki has it bad as well," Youkai mentioned as the giant bird flew up above KaibaLand. We dived slightly down to the jungle and landed swiftly, Youkai pocketing the card after giving the giant avian a quick head-rub.

"If I were an employee of Shimotsuki, I guess the retirement package is hell," I considered.

"I'm guessing that the champions are going to be chosen again upon the death of another," Youkai considered. "Maybe that's why Satsuki doesn't want Kisara to die, because if Shimotsuki tries that same thing she did with Yuuki Ayame..."

"If the champion isn't doing their jobs, they're literally fired?" I frowned. "That's kinda harsh. I mean, if she offs this one, wouldn't Ryuusei stop choosing any more?"

"But think about what they said," Youkai offered. "Maybe he doesn't have a choice."

"The fact remains that only Ryuusei can solve this problem," I crossed my arms. "I can't even comprehend what the hell is Shimotsuki up to anymore..."

"Do you think your spirit partner would have an idea?" Youkai questioned.

"He'll tell me it's something to do with the balance of worlds or shit like that, which is something big but doesn't really tell me the _scale_." I waved my hand, though I was trembling inside. I had seen the powers at work, and I was friggin terrified. Shimotsuki could not be _evil_ as much as a blizzard was evil, nor could Ryuusei be _good_ as a thunderstorm was good. Neither were things that were easily acceptable or would be invited into a house. Neither could be comprehended by human morality, because quaint young things could not be comprehended by forces unfettered by distance or lifespans.

I could feel my hands curling into fists. Even though... even though we had free will, there were unavoidable circumstances that would force humans to choose. What point was there to choice if either one led to being burnt or frozen to death just the same? If Shimotsuki was acting out of character now... would Ryuusei follow her to insanity? Was there a way for Ryuusei to be classed as evil?

There is, my brain told me. Like the multitude of grief-stricken idiots of love that killed themselves over him. Every good intention and action, followed by a horrible result; Rowena Cortez proved that one well enough. Then there was still the problem of the disappearances beforehand... half of which the Winter side didn't admit to... so what kind of games were we being involved in now?

"Chase?" Youkai glanced as I walked into a tree. "Are you alright?"

"S- Sorry," I muttered, holding my nose. "I- I thought I slipped."

Hayato Ichimonji, tortured by Marguerite. Dexter Towers, who was also confirmed as a contact with Marguerite.

Marguerite, a powerful Duel Spirit under the command of Ryuusei, and Ryuusei never did anything about her...? Or did he not know...? A part of me thought that Ryuusei might have been ignorant. That part was shoved aside as my reason pointed out that there was no reason for Ryuusei _not_ to know. So...

No. It couldn't be. It couldn't-

"Is that Ryuusei?" Youkai mentioned, pointing down.

Ryuusei frowned as he considered the statue that had sprung up in the middle of the jungle exhibit. It was a radiant dragon, Western-looking with glowing red and blue plates all over its body. Its yellow eyes gleamed as it roared. All the light in the area seemed to bend towards it, being sucked into it.

"Ryuusei!" I called.

Ryuusei turned around to see us. "Chase? Youkai-sempai?"

Youkai gaped at the statue, which emitted an aura of cold. "Is that..."

"The spirit of the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon," Ryuusei confirmed. "Shimotsuki purified it here, making it part of the current reality and trapped it. Of course, that ice prison would drive it mad as it erodes and once it breaks free, I suppose that it would have enough energy to destroy about half of KaibaLand."

"Then why are you so calm?" I yelped.

"It's inevitable," Ryuusei calmly answered. "Even if I broke it out, it would continue its rampage. The main problem should be Shimotsuki's presence here. What is her aim, if she cavalierly trapped a powerful dragon here instead of taking it as her subordinate?"

"KaibaLand is at stake here," Youkai quietly said. "If she discovered it..."

Ryuusei's eyebrows creased in a soft frown. "The _how_ of the matter never really applies to any plans, only the _why_. Mass destruction is not her style, and would not be permitted to her-"

"Wait, not permitted?" I interrupted.

"All rulers must follow a set of rules that are... difficult to explain," Ryuusei waved. "One of them is that they cannot directly interfere in mortal affairs, hence the champions of the two Courts serve as an extension of their power. They also cannot kill any mortal not connected to the Courts by bargain or birthright directly."

"In case you haven't noticed, leaving the spirit equivalent of a bomb isn't exactly direct," I pointed out. "And if she's not allowed, then why did she even do this?"

"I kill the Galaxy-Eyes in the worst-case scenario, therefore temporarily crippling myself. She knows it," Ryuusei argued. "There are two ways I can see this... either this is a distraction, and Shimotsuki is somewhere else, or this is the main plan."

I stared up at the majestic beast, trapped and still, and yet its light glowed in defiance of Winter's power. It was a very short decision.

"You guys go stop her," I said. "We'll handle the dragon."

Ryuusei exchanged looks with me, before he turned and disappeared in a soft warm breeze.

I turned to the statue, and to my boyfriend. "I need you as a focus, Youkai."

"Got it," Youkai only hesitated slightly before taking my hand.

Trying not to crush his slender pianist's fingers in my own hand, I clenched my teeth, focusing my will and choosing the correct words. Layer upon layer, what could only be charitably be described as part spell, part summons was dictated.

To call into the spirit world, something more than voice was necessary. It was will.

"The galaxy that lurks within space," I whispered.

The icy prison vibrated, a thrum like the crystals of an oscilloscope. First part.

"Light of hope, servant of the bright stars." A constant sound, not unlike a series of tuning forks. Second part.

"Embodiment of light, dragon of the destruction!" I shouted. "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

Third time's the charm. I mean, it's not irresistible like gravity, but more of an obsessive-compulsive disorder present, in varying degrees, in most of them. These things respond pretty strongly to threes, be they request, insult or command.

As I finished speaking, the ice shattered and radiant mechanical-looking wings spread, giving a bestial roar. You don't need words to communicate being pissed off; anger must practically be the first thing all living things learn to recognise.

Youkai swallowed, and I could almost feel the tension in his whole body prepare the flight/fight/freeze response. He didn't move, though. Bully for him.

I tightened my fingers fractionally, giving a small measure of comfort as I glanced at the beast. "We have released you! Return!"

Once more, the air was rent with that terrible scream that could not, in any way, be called human. This time, it was laced with... sorrow? And anger; anger directed at the Winter Queen for-

"I'll help you!" I yelled as the dragon seemed about to blast us. "So calm down!"

It gave a bestial jerk and a scream, but there was a flash and the card floated down in my hand.

I grabbed it, and didn't even think twice as I shoved it in an inside pocket and turned to Youkai. "How fast can you fly?"

Youkai blinked. "Across Neo Domino in about three hours. Why?"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	51. XLVIII: Photon Lead

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XLVIII: Photon Lead**

The cacophony fairly echoed about the stadium stands as I sat there with Uzuki and Yuko, both Psychics arguing their way through. Rafael-san had turned up, with Mizore-san in tow as well.

I sighed, feeling nervous. It was as if there were people after me in this crowd, waiting for an opportunity to strike. The horror of Duelist Kingdom had yet to get away.

I caught sight of a familiar person. "Nikki-chan!"

Nikki-chan looked up from her seat. She looked more tired, older. "Oh... Kannazuki-san. How... nice to see you."

"Yes," I acknowledged. We had not seen each other since Duelist Kingdom, but it was understandable. I had been there when Ayame-san died, after all.

"I..." Nikki-chan hesitated. "I saw the flowers you brought. Irises?"

"Well... they seemed appropriate," I carefully answered. "Better than lilies, right?"

"I..." Nikki-chan sighed. "I... I don't really feel like talking to you now, Kannazuki-san. After Ayame-neesan ended up as she did..."

"O- Of course," I backed away. Chancellor Tenjouin still had difficulty looking me in the eye. Tenjouin-sensei seemed perpetually sad, especially after I told him about Michiru.

The Arcadia Movement... us... me... we had caused that.

I got back to my seat, and looked back to where the MC was finishing his commentary on the exhibit.

"Yes, it's perfect, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is-" I froze, trying not to react to the realisation that Setsu-chan was beside me. How? When?

"At least you're learning to be calm," Setsu-chan commented as I hurriedly flicked my eyes to my sides. Uzuki was chasing Yuko about, yelling. Nakamura-san was back at the Castle. Kisara-san and Nii-chan were anywhere else. Chase-nii and Youkai had left. Rex-nii wasn't around, having been taking care of Reina again.

I was alone.

I cast a glance down to Mizore-san, who was still there. Setsu-chan followed my line of sight, a corner of her mouth turning up. "Yes."

"What are you doing here, Setsu-chan?" I conversationally tried not to reveal how scared and confused I was.

"Business," Setsu-chan crisply answered, crossing her bare legs. She wore a halter-top and a black miniskirt and criss-crossing heels, along with the silver locket around her neck. Her black hair had been bunched into a French bun by a single silver hairpin with a snowflake dangling from it. How she could wear that ensemble in October when Neo Domino was still trying on thicker clothings should be a mystery to me, but I knew that the cold never bothered Setsu-chan.

"So our conversation is business? I would not think that you would want to be associated with us." I said.

"Oh, I doubt that the Movement would want to associate with the Winter Court," Setsu-chan airily murmured. "_I_, however, have business with _you_."

"Have I done anything to displease the Court, then, aside from the War of the Table?" I asked.

"No, no," Setsu-chan soothed, absently patting my hand in an oddly conciliatory gesture. "It involves the training you should have received."

I frowned. "Would you do me the courtesy of explaining it to me, then?"

For a moment she beamed openly, and it lent something close to warmth to her before it morphed back to her customary cool expression. "I have often felt conflicted about the mother we would have shared."

I blushed.

She ignored me. "Mother... Shimotsuki Seiran... she knew. About the Duel Spirits. She had no Sight, but Father did, and she had other talents. It was nearly the same thing. She knew that I would be the Winter Queen. She found you, the only child of Kannazuki Shiwasu, and she would have made you an exemplary head of the Movement. Almost as if... she were already preparing for my departure."

I nodded. The Madame could be painfully pragmatic, to the point of seeming coldly inhuman occasionally. I remembered the burns Nii-chan had from his practice sometimes. I had heard the stories of her rule. I knew that Setsu-chan must have loved Madame – or she would not have avenged them – but Madame's love could be very warped if teaching Setsu-chan how to essentially kill with her Psychic powers was her form of love.

"I loved her for what she was, and yet I hated her... for taking you in, for thrusting on you a fate you could never have handled," Setsu-chan monotonously continued. "I hated her for having already given me up. I hated her for her favouritism over Fudo Ryuusei. I respected her, but if given a choice... I would have killed her. For what she did to Fudo Ryuusei, keeping him ignorant, and what she would have done to you. I suppose in her own way, she tried to save me, but I hated her placing him above herself, above her family, her blood."

"The Madame must have known what she was doing," I reasoned.

"She couldn't have known what it was that she made him forget." Setsu-chan considered the stage as a male figure began to climb up to it.

"_Jimmy Cook, I demand a rematch!_"

We watched the resulting scuffle of Madas Elvin down below, yet it was clear that we had no interest in it.

"What did you do back there, with the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon?" I asked.

"It is a complicated explanation, and it is not important. At least, I do not believe it important. I believe that the Galaxy-Eyes was placed as a distraction."

I gave up asking about that. "Okay. So, the Madame?"

"She would have made you her successor," Setsu-chan imparted. "Her equally bloodstained, ruthless, and magical successor. Your fate would have been drastically altered. You would have been subjected to every lesson in leading the Arcadia Movement the way she would have it; in systems and vicious brutality and with supreme logic rather than feelings. Tell me, if a Psychic Duelist under your charge would have become quadriplegic, would you have supported him?"

"Of course," I answered. "Is it not a stated policy of the Arcadia Movement, to care for any and all Psychics? Even you have retirement packages and care for those who have retired."

"Yes," Setsu-chan replied. "Mother would have killed them, for being no longer viable. You would have been trained to do the same. You would have been exposed to pain and death and responsibility at your youth... and it would have permanently damaged you, regardless of what Professor Kannazuki would have wished."

I shuddered at the stark truth in her words. The Madame's kindness was present, but it was first and foremost linked to the value the Psychics would have given the Movement. It was this selfishness that led to its heights... and the warped minds of some of the older Psychics like Tsugare-san. The Madame was nothing if not supremely pragmatic. It would not have been uncharacteristic for the Madame to divert more resources on the children about to become promising Psychics and ignore the ones who did not benefit the Movement. "You knew what Papa would have wished?"

"The attack on the manor house by the Elysium Circle was fortuitous," Setsu-chan continued as James-san bantered with Madas-san. "It was tragic and sad, but it allowed me to leave you to the Fudo family. Fudo Yusei is an admirable man, and Izayoi Aki is a good woman for all of her troubles. Needless to say, Ryuusei might be an obtuse idiot at times, but he would be a good older brother. And I took over the Arcadia Movement, so changing the fate she had intended for you to something the Professor Kannazuki would have wished."

"P- Papa?" I gasped. "Y- You knew Papa?"

"Not for long, but enough," Setsu-chan dispassionately answered. "He was obsessed with your mother... for you. He wished, you know, that you could have had a good family. Like he never could give you."

"I- I didn't know," I faintly answered. "And... how could I have been the Madame's successor when I don't have powers?"

"The term _changeling_... can refer to either you or me," Setsu-chan said. "You are a changeling, born of the union of a human man and a Duel Spirit. I am a changeling, born as the reincarnation of a spirit queen of long ago when an immortal has died. There are tales where the spirits will attach to a human soul, effectively becoming them. You are as human as I am."

"We _are_ human," I whispered as Madas-san and Misawa-san challenged each other to a Duel. "I still believe, despite everything, that you have that spark of humanity in you. When you killed Ayame-san... you didn't want to, right? That's why you were acting out. That's why you had Yuuko-chan pull the trigger when you could have technically acted in self-defence or done it as a tragic accident. You didn't want to kill Ayame-san, but the imbalance... I have seen the result of an imbalance during the War of the Table. The next imbalance would have killed us all, regardless of who won. So Ayame-san died, and another champion took her place, and Yuuko-chan could be absolved of responsibility due to you. Kisara-san as well... your method of curing her involved the removal of a sacrifice. Kiyoshi... you could have chosen otherwise, but you gave Yuuki-san hope that Kiyoshi was alive when Satsuki-san told us. You returned Kiyoshi to us. Broken though he may be, and unable to ever wake, but he is alive. There is hope yet."

"You figured out that I sent Satsuki to warn you before?" Setsu-chan admitted. "Perhaps not in so many words. Satsuki defeated Hazuki there. I am told that Hazuki would remember."

"It wasn't hard." I agreed. "She is loyal to you, that I noticed."

Setsu-chan frowned, and then she flinched. "I think I understand why it is at times very difficult to be so closely interwoven to mortals. For me, I... thank you."

"For you?" I gave her a suspect look.

"For all of us," Setsu-chan looked quite close to aggrieved. "I... I cannot confess that I am a paragon of virtue. I am conniving, I am plotting, and I will stab my enemies in the back if they were stupid enough to turn it on me. I can hold a grudge, and I am a pragmatist first and foremost. Yet, I cannot see the disadvantages of killing off faithful members of the Movement. I would rather that they live. I would prefer that they could choose."

She cast a look down to the locket in her hands. "If wishes were horses..." I heard her whisper.

For everything I had seen Setsu-chan do, for every morally ambiguous action I had seen her take, it was always difficult for me to hate her. Whether she was right or wrong was always different, but there was always one underlying motion to the actions of Shimotsuki Setsuka, my Setsu-chan.

"I didn't think that you were still a proponent of choices."

"Oh, I adore freedom," she answered as we watched Misawa-san win, and the Galaxy-Eyes Dragon appear. "Anything that doesn't have it wants it. But I chose this, long ago. I am prepared... for the consequences of my actions."

There were quite a few screams in the audience, of excitement and awe. No one seemed to believe it as a real Duel Spirit. "You haven't tried to kill me."

"No, I have not," Setsu-chan assured.

"Why?"

Setsu-chan gave a brief chuckle as James-san tipped his hat to our direction. "The Movement has been ruled by its head for a very long time... but the head should follow the heart sometimes. And neither can live if the other dies."

I pondered those words for a few moments. "You placed me... as its heart?"

"I believe that you will do the right thing," Setsu-chan distantly answered.

"You believe that a powerless minor can do that? Do the right thing, for the Arcadia Movement? I don't know what to do."

"Oh, Seika..." Setsu-chan frowned as she looked down. You know the problems our members face. You know that despite all the power they hold, all the discipline they share, they are very human, so human that it hurts them and they don't want it to hurt anymore. I am what I am. Warm is not it. I cannot give them that."

"But you care," I whispered. "You care so much that you have to lock your heart away or it would shatter."

Her expression turned cold, a mask set over an elegant face. "I am the reincarnation of Queen Maeve," she answered, scornful. "I am Winter. I am the cold and death personified. I am Queen of Air and Darkness, monarch of the vicious spirits and the cold and dark. I embody a power that mortals cannot comprehend, and will never comprehend."

"Michiru... you took her in," I went on. "You gave me a family, Setsu-chan. Before this was thrust on me... I have a family. I _still_ have a family, a huge family named the Arcadia Movement. The Madame would have taught me a lot of things, but I don't know if she could have taught me empathy. Because of you, I'm not alone."

Absently, I patted her hand. The skin was cool and soft, like fresh-fallen snow. "You are the older sister I would have had, but never had."

Setsu-chan did not answer for a few moments. Then...

"Mizore Setsuna is a human identity that I have created, that I share with another of my Court," she said. "Last night, I was Mizore Setsuna. You looked good in the yellow."

"Thank you. Who is Mizore Setsuna right now?"

"Michiru is. Who else has black hair? The eyes are... a special trick." She paused. "No matter what happens... no matter what you must do... you are Kannazuki Seika. Please remember that."

"You know, I think Rafael-jiisan once mentioned something about you," I burst out as Setsu-chan rose from her seat.

She inclined her head, pausing.

"He said that your name was very suitable." I considered. "Beautiful and cold. But fragile. His little flower."

"...happy birthday, Seika." she answered after a long pause.

As she disappeared in a single step, I just smiled and continued to cheer James-san on with the orange flag she had left behind. That was my eighteenth birthday present.

* * *

Before I left the ground, I had my handy Infernity Beast, named Killer in a spot of nostalgia and _sake_-induced headache, run as spotter and ground searcher. Killer set off in a loping run as Youkai helped me take to the skies of KaibaLand. I sat awkwardly by him, trying not to let my discomfort show or let Youkai anywhere near the pocket currently holding the Galaxy-Eyes. Like the Unravelling, it was a thing with its own power, power that shone like a star. Of course, it was a power levels lower than what I saw with the Table before, the powers behind Summer and Winter, but power was power, no matter what. A worthy contractor was pretty hard to find, apparently.

Or the dragon was picky. Either one.

We had finished the west side of KaibaLand when the blimps' signal of the live telecast suddenly changed volume.

"Ryo-nii!" Youkai half-shouted as he glanced to see the hold-up. Both finalists, Jimmy and Ryokai, looked stunned; they hadn't expected Madas to appear there either.

From my pocket, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon's vessel trembled. Whether in anticipation or panic, I hardly knew, but right now Madas had pointed out Satsuki's presence in front of televised view.

"_So, if rogue Psychics can participate as well, why not me?_" Madas was saying. "_I want a rematch!_"

"_You lost, Mr Elvin,_" the MC called. "_Security, please escort him to the room._"

"_Don't touch me!_" Madas snapped as several men in dark suits tried to grab at him. "_I want a rematch, Cook!_"

"_I'm a bit busy here, mate!_" Jimmy snapped back, his hands twitching dangerously close to his DuelDisk.

Daigusto Gulldos swerved, changing direction as we headed back to the main stands of the Grand Amphitheatre.

"_Face it, you won by a fluke against Galaxy-Eyes,_" Madas was saying as we passed another blimp. "_You haven't even seen my true power yet._"

"_You call a rush from Giganoto a fluke?_"

"_Duel me!_"

"_What a fig-jam_._ Well, let's flick it then._"

We landed on the stadium grounds at the same moment, rushing towards the place. Right in the middle of the stands, there was the stage, Jimmy and Ryokai standing on it. To their right was Satsuki, and to their left with his back to us was the cause of all this, Madas Elvin.

"Wait," Ryokai stood up. "I think we're getting off on the wrong foot. Since this is a Duel tournament, then shouldn't I have a say in this?"

"What do you recommend, Misawa-san?" Jimmy asked wryly.

"Let me take this," Ryokai proposed. "I guarantee you that I will finish this quickly."

"Against me?" Madas laughed as he unlocked his DuelDisk. "Let's go!"

"What's with him?" Youkai asked me.

"Whatever Shimotsuki did, it broke the contract between Madas and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon," I answered. "The dragon might not really understand the subtleties of humans or anything like it, but it understands living. And to live in this world, it needs a contract. Whether it's by killing everything around until it's defeated by a worthy Duelist or by finding a competent Duelist here is the same outcome to it."

Youkai paused. "So... we're rushing to get this back to Madas, because otherwise the dragon goes ballistic."

"At this point? We could foist it off to any worthy Duelist and it would be happy," I answered. "Well, frankly, not you or me. My Dark Attribute is too strong for a Light Attribute monster, and Light requires a certain weight that Wind can't stand."

"Duel!" both of them shouted.

Madas: LP 8000

Ryokai: LP 8000

"I'll go first, draw!" Madas called. "I play the Spell Photon Lead, allowing me to special summon from my hand a level four or lower Light Attribute monster such as Daybreaker [1700/0]! When Daybreaker is special summoned, I can special summon another Daybreaker from my hand, and by the effect of the second Daybreaker I special summon the last Daybreaker! I construct the overlay network with these two monsters, Exceed summon! Number 10: Illumiknight!"

With the whinny of a horse, a literal knight in shining armour on a white horse appeared [2400/2400].

"A knight in shining armour... that's pretty ironic," Ryokai commented.

"I use the effect of Illumiknight and detach one material before sending a card from my hand to the graveyard and drawing a card," Madas called. "Turn end."

"What little preparation," Ryokai murmured. "Children shouldn't play adults' games, boy."

"Spare me the innuendo and finish this so I can finish you," Madas snapped.

"I draw. Because you control a monster and I control none, I special summon from my hand Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit [2100/1400] from my hand," Ryokai announced as a magnificent golden dragon appeared. "Now I tribute Tefnuit to special summon Hieratic Dragon of Su [2200/1000], and with the effect of Tefnuit that triggers when tributed, I special summon one Dragon-Type normal monster from my hand, deck or graveyard. I choose Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord [0/0]."

All of us stared as the giant gold ball of a monster appeared.

"Now, I tribute Su to special summon from my hand Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet [2000/1600]," he announced fiercely as another dragon, this one purple, took the place of the second dragon. "I use the effect of Su to special summon another Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord from my deck. Now I tribute Nebthet, and special summon my last Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord, for Hieratic Dragon of Eset [1900/1200]!"

Another gold-armoured dragon appeared, this one purple as well, at the same time as the last sphere.

"I use the effect of Eset to target Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord, making Eset level eight! Overlay, level eight Eset and one Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord to Exceed Summon! Descend, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!"

With a roar, the magnificently large red and gold dragon appeared on the field [3000/2400].

"Now, I overlay the two Seals left! Come, Thunder End Dragon!"

Electricity sparked over the field with the entrance of the dragon [3000/2000].

"With that, I activate the effect of Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis, detaching an Exceed material from it and tributing the Hieratic Dragon of Sutekh in my hand to destroy your monster." Ryokai showed no outward change at the knight was destroyed. "Ah, so the knight falls to the dragon. I activate the Spell, Oni-Gami Combo. My dragons... finish him."

Madas: LP 8000 → LP 0

Ryokai: LP 8000

"One-Turn Kill..." I gaped.

"Well... I may have forgotten that Ryo-nii could do that," Youkai swallowed.

"Ridiculous," Ryokai pronounced as Madas fell to his knees in defeat. "How does someone without emotional maturity actually use Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon?"

"It doesn't matter." Madas insisted. "Power is meant to free us. The one who has power is free."

"Wrong," Ryokai retorted. "The price of greatness is responsibility. If the greats are irresponsible, then what is the point of having power? Power has its own purpose, and great power bears great duty. The reason you lost today, and the reason why you would still lose, was because you thought that you could wield power without obligation."

"Dammit," I whispered as I felt the back of my neck tingle. There was an ear-splitting roar, and the card floated out of my pocket. There were quite a few screams as Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon reappeared.

"_I- It's the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!_" the MC roared.

"You're here!" Madas shouted in a half-elated voice. "Well, better late than never. Come on, Galaxy-Eyes."

The dragon stilled, before indicating to me, communicating by a series of minute gestures and growls its language. I don't mean that it spoke to me, rather... it indicated. "It... thinks that his words bear thinking about?" I echoed numbly.

_With great power... comes great responsibility..._?Rei's voice echoed in my head as the Galaxy-Eyes turned its maw slowly around, towards Ryokai.

"What?" Ryokai blinked in disbelief.

"Galaxy-Eyes, please!" Madas shouted. "Don't you remember the Duels we won? Don't you remember how you came to me?"

The dragon growled, before its head inclined towards Ryokai. A gesture... of respect.

"Galaxy-Eyes!" Madas shouted, his voice louder. There was a tense silence that followed.

"Get out," Ryokai snapped, his voice strident. "Whether dragon or human, someone who doesn't know the extent of their power is merely deluding themselves."

The dragon of the galaxy growled, its wings shaking as its tail raised and came crashing down, causing a few tremors in the wake of its eventual disappearance. Then a group of people in dark suits hauled him off of the stage, exit stage left.

Elegantly, Ryokai raised a hand to Jimmy. "Shall we begin our match, then?"

His showmanship was top-class; the crowd roared its approval as the match began.

"Duel!"

Jimmy: LP 8000

Ryokai: LP 8000

"I'll begin with Gilasaurus [1400/400] to the field," Jimmy called as the dinosaur appeared. "Usually, its cost would allow you to revive a monster, but you have none, so let's skip that. I activate the Spell card, Big Evolution Pill!"

"A Spell that lets you summon high-level dinosaurs without tribute..." Ryokai considered.

"Come, Jurrac Titano [3000/2800]!" Jimmy mused as the hulking monster appeared, breathing fire.

"T- three thousand...?" I was definitely intimidating.

"I'll set two cards, turn end." Jimmy called.

"I draw," Ryokai nodded. "I'll play Trade-In to discard Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord and draw two cards. Now, I summon Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb [1800/400], and then I tribute him to special summon Hieratic Dragon of Su [2200/1000] from my hand, therefore special summoning Wattaildragon [2500/1000 → 0/0] from my deck with its attack and defence power reduced to zero. I..."

Here Ryokai froze. "I construct the..."

"What's wrong?" I considered.

"Ryo-nii..." Youkai murmured as we linked hands. I gaped. Ryokai was struggling with an aura of pure white, the destructively sterile radiance of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Maybe it was a throwback to Dragon Ball Z or something, but he looked ill to my Sight.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Ryokai called, pointing to Su and one Wattaildragon. "Exceed summon! Come, Sword Breaker [2700/1000]!"

The armoured warrior had a lot of weapons with him; it wouldn't be bad to call it a walking armoury.

"Sword Breaker... so, you'll use its ability to become an automatic killer or dinosaurs?" Jimmy asked without preamble. "You've already included type-specific cards, heh..."

"Sadly, yes," Ryokai reasoned. "So... I use Forbidden Chalice on Atum [2400/2100 → 2800/2100] to free him for the turn. Sword Breaker, attack Jurrac Titano!"

Jimmy smirked. "Trap card... Jurrac Impact."

"...oh damn," Ryokai turned pale as he looked up to see the meteor hurtling through space to crash onto the field. When the smoke cleared, there was only Jurrac Titano left standing [3000/2800 → 2400/2800].

"Forbidden Dress is so effective," Jimmy mockingly commented as he indicated the shimmering curtain around Titano.

"You, in a dress? No way," Ryokai retaliated. "No way. I set two cards, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Jimmy called as the attack power of Jurrac Titano went back to normal. "I summon Jurrac Guaiba [1700/400] to the field. Ah... Titano, attack him directly!"

"Trap card, Sakuretsu Armour!" Ryokai called.

"Sorry, but Titano ain't affected by Traps or monster effects, mate!" Jimmy called as Titano rushed past the set of reactive armour and chewed on Ryokai.

Ryokai: LP 8000 → LP 5000

Jimmy: LP 8000

"Now, Guaiba, attack directly!" Jimmy called as the flaming dinosaur charged forth.

Ryokai: LP 5000 → LP 3300

Jimmy: LP 8000

"That's a pretty good strategy," I considered. "Nuking the field must have been pretty standard for him."

"I think that Jurrac Titano once had Boss on the ropes," Youkai pointed out. "It's actually the first time I've seen Ryo-nii on the ropes too. So this is the power of a field-nuke..."

"Huh..." I considered. "So it's a glorified atomic bomb."

"Chase," Youkai looked serious. "There's a reason why we keep an eye on such people. That's because they're a literal walking arsenal. James Crocodile Cook II is pretty dangerous as head of the Oceanic Arcadia Movement as well."

I thought to the smiling, gentlemanly idiot who had somehow fallen for Shimotsuki and was still the one to have called her 'Honey' in public and lived. "That bad?"

"Rumour says that he was nearly certifiable when Mr Cook finally contacted the Oceanic Movement," Youkai said. "Lonely kid hanging around the Ayers Rock, not fun even after he joined their first-response team. He actually stuck to Boss for some reason when they met, and when she told him exactly why she couldn't date a weak man, they say that he went through the training from hell across the entire Oceanic region just to get the right to date her. He's _that_ motivated, and single-minded in his devotion... which is kinda hot."

"You too?" I hissed in horror.

Youkai blinked. "Think about it. When you've got someone that single-mindedly devoted to everything about you, giving unquestioning love and what could be their literal everything, even the worst of hell would be a blessing. And if someone that devoted is rejected like what Boss did..."

I nodded, realising the dangers. Love can make people irrational and do stupid things. Love was also a powerful motivator. Something like even one-sided love... can be very terrifying.

I saw Jimmy's eyes scan the crowd, and his expression was one of quiet disappointment.

"I'll play the Spell, Swords of Revealing Light, and end my turn." Ryokai called.

Jimmy was about to draw as he looked up, and...

I quickly followed his line of sight to see her hiding by the backstage doors. No one saw her, so absorbed in the Duel were they. Her arms were crossed, and she bore a lazy smile as she raised two fingers to her lips... and blew.

Very slowly, very subtly, Jimmy smiled, and it was the kind of thing just begging for that violin aria with transcendent orchestral background and soulful choir. "I... draw! For the sake of my goddess of victory... bring the storm, Mystical Space Typhoon!"

So the Swords shattered, and Jimmy called for a charge, leading his monsters to victory all with a smile on his face.

Ryokai: LP 3300 → LP 0

Jimmy: LP 8000

"_The winner of the KC Grand Prix is... Jimmy Cook!_" the MC roared to cheers in the crowd.

He did not stay. He did not remain. Rather, Jimmy charged off of the stage at the first opportunity to run to her... and she raised a hand in greeting. Even far away, there was something oddly fragile about the Winter Queen as they shared a hug.

_Love... they are in love? _Rei asked.

"Yeah," I breathed. For all the terror she inspired, for all the aloofness that accompanied Jimmy, there was never any doubt that they were in love.

I stood there with Youkai for a long moment, watching what could be the closest thing to tragic love I had ever seen. Maybe I cried. Maybe I didn't. But at least Youkai was with me when we saw their love that was never destined to bloom or exist, against all odds.

"_Congratulations, James Cook,_"Kisara announced solemnly from the stands. "_You have won a card that has been with the Kaiba family for a short, but tumultuous time. You have won our grand prize... the Chaos Emperor Dragon._"

Mass chaos reigned, even as I saw them still, and when they broke apart, it remained on Jimmy's face for only a split second, but was enough to make an impact.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	52. XLIX: Cold Feet

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**XLIX: Cold Feet**

I have never really understood one of Chase-nii's expressions. For one thing, 'face-palming' or 'head-desk' was an act prone to self-injury and hardly befitting the dignity expected of the head of the Arcadia Movement. It took Nakamura-san throwing our fifth 'investor' of the next day for me to understand why sometimes Americans had the desire to inflict injury upon themselves; that is, to prevent themselves from hurting the other man.

"Chaos Emperor Dragon is an extremely rare card..." Nakamura-san murmured. "I would not have expected a cad to attract so much attention."

By the side, Kaido snorted. "It's a bloody status symbol, that's what it is. Kisara Kaiba might as well have painted a bloody target on us to be shot."

"What about the talks with West Academia?" I asked Kaido. On my first day, I had addressed him as 'Ariyashi-san' which had merited a long spiel that I never wanted to endure ever again. I might be the true head of the Arcadia Movement, but Kaido was the one who managed most things that I did not have the presence of mind to.

"...I'm wondering about the anti-gun syllabus," Kaido answered after a brief moment of internal debate. "In Japan, gun control is pretty stringent, so we don't usually see firearms on the scene. But the gun control laws in the United States are much more lax and so guns are a common sight there. So there's a debate between an arrangement of the New York and Louisiana Movements directly teaching an approved syllabus, or we teach them here before we refer them to the North American Movements. The first one would be preferred, but somehow the Armed Forces managed to cheese off both Larson and Sirocco, so there's no way we can ask the heads of the New York and Louisiana Movements that. The next closest Movement headquarters is the Peruvian and Brazilian _El Movimiento Arcadia_ and the European Movement, which also has gun control issues or a lack thereof. The Movements in Tel Aviv and Jordan and the UAE has controlled security, which defeats the point, and the Russian, Indian, Chinese and Southeast Asian Movements are all cheesed off by military action against their members. I've asked Jimmy before he flew back down under, and there's no way to convince either the Oceanic or Polynesian Movements to contribute. Not without giving them concession at the next great teleconference to keep their favour, anyway."

I swallowed. So many Movements, and those were just the main branches in a specific continent or part thereof. I had never known the creation of new training regimes to involve so many. "I've met Larson-san and Aquila-san before, and I know James-san, but I don't know any other heads of the Arcadia Movements worldwide. As the head of the flagship Movement, shouldn't I at least be able to recognise my fellows?"

"Oh, the Madame Shimotsuki realised that she would not be able to manage all the Movements." Nakamura-san answered. "Instead, she laid out a few core principles, set a select few to work according to the needs of each region, and act accordingly. Therefore each Movement acts autonomously even though they are all capable of taking direction from the Central Movement, so the leaders of the Movement can change. It's fair to say that Missy allowed the Movements free reign as long as problems were solved and the moral principles that govern our purpose is adhered to, in exchange of funding and liquidity streamlining."

"We should hold a meeting face to face." I nodded. "And where is James-san?"

"I shall take note of that," Nakamura-san diligently replied. "Meanwhile, the issue at hand. Clearly, no other Movement wants to be the one that taught others how to defeat entire Movements. None of them want to be the one to arm the enemy. My view is that we must train a small, select and discreet squad first, if necessary, before opening the floor to international debate."

"Small-scale testing," Kaido agreed. "Although there would be differences, there are things that cross all lines of culture and traditions, and that is proven fact. Even if the Movements worldwide do not wish to implement such a model, the Central Movement could reap a small profit and still manage cordial, if not active relations with one of the world's largest paramilitaries. Still... with our latest... acquisition, it might be difficult."

I glumly agreed as I tried not to look towards the safe hidden under the large official desk as Nakamura-san left the office to collect more documents. "There are a lot of people after it."

"Right smart of Cook, leaving it here," Kaido wryly remarked. "Less trouble to bring back down under. I'd bet that MacKinnon would have a fit over the investors coming to pester _them_."

I sullenly nodded at the memory of the most immediate subordinate under James-san back at the Oceanic Movement. Even a teleconference with him was hardly enough to settle the mess that resulted.

"Why did KaibaCorp offer this as a prize?" Kaido continued. "We can't use it in a tournament, and it's potentially lethal _anywhere_."

"I... I don't know." I murmured. I privately agreed with Kaido's assessment of James-san locking it with the Central Movement. Yet, none of that really mattered. I had just been handed what amounted to a weapon of mass destruction and potential havoc. To the various powers that governed life in the Movement, it would hardly matter that I would never use it. All that would matter was that I _had _it to use, and by extension the Movement had what amounted to a reusable nuclear bomb. I did not even want to know what the enemies of the Movement would think, not that they knew that the Central Movement had been given the card. Not to mention, what the more active Psychics might think of Chaos Emperor would be an incredible asset in any struggle against any Movement.

I wanted to call James-san, but I didn't dare to. Not because of him, but because I didn't want to seem weak. I didn't want to pester him about this so fast after our last meeting.

Nakamura-san opened the door. "Specialist Archibald O'Brien has returned to see you, Seika-ojou."

I had to stand up and stare as Archibald-san walked in, along with about twenty or so Blue Berets.

Nakamura-san's hand was lingering very close to his DuelDisk, and even Kaido looked spooked. This was bad; Nakamura-san would have been able to take them all on as a Class IV Psychic with combat specialisation, but added with Kaido they might destroy the office and the Berets.

"Kannazuki-san," Archibald-san respectfully bowed his head. His arm was still in a sling. "We're here for the news of our proposal."

James-san took my arm and dragged me to one side. "Explain," he murmured.

I did. James-san looked more mollified, but hardly amused.

"This is dangerous, Seika." He frowned. "Small-scale. Give them an idea of training, maybe introduce them to the Knights. If the majority of them are spooked, O'Brien will be forced to abandon the idea."

"I thought so as well, but... I want this to succeed," I whispered. James-san nodded, as he left me to ask Nakamura-san about borrowing a car. Apparently Cook the senior was visiting.

I blinked as Archibald-san stepped aside and Rafael-san stepped forward as well, holding up a briefcase. "Here are the legal papers, and a permit for the use of the base in Okinawa if necessary."

"Well, the Camps have already passed..." Kaido murmured quietly. "And urban redevelopment was taking place in Satisfaction Town as well..."

"There's that place you call the Danger Room, right?" I asked.

"Captain Kaname is giving a demonstration to the Knights of Arcadia there," Kaido pointed out. "It involves guns, and aside from me she's the only officer NDPD could spare."

"Right now we are in the midst of settling what kind of curriculum could be used for West Academia," Nakamura-san wisely pointed out. "Would it not be best for us to show these fine gentlemen how we train our own?"

Kaido eyed Nakamura-san. "This is payback for ruining the schedule, right?"

Nakamura-san stoically stared back.

I looked from them to the Berets. Several of them were staring at me, their curiosity undisguised but too disciplined to ask why their clear leaders were deferential to me.

"Do any of you know what you are here for?" I asked a random Beret.

"No, Miss," he answered. "They just said that we needed special training to handle psychics after the fiasco with Duelist Kingdom and being upstaged by the Arcadia Movement. They didn't mention that we had to report to children."

I clicked my tongue. Apparently, it was the wrong signal, for a fireball just barely managed to avoid singeing off the Beret's face. The soldier paled quickly as many hushed murmurs erupted amongst the trained Duelists and soldiers.

Another fireball, violet, erupted in Kaido's hand. "So, Boss, which one to main horrendously?"

Archibald-san and Rafael-san held themselves firmly, both clearly attempting not to bolt at the first opportunity. "Can you do that?" Archibald-san whispered, before he winced, faintly touching his back.

"Under the Arcadia Rights Bill, we could probably class you as a potentially hostile entity sent to promote undesirably violent intentions within the Movement," Kaido rattled off, the violet fire still in hand. "Of course, usually we use that one for rogue psychics, but NDPD usually lets us police ourselves with that one, so... yes, within limits. After all, in keeping with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration, principles eight and nine that the child is accorded the right to be among the first to receive relief in all circumstances and the right to protection against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. Since Boss is a minor and there are minors in this building, and you have... twenty-one or so men who are no doubt armed in some fashion, we could make something about defending the children living in this building. Of course, and you just offended the boss."

I frowned, turning towards Nakamura-san.

"Signal conditioning," Nakamura-san assured. "It's instinct."

"Well..." I turned back to Archibald-san. "S- Shall we proceed, then? You could... see a real exhibition of how we teach... our own members f- first."

"That's... great," Archibald-san spoke with a lot of forced enthusiasm. "You don't have to show us personally, really. We appreciate the trust you're giving us with this."

"Kaido, please scan through the documents for evaluation with our legal department. Try to contract Hibiki-san on this," I asked as Rafael-san gave him the briefcase and Kaido blew out the fire in his palm. "Nakamura-san, please come with me."

"Why?" Archibald-san asked. "Do you need a bodyguard because you don't have powers?"

He was subjected to the full force of Nakamura-san's glower amidst more hushed whispers as I considered. "I'm not tall enough to man the holodeck."

"I didn't know that you were a Trekkie," Archibald-san remarked once he saw the holodeck, now much calmer. "I mean, what the Movement does borders on magic."

"Although it's arguable that much of the technology on the _Enterprise_ is actually wish fulfilment on a par with the use of magic," Kaido mentioned thoughtfully. "There's really a remarkable amount of crossover between science fiction and traditional fantasy tropes when you examine them closely."

"Why am I not surprised," I faintly replied as Nakamura-san led us to escape from Kaido's lecture on trivia. Rafael-san shot him a completely baffled look as we, and twenty more Blue Berets, left for the Danger Room.

It was, again, a popular name – that may or may not involve Chase-nii – for the underground arena built with sensors by which we evaluate each Psychic Duelist in combat. The effectiveness of the room was questionable, giving only a rough overall analysis as opposed to a detailed analysis gotten from electrotherapy, but it assured that we did not strap our members to a chair and constantly shock them. It was possible for training to result in a higher score, giving credence to the adage that potential – and creative use – was decided by hard work and determination, not by machines.

"Does it even work?" Archibald-san asked me as we walked in to see Yuuko-chan and a group of the Knights of Arcadia there, Yamada-san at its head. Youkai was perched up above with the entirety of Team Black Knights in deep discussion by a table. It would have been innocent, were the table not scored with a multitude of burn marks.

"Now, I didn't bring live ammunition with me today, so we're going to just go through the usual procedures in the case of live firearms now that you know the usual weapons publicly available," Yuuko-chan was saying as we stood behind the class. "The first step is always to disarm first. What's one way?"

"Use a Mirror Force?" one of the psychics asked to great cheer.

"A Mirror Force would kill them, as the Tel Aviv case proved," Yuuko-chan frowned. "Yamada-kun, back me up here."

"The Trap card, Disarmament, would destroy all Equip cards, which by a radical definition could include firearms," Yamada-san spoke up. "I suppose dropping a Heavy Storm could work as well, but the risk of ricochet would increase significantly. Mirror Force, as pointed out, is a viable defence in an offensive context. And if necessary, we could use Eternal Rest or Really Eternal Rest. Yes, it would be fatal, but it's them, not us, Captain."

"Thank you, Yamada-kun," Yuuko-chan murmured. "I see we have a few guests."

"These are Blue Berets from West Academia," I answered. "East Academia apparently wasn't keen on working with them. Yuuko-chan, they're here to have a look, since we're thinking of setting up a curriculum for them to handle threats outside the ordinary."

Quite a few of the Knights bristled. I knew for sure that Yamada-san might really hate me now. And yet, Yamada-san was giving them a speculative look. "Specialist O'Brien. I remember you."

"I'm glad that I merited remembering." Archibald-san neutrally replied.

"Maybe not in so many words," Yamada-san replied.

I had noticed that Yamada-san seemed to have developed tics from Setsu-chan. For anyone else, the quaint behavioural characteristics were just that; behavioural characteristics. For people who were close, or had been close, they were clues to the minds of these mysterious beings that could shift from the utmost violence to the most sophisticated debates within seconds. "Your companion, though, I have noted as of Misgarthian descent."

Rafael-san frowned. "I belong to the royal household of Misgarth, yes."

Yamada-san just shook his head. "She has taught me about every operation the Movement had ever done, including war actions. Shimotsuki Setsuka was very thorough. She does not forget."

"I see. Apparently there is nothing we need discuss. So you have me there, and yet I do not know you." Rafael-san submitted.

"Yamada Yukio, the leader of the Knights of Arcadia group," Yamada-san looked conflicted as he revealed his background. "And the sole apprentice of Shimotsuki Setsuka."

"Shimotsuki Setsuka." Rafael-san's lips thinned. "Do you know of a woman named Mizore Setsuna, then? I have a mind that she is connected somewhat to Shimotsuki Setsuka."

Yamada-san did not dignify that with an answer.

I felt conflicted. If Yamada-san knew who was Mizore Setsuna, then who was Rafael-san in love with, Michiru or Setsu-chan? Mizore-san used an ice-themed deck as well... I should have asked Orion-san, but it would have required an explanation.

Archibald-san held Rafael-san back in the ensuing silence. "Not now," he hissed to the blond Duelist. "They're baiting you, Rafe."

"Setsuna," Rafael-san whispered, and he sounded broken. "It's her, Archie. It's her."

Yamada-san turned to study the other Berets, as did the other Knights of Arcadia present. I suddenly had the feeling that they were of a mind to throw all the Berets out.

"Small-scale testing," I told Yamada-san. "As a gesture of faith."

"Seika-chan!" Yuuko-chan hugged me.

"Hello, Yuuko-chan," I answered. "Did you have fun?"

"It's the work I'm restricted to after the dead girl," Yuuko-chan confessed. "I think they're right, though. So, these men are training together with the Knights? Are you sure? I don't think Yamada-kun would like it."

"We... must make an effort to reach out," I answered loudly. "West Academia came to us with the offer. It is a good idea. If nothing else, our workload in North America would be much decreased once I have convinced Larson-san and Aquila-san. Is it not our ultimate wish to walk into the light?"

Yamada-san met my stare for what felt like a geological epoch, but slowly nodded. He might not like me, but I could trust him to do the correct thing. "Firearms training."

"Erm... ma'am?" another of the unrecognised Berets asked me. "We're pretty clear on firearms training."

"Wrong," Yamada-san intervened for my sake. "You're familiar with firearms training around civilians. You haven't found one for Psychic Duelists. What's more, the head is not combat proficient. You will take your questions to me, or one of the other Knights of Arcadia present."

He held up a card, and another Beret jerked as the man was shakily hauled by himself to the front of the panicked-looking group, and his eyes were wide with fear. The entire lesson had now been overtaken by Yamada-san, and Yamada-san was putting the fear of himself in them.

"Mind Control," Yamada-san held up the card. "Don't even get me started on the effectiveness of a Change of Heart. So, tell me honestly, gentlemen, what are your intentions towards the Arcadia Movement?"

"We're here... to learn how to handle the likes of Shimotsuki Setsuka," Archibald-san ground out. "We're here to learn how to handle rogue Psychics. How to subdue them, how to fight them in combat."

"Again, wrong," Yamada-san replied, leaning forward such that he almost stared eye to eye at Archibald-san. "You are to learn how to be prepared to kill. In a Psychic Duel, you are going to be fighting an opponent who can damage you with every attack, every damage, who can change the landscape and possibly bring the building crashing down around your pretty little ears. It will eat away at your willpower, it will consume your stamina, and then, if the Psychic is particularly sadistic, they will leave you alive and hurting to see it coming. You are not going to hold the advantage of another Psychic, of having your own powers. You are going to be facing that kind of opponent with only the cards in your deck and your own willpower and desire to defeat your opponent."

He glared at a few more Berets, who wisely backed away. "In short, gentlemen, if you wish it, we will train you. However, you must be prepared to lay down your lives if necessary."

* * *

Several hours before, Team Black Knights had gathered for a difficult case. Which was code of the Movement for special cases. Again.

"What's with the crappy background behind all of them?" I complained through the phone to Kaido for relevant details. "Do all Psychics have it this bad?"

"_More or less,_" Kaido flippantly answered through the communicator. "_I suppose that the idea of keeping the main character isolated from an extended family unit tends to increase the ratio of possible danger from outside forces as there would be less of a support system to fall back on and use as a means of fending off an __antagonist outside of extraordinary means. Although that doesn't explain our anomaly of a Boss._"

"This looks... bad," Ryuusei frowned at the entry, and then at the letter box beside me. "Well, are you sure this is the place?"

"Yes," Rex nodded. "I had the boys run it down."

"Your delegation skill is still top-notch, I see," Ryuusei took a deep breath as Kaido knocked on the door.

It opened, and a dirty-looking man peered out. "I'm not buying."

"We're representing the Arcadia-" I ducked, resulting in Rex nearly being brained by the waiting _bokken_.

"Freaks!" the man hissed.

Ryuusei drew a card and blasted him, and the door, and the frame. The splinters shattering and burnt hair wasn't enough to hide the coppery stench of blood.

Rex swallowed, only briefly, before he gently cradled the little girl we were looking for and took her out of the house.

"_Miss Trent has been rescued, I see,_" Kaido whispered.

"This- This is breaking and entering!" the man sputtered.

"We have a warrant, Mr Beckman," Ryuusei flippantly answered as I looked around briefly, using a small camera to note the bloodstains. How much blood had been shed here?

A brief voice rang out. "Girl? Where are you, you monster?" The woman of the house walked out of the kitchen and stared at the sight of the both of us.

"Verbal abuse, physical abuse... we will see you in court for the abuse of Miss Trent, then," Ryuusei's voice hardened. "Chase, let's go."

"Get out, and never bring back that monster that won't die, faggots!" the man, Beckman, spat as we walked out.

Ryuusei's brow furrowed. I saw him do a gesture over the threshold of the house, like marking a cross on it before leaving. A frisson ran down my spine; Rei was feeling frisky or nervous, and I doubted that the giant lizard could have a sex drive.

_Such a delightful revenge..._

I shivered and tried not to think about it.

The trip back was only marginally improved as we were walking out of the apartment building. "Chase Princeton?"

I saw a familiar looking man walk out of one of the apartments, quickly locking up. "Do I know you?"

"You know each other?" Ryuusei asked me.

"Kit Sakumo," he answered. "We Dueled at Duelist Kingdom, remember? And then you guys pulled me out of the dungeon at the castle."

"Yeah," I shook my head. "Sorry, I temporarily didn't recognise you. It takes a while to get over visiting abuse cases."

Kit swallowed. "Are you a social worker?"

"Close, but not quite. Arcadia Movement," I answered tiredly. "What is with the system in this city?"

"Yeah, it's bad," Kit agreed, looking back. "So, they were members?"

"The girl is. The guardians, we're suing them." I shook my head tiredly. "The Knights are going to have a field day with this."

"That would be an understatement," Ryuusei dryly replied. "Assuming that they manage to get to court."

"I... see," Kit swallowed. He looked discomfited, and I didn't blame him. I got nightmares myself the last time I had to chase a literal bogeyman away from a young Psychic with the spirit-Sight. "So... what happens to the girl?"

"She's going to remain with the Movement for a very long time," Ryuusei answered. "That's the general policy for Psychics too young to live alone. It gets bad when we have to separate family, but... someone has to do it. And I think anywhere would be better than here."

Kit turned pale. "I- I see. Well... it's sad."

I frowned. Knowing that the neighbours were abusive bastards should have gotten a larger rise out of people. I mean, the default reaction seemed to be outrage, whispers and denial, but Kit... Kit didn't give the usual cues. His reaction was apathetic, to say the least.

"Ah, I have an appointment now." Kit hedged.

I frowned, but nodded as Kit left. "There's something I don't get..."

"About Kit?" Ryuusei asked me.

"About the system," I realised. "Why is there such a high proportion of... such cases in Neo Domino itself?"

"_Good call,_" Kaido's voice said in my ear through the earpiece. "_The Knights have been run ragged trying to keep a lid on these cases as well, but we can't request that every orphan is sent to the Movement. What we do know is that for every Psychic Duelist still in the system and not placed within the Arcadia Movement itself, there's been a rash of irresponsible guardians popping up over the past two and a half years._"

"Two and a half years... that's around when Shimotsuki left office," Ryuusei said as Rex walked to us.

"She's with the paramedics," Rex shortly answered as we got on our D-Wheels and peeled out onto the road.

"So there's an entire child welfare system out to systematically abuse all Psychic Duelists?" I considered.

"_Might not be so crass,_" Kaido said over the Multi-Voice System. "_But it has merit that we can't discount it out of hand. Ryuusei is right; the disappearance of two Class V Psychics might be a factor in such an attack against the Arcadia Movement._"

"How do you measure the Class system?" Rex groused as we turned a corner.

"_Untrained Psychics are Class I and II. Both are pretty much the same, except that Class II may have an instinctive specialisation in one or more areas of Psychic Duels,_" Kaido supplied. "_Trained Psychics occupy the top three classes. Class III is one or more specialisations having a class of three or higher, or even raw untrained talent and power depending on overall score on the Schroedinger Quotient. Yamada Yuuki and myself are Class III, although technically I would be classed as Class IV as well due to my psychometry and knowledge lending me an advantage. Class IV are Duelists with a more rounded score on the Schroedinger Quotient, which include Psychic Duelists like Youkai, Nakamura-san and the late Divine._"

"And Class V?" Rex asked.

"Class V are the most dangerous," Ryuusei answered him. "Class IV Duelists can have either great control but less power, or a lot of power but a lack of control. Class V is what happens when both power and control are completely mastered, and amplified to a point where the Psychic can bend reality to their whim and will with their cards. That's why in the Arcadia Movement, they can also be referred to as Field-Nukes because one of them is enough to potentially destroy a whole city."

"_Of course, the Schroedinger Quotient allows for an overlap between the five classes, and there's no point in using a system to measure relative power, so the results are usually taken just as an indicator rather than any important yardstick,_" Kaido took up. "_The Field-Nuke thing happened only because the Madame and Izayoi-sensei did a demonstration of the effects of Black Rose Dragon on any city. There are only three Class V Duelists in the Movement without the use of amplifiers or anything like that, and only two are publicly known._"

Three? If the two publicly-known included Shimotsuki and Ryuusei... then who was the third?

All three of us swung out, parking quickly in the parking lot beside the Castle, or better known as the headquarters of the Arcadia Movement. The outside had not changed much after reparations from the mess in May with the Despair of the Dark and a few more monsters. It was still craggy and seemingly solid, a testament to the security and sanctuary the Movement offered. The only other place that could be marginally safer in the spiritual plane was at the Rex Goodwin Cemetery, only recently due to its new occupant. Even Youkai was hard-pressed to argue with a level six Fiend that did nothing but sleep and guard the realm of the dead.

As we approached, I thought I saw one of the black plates fall and shatter on the ground. The impact of the omen at hand gave me the chills.

_That these mortals are so cruel to each other... _Rei reflected. _Is it perhaps contagious?_

"It's... not a disease," I muttered as we arrived at the so-called Danger Room to watch Seika's old friend, Captain Kaname Yuuko, teach the Knights of Arcadia how to deal with firearms.

The Knights of Arcadia – which was sometimes incorrectly thought of as a splinter group – had been formed by the Wonder Twins upon their graduation, and was responsible for overseeing implementation of the Movement's policies at the street level. That is, they hunt down rogue Psychics, as well as help curtail the propaganda used against Psychics, not to mention promote equal education and job opportunities for Psychic Duelists. Not much ability to do violence needed and a stringent vetting process was the threshold.

Depending on your interpretation of their activities across every city with Arcadia Movement branches, they could be either the guardian angels of the Castle, or the Gestapo reinvented. They all faced a certain amount of violence that training fees and facilities were included under the discretionary funding that had kept pace – gah, I've been hanging out with Kaido too long.

Long story short: they had sneaky ways of getting paid more, and anti-firearms training was covered in that.

"Taser," Captain Kaname was saying as she waved a sheaf of paper at them like it was a weapon. "It uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles causing neuromuscular incapacitation. Someone struck by a Taser experiences stimulation of his or her sensory nerves and motor nerves, resulting in strong involuntary muscle contractions. Tasers do not rely only on pain compliance, except when used in Drive Stun mode, and are thus preferred by some law enforcement over non-Taser stun guns and other electronic control weapons. They are illegal in Japan."

"What is the law regarding self-defence in Japan? What if someone hits you, what can you do in Japan, legally?" one of them asked.

"Nothing." the Captain answered. "Really. Japanese law does not have self-defence as a 'right' — it's only a mitigating option. If you attempt to defend yourself, you might be charged with assault. You are supposed to run away from an assault or lay on the ground and pee in your pants crying. In Japan, self-defence is not a right—it's a rare possible privilege. Whether you get get charged with assault is up to determination of the police and on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, according to the Arcadia Rights Bill as well, any Psychic performing citizen's arrest is mostly limited to Trapping cards like Spellbinding Circle or some such that prevents attacks."

"Or Nightmare Wheel," a red-headed man I recognised as Kaenboshi Kasai spoke up.

The captain's lips pursed. "You are not allowed to inflict damage."

"The Bill covers trapping cards, which means anything that stops attacks," Yukio pointed out. "It doesn't cover any more additional effects. Basically, if the card stops attacks, we are entitled to use it."

Captain Kaname flushed, about to retort back before she thought it over. "We'll leave the arguments to later. Right now, we'll go over the weapon laws of Japan."

"Which leaves out almost all conventional weapons," Yukio answered. "Any fixed knife containing a blade length of 15cm or more requires permission from the prefectural public safety commission in order to possess. Permission requirements also apply to any type of pocket knife over 5cm, including Automatic Knives, spears over 15 cm in blade length, and Japanese halberds. All knives with a blade length over 5cm are prohibited from being carried, under a crime law, with an exception for carrying for duty or other justifiable reasons. There is a penalty of up to 2 years prison or up to a ¥300,000 yen fine. Our only available weapon is therefore our DuelDisk, martial arts and/or unconventional weapons."

Hearing Yukio's calm explanation... actually gives a whole new bent to the danger of Psychic Duelists. Without the dimension of Psychic Duelists, playing a card game just becomes another fancy sport (of sorts). Not to mention that under the Firearms (and Swords) Act, a DuelDisk was not _technically _a weapon, depending on who was holding it. Of course, the American Movements might have different methods, but then this was the Central Movement, who had policies that fitted under a completely different set of laws.

So what would otherwise be a huge time-disadvantage in North America would be a completely legal way to self-defence the enemy to death with a card game. It would be a completely legitimate – and dangerous – way for a Japanese Psychic to completely mop the floor with any idiot, and I said as much to Ryuusei.

"It can also mean something completely different with the Virus cards," Ryuusei wryly pointed out. "Tribe-Infecting Virus?"

"New age of biological warfare," Rex agreed, shuddering. I followed him as I caught onto the possibilities.

"Chase!" Youkai practically landed on me in his eager hug.

"Yo," I greeted. "Why do you feel lighter?"

Then the Blue Berets and Archie walked in, but as I was talking with Youkai, I kept frowning at Ryuusei. So was Rex, I realised. What was with him, that caused Rei to do... that?

* * *

_**Please note that what Kaido was quoting is a very radical interpretation of the principles laid down by the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child, which is listed under international law in 1990. What he's actually saying is a very flimsy excuse of self-defence at best, but they have a point in the world-view of the Movement. It's also not like they could be rationally argued with.**_

_**I notice that throughout 5Ds, the drama that are associated with Psychics tend to be familial or social in nature, but also involve a minor or someone who had recently come of age to some degree, i.e. Toby, who was in middle school or so, and Aki, who was in Duel Academia (15 to 16 years old) and Divine (20s to 30s?). Also keeping in mind that I am taking a leaf from X-Men and making Psychics seem like a repressed minority, and the Arcadia Movement function similar to Judgement in the Index franchise, the Movement's interpretation of what is already law should make sense to someone like Setsuka. Being very pragmatic, the Madame and Setsuka would of course have no problem refitting international law to better protect their charges and ensure at least a basic legal standing and legitimate means by which the Movement can settle their problems. The problem is that I always feel like head-desk when I get back to the small details of what these radical interpretations do to the function of the Movement and its relevance in the somewhat utopia-dystopia world of YGO.**_

_**Of course, then we refer to the exchange between Yuuko and Yukio in Chase's POV. In the US and to me, playing card games might be a very silly way to settle conflicts, but in Japan it MAKES SENSE. Given the restriction on weapons and the strict assault laws in Japan, using ANY form of weapon can be subject to arrest and prosecution. To a Psychic Duelist who has a subset of enemies from day one – such as anti-Psychics – having a DuelDisk might just become the only way to defend themselves. I mean, obviously assault is out, but playing a card game hurts no one (right...) and so hindsight becomes a bitch when I realise that a lot of the fights in the YGO franchise become technically legal when substituted.**_

_**I felt sorry for Vanessa Trent and the others when I was writing this, even though I based them on the X-Men. Discrimination is wrong no matter the reason, and so is abuse. Sure, you don't have to like them, but civility is something entirely possible, right? So even if we can' be nice to our fellow men, we can hopefully afford to be civil.**_

_**That being said, I find Call of Darkness more of a challenge this time. Because aside from Infernity Mirage and Boss Rush, right now what I want to do is put my babies through hell, to stretch the metaphor. In Infernity Mirage and Boss Rush everything was more sugarcoated in my view, and this is like an exercise in writing something that would lead close to tragedy. It's very exciting, since I'm a huge fan of crack and don't usually like to write downer endings where partings happen. I felt like that time this week when I watched Star Trek: Into Darkness and Kirk's phoenix metaphor. Of course, I had Slash Goggles on and so I kept interpreting it as something more, but it's still touching.  
**_

_**Please review!**_


	53. L: Battle of the Elements

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**L: Battle of the Elements**

"Mizore Setsuna?" Orion-san echoed, frowning when I asked him after the Berets, Archibald-san and Rafael-san had left with Yamada-san.

"I saw her with Rafael-san." I pressed. "Apparently, he came to Japan to look for her."

"I don't know anyone named Mizore," Orion-san confessed. "Maybe it's another dark-haired girl the Madame wanted to adopt. I know that she likes dark-haired girls like herself. How did she look like?"

"Like Setsu-chan, except... very elegant," I frowned.

"It could be my cousin in disguise, Seika," Orion-san pointed out.

"That's exactly it!" I cried out. "So are there any details, even a photograph or passport or background the Movement has on her?"

"Doesn't mean anything," Orion-san answered. "She could have made a separate identity at any time during these ten years."

I frowned, not entirely convinced, but had to concede it. True, at a glance we would have dismissed it, but with this revelation...

"She could be playing with him," I realised with horror.

"What?"

"Rafael-san loves Mizore-san. If they were the same... then, Rafael-san, he would be so heartbroken," I whispered. "Poor man..."

"She wouldn't play with him," Orion-san told me with the utmost conviction.

I burst out. "B- But, Mizore Setsuna was flirting with Rafael-san! Orion-san, you know that-"

"Not with love," Orion-san insisted. "And not with fidelity. I know that Setsuka and James Cook actually had a marriage, and whatever her faults, Setsuka would not break any fidelity. She keeps her promises, always. I have no doubt that she loves James Cook, even though _I_ can't see how she even brought herself to fall for him. I've spoken to Cook, and I doubt that what they have is fake. I believe that beyond any shadow of a doubt."

"How would you know?" I shouted. "You were missing for these ten years! You weren't around to see her become one of the most feared people in the city!"

Orion-san set his face into a permanent frown. "I know that. Yes, I've neglected any responsibility as part of the Hunter family, and I'm paying the price for it by working with the Movement now. Yes, I've missed out on those ten years of her life, trying to find a way to break her out of a magically binding contract that would place her apart from the rest of the world forever. But in the end, no matter how many pretences she puts up, no matter how she hides behind her masks and throne and power? She's still that scared little girl that desperately loved her Papa and Mama. She had a difficult relationship with her mother. She still misses her parents and doesn't want anyone else to lose those things precious to them or hurt too much from the pain of loss. In the end, I was trying to prevent my only living relative from martyring herself on the tower of the Arcadia Movement! What's your excuse, then? You were _six_. Oh yes, being a minor did wonders to absolve you of any responsibility until you were given the Arcadia Movement, weren't you?"

"I was there when she attacked the last of the Elysium Circle," I spat back. "I was the one who tried to convince her not to blow open the brains of Regina Mackenzie in the city of Gotham."

Orion-san winced.

"And do you know what happened in the end?" I continued. "_I_ don't know. I don't remember. Yet, I have to face Reggie-san every time Glen and him report in, forever knowing that Setsu-chan had a hand in killing his mother. Every. Single. _Day_."

Orion-san was the one who looked away first.

"Then I was adopted by the Fudo family, and no contact was enforced," I continued heatedly. "I couldn't reach Setsu-chan at all, Jii-chan and Baa-chan and Nii-chan tried but she wouldn't see me at all. I could have gone to Central, but I chose to attend DA Queens because it was the only time I could ever meet Setsu-chan, even by accident, and even then she kept me at arm's length until she was spirited away and I ended up with a responsibility no one wanted, because of a will I didn't know existed until it was revealed."

The table was shaking, and Orion-san with him, not that I cared. "What's my excuse?" I repeated. "I was _given_ the Arcadia Movement, as you said, and I had to work for it. Do you really think anyone would obey a leader without power? The Psychics here obey Kaido and Nakamura-san more than me. I... I've always been working for the Arcadia Movement... so don't think I didn't care. You don't have the right to say that. _You,_ of all people, as a Class IV, don't have the right to say that."

"Seika..." Orion-san whispered. "You... well, of course. I'm sorry."

"I... I just want my family back." I realised. "What's with that? You wanted an argument, right? Answer me! Answer me _right now!_"

Glass shattered all around. The covers of the bookshelves, the panes on the windows, the monitor of the computer... and the carpets underfoot ripped apart before the glass shards hung suspended in the air.

"Seika..." Orion-san began.

"_Answer me!_"

Clap.

I blinked. Glass thudded on the dark parquet flooring underfoot, a tinkle of shards and pieces.

Orion-san was still breathing hard. "I- I apologise," he whispered. "That was low, I shouldn't be arguing with an eighteen-year-old. But... I think you should take a Schroedinger Quotient test. Right now. Just... just in case, you know."

"W... What?" I echoed faintly, slowly looking around. I was... just so angry. I don't know. "What happened...?"

"Erm... you got upset. Then we had a time-deceleration phenomenon and a spatial collapse-" Orion-san broke off. "That is to say, a lot of damage over a large space in a relatively short amount of time that seems to be negligible."

I was dragged by Orion-san to Kaido, and then I just stood numbly by as he explained the situation. Nakamura-san frowned, his eyes crinkled with worry before he patted my head and left to clean the office.

"Schroedinger Quotient test?" Kaido scoffed as Orion-san left to help out. He headed towards his desk, squeezing over the piles of paper that littered it. "That would take two weeks. We'll have a Duel now."

I frowned as I caught the wire pads he threw to me. "E- Excuse me?"

"Place those on your temples." Kaido showed me where to place the handheld device and the gel pads. "Then latch it to your DuelDisk with that sticky pad."

I unlocked it as he unlocked his own.

"The normal procedure of a Schroedinger Quotient test include a full DNA analysis, covering mental trauma and confirmed power levels," Kaido explained. "So a full report would take about two weeks to compile. It's faster if we do this with a Psychometric Duel."

"So..." I swallowed.

"I will read your past and present," Kaido affirmed, giving Orion-san a doubtful stare. "Of course, if you don't want to, then-"

"I... I've taken it before," I whispered. "I... I can't be a Psychic Duelist. The test result..."

"All Duelists have the potential to reach between worlds," Kaido answered. "The fact that you put on those pads is already an indication that no matter what, you are keen to begin on this path."

"But..." I hesitated.

Was it not implied that the head of the Arcadia Movement should be a Psychic Duelist? Was it not so, that the head should be the one who could lead the Movement? It would be... simpler. I could have a place in the Movement. I could have power, direct power to do something rather than run away and seek help. Aside from this transient mantle of authority... it could be true. If... If I were like Setsu-chan...

… it would be bad.

"I'll begin, draw," Kaido called. "The card is Fool of Prophecy. This card can mean either the beginning or the end."

"The Fool...?" I echoed.

"The Fool is the spirit in search of experience." Kaido explained. "He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason, that childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. The sun shining behind him, the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance. On his back are all the possessions he might need. In his hand there is a flower, showing his appreciation of beauty. He is frequently accompanied by a dog, sometimes seen as his animal desires, sometimes as the call of the real world, nipping at his heels and distracting him. He is seemingly oblivious that he is walking toward a precipice, apparently about to step off. One of the keys to the card is the paradigm of the precipice, zero and the sometimes represented oblivious Fool's near-step into the oblivion. The Fool is both the beginning and the end, neither and otherwise, betwixt and between. In short, The Fool is the one who steps forward on its journey to gain all of the world's wisdom. Will he fall into the void, or will he be victorious? We cannot know until after that first step is taken."

"... I see," I murmured. "I... I will gamble on this chance, then."

"Duel!"

Kaido: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

"Since we are both Prophecy users, it makes no difference," Kaido nodded. "I summon Fool of Prophecy [1600/900]."

Yellow robes flapping, the fool was an exuberantly smiling wizard that floated just partly off of the field.

"The beginning of a journey," Kaido murmured. "And I activate the Spell, Spellbook Library of the Crescent. If I have no Spellbook Spell cards in my Graveyard, I reveal three Spellbook Spells with different names from my deck, and my opponent randomly adds one of them to my hand, while the rest is shuffled back into the deck. I choose Spellbook of the Heliosphere, Spellbook Star Hall and The Grand Spellbook Tower."

"I shall let you keep Spellbook of the Heliosphere," I answered.

Kaido nodded, taking the card into his hand. "An illusion... a dream?"

"I have decided to do this when I became the leader of this organisation," I answered faintly. "The life I had before that is a dream now."

"I see..." Kaido murmured. "I use the effect of the Fool. Once per turn, I send a Spellbook Spell card from my deck to the graveyard. I choose Spellbook of Secrets. Then, I will set two cards and end my turn."

"I draw," I called. "I summon Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate [1800/0]."

"Catoblepas is a goat of Greek mythos, a legendary beast with the body of a buffalo and the head of a hog. It averts its gaze most of the time, but it can turn you to stone if it looks at you." Kaido nodded.

"Catoblepas and the Witch of Fate, attack the Fool of Prophecy!" I called.

"Even the predictions of the Fates can't stop the journey now!" Kaido called. "Trap card, Gagaga Shield! By equipping this to Fool of Prophecy, up to twice per turn the Fool can't be destroyed!"

The impact struck anyway as he flinched.

Kaido: LP 8000 → LP 7800

Seika: LP 8000

"I'll set two cards and end my turn," I whispered.

"My turn, draw!" Kaido called. "I activate Spellbook of the Master, revealing Spellbook of Power in my hand to target Spellbook of Secrets in the graveyard, and use it to search for another Spellbook Spell card, like Spellbook Organisation. I activate Spellbook Organisation, allowing me to rearrange the top three cards of my deck in any order I choose. Now I activate Spellbook of Wisdom on Fool of Prophecy. With that, I play Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere to reveal the top two cards of my deck and add them to my hand if they are Spellbook Spells. Look, Spellbook of Secrets and Spellbook of Power. I add them to my hand, and use the effect of the Fool to mill Spellbook of Eternity. End phase, I can tribute the Fool of Prophecy to special summon one level five or higher Dark Attribute Spellcaster such as Reaper of Prophecy [2000/1600 → 2600/1600]. With five or more Spellbook Spell cards, Reaper of Prophecy not only allows it to gain six hundred attack power; I can take Spellbook of Eternity from my deck to my hand and also special summon a level five or higher Dark Attribute Spellcaster, such as Fortune of Prophecy [2700/1700]. Chain quick-play Spell, Spellbook of Fate, I banish up to three Spellbook Spells from my graveyard, such as Spellbook of Secrets, Spellbook of the Master and Spellbook Organisation, and I banish a card you control such as your left face-down."

I winced as Compulsory Evacuation Device disappeared.

"The effect of Fortune of Prophecy, is that I can add all three banished Spellbook Spells into my graveyard if I wished upon its special summon," Kaido murmured. "I shuffle all three into the deck. "Turn end."

"D- Draw!" I called. I had seen Kaido Duel before, but the monsters... they were judging me. They were looking at me, as if... as if I was in judgement.

Would I be like Setsu-chan? Or like Nii-chan? I had seen the flip-side of having power; the consequences of abusing that power, the desire taking over until it consumed every rational thought. I... I was scared. But... Kaido was right. The Fool knew not of the danger ahead, and yet he still pressed forward. For an answer...

"I play the Field Spell, Future Visions!" I called as the doors surrounded us. If necessary, I too must start. Setsu-chan was no longer here. Nii-chan would be leaving soon. I must... I must learn to step forward! "I summon Fortune Lady Lighty! Due to the effect of Future Visions, Lighty is removed from play for me to special summon Fortune Lady Fiery [?/? → 400/400]! Burn that Fortune of Prophecy with your Flames of Fate!"

Kaido: LP 7800 → LP 5100

Seika: LP 8000

"I'll then use Fortune's Future to return Lighty to the graveyard and draw two cards," I called. "Followed by which I set a card and use Monster Reborn to special summon Lighty [?/? → 200/200] to the field. Turn end."

"Nice..." Kaido nodded in approval. "I draw. Reaper of Prophecy, destroy Fortune Lady Fiery."

This time Fiery left without much fire.

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 5800

Kaido: LP 5100

"I'll end here."

"I draw," I easily called. "I play the Spell, Dark Hole and destroy all monsters on the field! Therefore, my Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000] can appear! Equip card, One-Shot Wand [2000/2000 → 2800/2000]! Direct attack!"

Kaido: LP 5100 → LP 2300

Seika: LP 5800

"At the end, I can destroy One-Shot Wand and draw a card," I declared. "I set a monster. Turn end."

"Draw!" Kaido called. "Did you know? My deck has a focus only on the past and present. After all, my fortune-telling is only to answer a question you know in your heart. My deck will give that answer, and only that answer. That is our covenant. So, the lie that was your life... the Fool metamorphoses into Death and the Wheel of Fortune which now rules it... will it end like this? Will you merely vanquish death? Or will you go beyond that? I activate Spellbook of Life, revealing Spellbook of Power and banishing Fool of Prophecy to special summon Fortune of Prophecy as a level eleven monster. Fortune of Prophecy, attack Fortune Lady Darky!"

"I... Kaido-san... I activate Magic Cylinder!" I called as the blast rebounded and I won.

Kaido: LP 2300 → LP 0

Seika: LP 5800

"Whether I am strong... or I am weak... I want to do my best." I whispered.

"Precisely." Kaido confirmed, looking straight at me. "And your results are negative, though..."

"Yes?"

"Seika-san..." Kaido actually hesitated before he began. "I think... it's best you make an appointment with a hypnotist. To recall what happened to Professor Kannazuki."

* * *

"_Plague_?" we echoed simultaneously in disbelief.

A harried Aki-sensei pushed us back. She was wearing a Hazmat suit, which was already all kinds of bad, but her expression indicated that she was perfectly serious. "Plagues, as in multiples. Two cases of sudden death. We've sent a report up and everyone here would have to be quarantined until we're sure no one else is infected. We haven't got anyone else yet, but it looks like the Beckman family didn't make it. Every test we've done so far came back positive, from bubonic plague to smallpox."

"I thought smallpox was extinct," Rex volunteered.

"Pretty much. They have some in vaults, probably some in some bio-weapon research facilities, but that's it."

I stared at Aki-sensei as we three backed away from the plague-ridden flats. "And we're standing here next to the plague-ridden building, why?"

"The really nasty stuff wasn't airborne." Aki-sensei primly replied. "We disinfected everything pretty well. Wear your mask and don't touch, you should be fine. The Beckmans didn't quite go out so often, so it's pretty contained."

"What about the smallpox?"

Her voice turned wry. "You're vaccinated."

"So everyone inside is being quarantined until further notice, huh..." I murmured to myself until my eyes drifted about the building.

It was slightly run-down, for being in an unobtrusive spot in the Puzzle Area. Mostly brick and concrete, though there were newer patches of concrete where I studied it. It looked like most of Satellite had been in the history texts before urban redevelopment hit the tiny island extension of Neo Domino.

I walked around it, not too close to the building. My eyes went off to a corner of the building, where I puzzled over the odd placement of the water pipes until a soft cough made me look up. The girl had dark hair, plain features, and wore a DA school uniform of carmine – which meant DA Neo Domino – along with white stockings. She was staring at the building, sniffing. As I approached, she sneezed, and sniffed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nii-chan... I broke a lot of things and then... Nii-chan told me to entertain myself." She sniffed. "I... I got out of the building and went to the park... and then when I came back, the building was sealed. Why, Nii-chan?"

"Er... there's a very infectious disease inside and everyone might be at risk," I whispered.

"I want Nii-chan," she sniffed, staring at the building.

It took a while to figure out that she was referring to her family. "Well... I could bring you to the doctors-"

"No doctors!" she squealed.

"Okay, okay! No doctors!" I hurriedly answered, but it was too late.

"I just wanted... Nii-chan to see them." she sniffed.

"Them?" I tilted my head.

She lifted her chin, a secretive tilt to her expression then. "Nii-chan said not to talk to strangers in strange places."

"I'm Chase Princeton, and your name tag reads... Sakumo Serena," I tilted my head, careful to keep a slack distance from her and respect her personal space. "We're outside your house. Since we know each other's names and you're on familiar ground, we can't be strangers, right?"

Her lips parted as Serena realised my sudden logic with all the surprise only single-digit children could figure out. "Oh... you're right! So you're not a stranger!"

"I'm not," I nodded.

She grinned. "You see... I can make monsters real!"

"Really? That's very special," I played along.

Her eyes narrowed. "You don't believe me. My teacher said the same thing."

"Of course. All adults are unimaginative," I fibbed.

"Ah," she gasped, before she extracted her DuelDisk and played a card.

There was a constant _click_-_click-click _that resounded as the wheels of the rat popped down the wall, carrying its bulbous body along. Its ratty string tail held a tiny light bulb, the kind with filaments instead of an LED. It was painted purplish-blue with a white patch on its tummy, and both its eyes glimmered blue like glass.

Its nose thudded on my foot with alacrity, and I gasped at the blooming pain in my foot. Some hopping may or may not be involved.

Serena giggled as the Wind-Up Rat wheeled itself upright once more. "See? They're real."

"Yes, you've made that really clear," I answered through gritted teeth.

"And my friends didn't believe me!" Serena pouted. "I even showed them my ace card!"

A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Sakumo-chan, how old are you?"

"I'm eight!" she proudly declared.

Well, shit. "Well... you know that your abilities are very... unique, right?" I asked.

"Yeah!" she brightly announced with all the pride of a child who had no idea of what had happened to her. "Nii-chan doesn't like to think about it, though. He doesn't like it when I summon them. He even said that he'll confiscate my DuelDisk if I summoned them around the house!"

"Well... normal people... don't really understand, you see." I tried to figure out how to explain that little problem about morals and responsibility that governed the use of powers to an eight-year-old, and came up blank. "And if you introduced your monsters like that... your friends are going to be uncomfortable around you. Especially if you introduced your monsters like that, it hurts."

"But they do it," Serena insisted. "They started it, and no one else can help me. Only my monsters can."

"And your friends?" I asked.

Serena puffed her cheeks out. "I call them friends, but they laugh at Nii-chan. They laugh that Nii-chan has to work to feed us." Her face changed into something resolved. "But I'm going to work so that Nii-chan can take it easy and just play!"

"Well... that's true. But you can't do that if your classmates report you." I said.

Her expression fell. "Why?"

"Well... you know what is the Arcadia Movement, right?" I asked.

"Yeah! Nii-chan said that they've people like me, but he doesn't like them," she confessed. "Are the Movement bad, mister?"

"Well... no," I answered. Mister? _Mister_? "Anyway. Teachers, students, your... classmates, they notice these things. They're going to notice if your monsters are real, and then your classmates go to the teachers. They're going to say that your monsters attacked them, presumably with a convincing story, and it's going to be your word against theirs. Without proof and many witnesses, the teachers are going to be troublesome for your brother to account to. There are people just like you in this world, Serena, and they're called Psychic Duelists. And they aren't very well-liked, as you can tell."

Serena's eyes were huge. "I'm... a Psychic Duelist?"

"From the evidence..." I sighed, trying not to put weight on my crushed toes. "Yes. Yes you are."

"That's so cool," Serena happily breathed. "Are you? Are you a Psychic Duelist?"

"No, but I know some," I answered.

"So you're normal?" Serena pronounced with abject horror, as if I'd declared myself a fan of Brussels sprouts.

Something in me ticked, and I sighed before I leaned forward. "Since you're telling me yours, I'll tell you my secret."

I swallowed. "I can see Duel Spirits."

Those particular five words, to my eternal (un)surprise, was stuff that hardly ever came up in my first impressions of people. People, in general, prefer not to know that the person they're speaking to can see the invisible spirits of Duel Monsters that's supposedly the centre of every Duel-related mess in the last century. So I'm generally stuck with 'Hi, I'm Chase Princeton, heir of the Manjoume Group. Nice weather we're having'. Not very outstanding, but it gets the job done. In the Arcadia Movement, it goes differently: 'Hi, I'm Youkai's boyfriend. Chase Princeton, please, call me Chase'.

Now, usually people like me? They aren't believed. But where I differ is that not only can I see them, I can let _others_ see them.

The part where my particular talents come up is when I slap them or touch them and they see the invisible monster come up close enough to see the whites in their eyes, which is when conversational skills usually give way to screaming – and blasting, if it was the Movement personnel.

Either way, Serena gasped. "Really?"

"Yes, really," I offered my hand.

She gave me a look of scepticism you can really only get from children who have recently gone through the sobering trauma of discovering there is no Santa Claus. (there probably is, given the odds of Duel Spirits and stories.) She frowned, before pouting. "I don't believe you."

"Well, you could try," I offered my hand, palm up. "If I touch someone, they can see the Duel Spirits as well. Would you like to see your friends?"

Grinning, Serena took my hand- and screamed. It wasn't a coo of excitement, or anything remotely close. It was the high-pitched involuntary horrified kind of thing you should hear only in horror movies in times of peace.

I turned around, and reflected that it should be the one and only time I ever let a kid see that.

Scaling the walls outside of the Beckman apartment, as sure-footed as the mountain lions, was a canine form. It was purplish-black, and its drool spattered on the walls. It was climbing all about the laundry poles set out from the apartment wall, slowly crunching through the ground. Even about five metres off the ground as it was, I could sense its nature, an awful death that hung on its very body. Putting aside the fact that dogs could climb, I saw that the windows of the Beckman apartment carried the same psychic stench, a mark of death from the canine harbinger. As I stared at it, and wondered if this was one of those sights you don't show kids until they're over their majority, a patch of drool hit the concrete and started smoking as it ate through the floor.

Wonderful. Acid spit, nasty all around, and clearly diseased. Not very powerful, but plenty enough.

"Plague Wolf," I realised, staring up. "That means..."

"Nii-chan... what is that?" Serena echoed in a high-pitched whisper. "What is that?"

_That's the Duel Spirit, Plague Wolf. It probably killed the Beckmans._

How do I say that to a kid? How do I tell her that all her preconceptions about Duel Spirits could be patently false, and that yes, that's a Duel Spirit, and yes, it's just as ugly and malevolent as it looks in the card?

Serena opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

"Listen," I murmured. "You see the front of that building? I need you to go find the brother with the red fringe called Ryuusei, and tell him that Chase saw a Spirit. You know?"

"But... but..." Serena continued stuttering. "That's our house... what about Nii-chan? What about my Nii-chan?"

"That's what we need Ryuusei for," I hurriedly replied. "Ryuusei will kill the monster, and then everything will be alright. Go!"

As Serena turned and hopefully ran for the monarch of the Summer court, I fled towards the shadowed corners of the building. Watching the canine menace dance right down, forelegs stretched and hind-quarters powerfully propelling it to whatever direction it chose, the canine landed clumsily but still gracefully enough on the shaking bamboo sticks. Knowing people, they'd probably assume it was a strong wind from the monsoons coming up early.

Now, cats can climb. You'd know that while looking at the local _Felis domesticus _on the prowl, and somehow that Garfield wannabe will climb higher than you'd ever think possible. Cats can hunt and kill almost anything (which gives a whole new view to Shimotsuki's pet Dewloren).

Dogs, wolves and the critters they are distantly related to? They have this thing called a pack mentality, it's their general pattern to hunt in _packs_. It's certainly not bad, since it works and evolution would have taken them off this sphere if it didn't, but it also means that the canine and lupine genera have no need for the ability to climb, and so lack the evolutionary means or behaviour that makes cats the fiercest, most wily and evolutionarily diverse predators on the planet. There is no quadrupedal dog or wolf that could climb trees, let alone waltz down flimsy bamboo sticks from two stories up. That goes the same for Duel Spirits. I don't care whether it's a mechanical dog or cat or whatever; there are things that are shared across all lines of culture, including and up to the common behaviours of beasts and critters.

If the Plague Wolf was doing the tap-dance on bamboo, it should have been sent. I mean, it was clearly uncomfortable being so far off of the ground, had to want to go back where it came from.

So, being an optimist and an idiot – if that isn't redundant – I called out to the monster. "Hey, listen, I don't want any trouble with you-"

That was all it took. The thing tilted its enormous head toward me as if it were listening, then broke into a shambling lope. One pink tongue lolled out as its jaws opened and it leapt towards me.

Uh-oh.

I barely had time to dive. The click of claws on concrete was audible in my ears, and I was cursing, running my hands over the brick walls as I quickly made my way off. Killer's whine rang out, but it was of no use here; a Plague Wolf could double its attack power. Rei could help, but I was hardly keen on dealing with the hassle of Rei throwing the inevitable hissy fit.

_I resent the implication_, it grumbled, but the lack of anything else was telling.

So I did the only thing I could do. I ran like hell, hoping that the monster would follow me and not slaughter half of Neo Domino instead.

It did. Its body crashed down running, and the Duel Spirit, no matter what, was still spirit, not bound to the physical laws of this world. It wasn't really trying to catch me. It didn't have to. Quite apart from strength, size and power, it had possibly been passing by me, and so was gunning for me and me alone. By its standards, I was probably lawful prey, and right now it wasn't doing anything more sinister than playing with its food. If I couldn't save myself, no one, not even Ryuusei, could raise a finger to save or avenge me.

So I ran a zigzag. I made like a crazy man, zooming from the Puzzle Area to the next street off of it, Diamond Avenue. I sped past a Starbucks, wondering if there were any Seers, how many would really see the monster and how many would just think that they were having a hallucination. Right and straight up the Daimon Area. Left onto West Spade. Right and straight up North Hearts.

Finally, after what felt like a long, long time, right onto East Clubs, the edge of the Cubic Area, the Spiritual Forest Park.

Having been the bright spark of some billionaire with too much money and not enough common sense, the park that was closest to the Cubic Area was essentially an empty place with loads of squirrels and no people. The Park is just a few blocks and the Daedalus Bridge from Martha's orphanage. Aside from housing Neo Domino's squirrel population, it was also popular for being a fairly well-known hangout for men hoping to hook up with other men. The ratio of cruisers to bird-watchers (and don't think I didn't consider an ironic joke about binoculars and birds) varies depending on the time of the year. When there are tons of birds and bird lovers around, that means lots of people with binoculars and cameras. That kind of thing really cuts down on romantic mystique.

I knew for a fact that there wasn't a single person there, and so there were no witnesses to what may be my inevitable demise by Duel spirit. But, if I was right, I might not actually need one.

If I was right.

Technically, the gate was the next street over. I didn't have that kind of time, so I scrabbled over the iron fence with its sharp pointed tips and, trying to look as if I weren't desperate for both rest and air, grinned through the bars at the monster that wanted to tear me apart and eat me... not necessarily in that order.

The Plague Wolf stopped, and growled deeply. Even though it was spirit, there were laws to these things. Walls have that unspoken power in the spirit world. It's also the only reason why they say that the home is a castle; the walls keep the nasty things _out_.

"So, what do you say?" I asked it. "I win, and you get out of here. How's that?"

The creature's only answer was a bellow. I couldn't understand what it was saying, but I didn't need to. It was infuriated, it had been humiliated by a mere human (sort of), it had no intention of going back, and it was starving.

_It was sent for that specific purpose, _Rei translated. _It has no idea what you are talking about._

As if it were tired of talking to me, the Plague Wolf wheeled about and began a slow, thoughtful trot around the park's fence.

"Have it your way," I called after it in my most condescending tone – the one guaranteed to make any supernatural creature stop listening. "You're going to regret it." _I hope._

I was halfway across the park when the harbinger of pestilences charged through the front gate. In fact, I knew the exact minute it happened, because it let off a howl. I had a feeling that once it killed me, it was planning on treating this part of the city like its own personal smorgasbord and/or territory.

I whistled, and Killer howled behind me where I had told him to wait. I made like a ballplayer again, for the Rex Goodwin Cemetery. The graves seemed to be shrouded in shadow, and the trees rustled with the unspoken breezes that came every year with the monsoons.

The Plague Wolf skidded, and Killer howled as it body-slammed the diseased canine directly through the gates of the Cemetery. Its head shook, before it realised that it was here with me. It growled.

I grinned. "I warned you."

If the Wolf could blink, it would have. As it were, the giant arm came out between one newer headstone and one well-cared for, seized the Wolf and crushed down. Whimpers were audible amidst bones cracking.

First came that grimy arm, followed by a lumpy shoulder, and then his malformed head and hideous face. He looked at me and growled, jerking his way out of the hole with rubbery ease, until he stood in the middle of the main walkway between me and the Plague Wolf, like some professional wrestler who had fallen victim to a correspondence course for plastic surgeons. He was purplish-black, and wore a bronze _shenti_ and a large collar, the kind associated with the Ancient Egyptians.

I whistled. "Wow, you've gotten huge."

The End of Anubis growled in vague agreement.

Strong winds stirred. Leaves and litter was being blown about. I felt a sticky wrapper stick on my dark bangs.

"Man, I'm so sorry," I babbled to the spiritual guardian of the Rex Goodwin Cemetery.

It gave a vague growl of agreement, and then crushed the Plague Wolf flat under its palm. The Wolf gave one last pitiful whine before it finally died there.

I heard a thud. Without looking up, I snorted. "Took you long enough."

"Yes, well, I didn't really have notice." Youkai stood there, pale and slender in the shadows of the trees that shrouded this mausoleum of earth and stone against the green canopy. The edges of the sleeves flagged about, and the thin black scarf that flapped about his neck contrasted sharply with his long white hair. A silver chain winked in the half-light from the trees against a dark pair of trousers, and his cerise eyes gleamed in amusement and concern.

He jumped down, landing on his feet and rising to a half-slouch as he took my offered hand and looked at the monster called The End of Anubis. "Oh, hi."

"_You lured the Black Shuck here, then,_" the Fiend growled. "_As all spirit-callers are wont to do._"

"Was... getting to... him," I indicated Youkai. "Sorry if we ruined your nap."

"_No matter. I suppose it a neighbourly grace amongst mortals to gift morsels of food._" It paused. "_Though the quality of such hospitality is debatable._"

"Yeah, very sorry," I sighed. "I... really wasn't planning for that."

"_Perhaps._"

"Thanks for crushing it anyway," I offered.

"_This is not my city. To one that protects us, who calls us, it is debt incurred between us. I shall remember. I am Hafiz, spirit-caller. You would do well to remember your debtor._"

I swallowed. Owing spirits was one of those few steps needed to fully go over to the dark side. Debts and obligations and favours came into everything, even like saving one's life.

"_An opportunity to return the favour,_" The End of Anubis offered. "_You are spirit-caller. You know of the great presence that walks here. Fire and sunlight and life._"

I stilled. Fire and sunlight and life... Summer. And the one who embodied it...

"_Look into it,_" The Fiend urged placidly. "_That is all I ask of you. Even I know that the Night Rose Knight is not meant to walk amidst mortals._"

"There has to be another way," I murmured. When spirits say that things weren't meant to walk amongst mortals, there was a reason. The Three Phantom Gods weren't meant for mortal Duelists. The Three Phantom Demons were hardly meant to walk amidst mortals. Incredible power didn't just take a hike in the sea of mortal banality for the Evulz; they did it for a reason, always.

Its head tilted. "_I trust that you shall do what is necessary._" It lumbered back into cool shadow, first with rubbery muscled arms, and then with its back, and it faded into the graves' hearts, unseen and yet prevalent. Not all of Winter was cold, just like not all of Summer was nice; in comparison, I liked Hafiz. He didn't give too much trouble, he kept to his own stuff, and he was a gatekeeper for free. You couldn't ask for anything better than The End of Anubis to keep ghosts in.

"What was it talking about?" Youkai murmured. "That was The End of Anubis, right? That recent tenant you were talking about?"

I remained shaking.

There was a reason why I hadn't gone back to the apartment front there. A reason why I had not gone to the obvious option at hand, Rex and Ryuusei. I could say that I didn't want to bring the Plague Wolf back to the building, because of the Beckmans' fate. I could say that I was panicked and looking to isolate it.

In the end, I did not. Because it was a lie. All of it would be a lie. It would be a lie that was hiding what I already knew all along.

* * *

_**I think I bungled up that human interaction there. I'm not good at interactions myself, but I tried to imagine how Seika must feel, being reproached for something she had no control over.**_

_**Please review!**_


	54. LI: Sword Hunter

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LI: Sword Hunter**

_I feel so confused..._

"P- Plague?"

"More accurately, plagues," Baa-chan detailed.

By my side, Nii-chan was attentively listening. "Plagues?"

"Well... the germs are gone," Baa-chan looked discomfited. "That makes no sense. We've identified bacterial culture from the samples, and everyone else, even the girl that was outside, was placed under observation. It's like this version of bubonic plague and more diseases was meant just for the Beckmans."

I slowly nodded. "But... Baa-chan, what does this have to do with us?"

"No disease is that specific," Baa-chan slowly explained. "No communicable one, anyway. We've managed to perform fogging and pest extermination on the flat, and it's possible that there might be no more victims. Strictly speaking, it could be an accident."

"Or it could be deliberate," Nii-chan realised. "So..."

"Right now, the Beckmans were facing unclear charges for child abuse from the Movement," Baa-chan nodded. "This would be very bad for us, even if their deaths from diseases were just an accident."

"Was it an accident?" I asked.

"... I don't know," Baa-chan whispered. "I don't know what Psychic Duelist could do this, or how. I don't know if this is a new threat or not. The Beckmans... they were horrible people, but... they died so horribly."

"It's over, Mum." Nii-chan whispered, taking her arm. "It's over."

"Ryuusei..." Baa-chan shook her head. "You're right... of course. Yusei... I have other patients as well. Can the both of you manage at home?"

"We will," Nii-chan shortly replied.

Nii-chan had arrived at the Puzzle Hospital on Meteor Stream, so I had clung on as I rode pillion behind him. Usually, I would be admiring Neo Domino streaming by, the images come and gone with the winds. Today, I was distracted by both my outburst and Setsu-chan's words.

_You are a changeling, born of the union of a human man and a Duel Spirit. I am a changeling, born as the reincarnation of a spirit queen of long ago when an immortal has died. There are tales where the spirits will attach to a human soul, effectively becoming them. You are as human as I am..._

"Nii-chan..." I began.

"Yes, Seika?"

"Am I..." my grip on his jacket tightened. "Am I human?"

"Why are you asking such an obvious question?" Nii-chan asked. "I knew Professor Kannazuki. You are as human as I am."

"But... Setsu-chan said that she was a changeling," I answered. "Doesn't that mean... that you are one too?"

For a long moment, Nii-chan did not answer. "That is subject to interpretation."

"Please answer me truthfully, Nii-chan," I whispered.

"Seika... first, ask yourself. What does it mean to be human?"

"I... I don't know."

"So what separates humans from changelings? What keeps Duel Spirits separate from humanity?" Nii-chan did not ask them confrontationally, but rather as an innocent query. "Is it rationale? Duel Spirits have their own reasons for their actions. Is it feelings? Duel Spirits can feel, they are happy and sad and angry and loves and is loved. Since the topic itself is subject to interpretation, why ask such an open-ended question? The answer is not something easily given."

"Does it mean... does it mean being able to think?" I asked.

"And what makes you think that Duel Spirits cannot do so?"

That gave me pause. "I... I don't know."

"Then why are you asking such a thing?"

"Then why can you not answer me?" I whispered. "Nii-chan... just answer yes or no. Am I human?"

His back was already turned to me, so I could not see his face under the helmet anyway. Meteor Stream wobbled. "Sort of..."

"Sort of?" I echoed in disbelief. "_Sort of _human is like _sort of_ pregnant – it's not possible! Either you are or you're not!"

He sighed. "You might prefer it if I were lying. You asked."

"You didn't answer me."

Meteor Stream parked in the small garage, and I got off it in complete silence. The quiet extended all the way until I opened the door, Nii-chan being behind me.

"I'm back..." I rolled her eyes discreetly as only silence answered us.

"Of course. Dad isn't here tonight." Nii-chan answered.

I looked down. "I'll cook _nabe..._"

"I'll help," Nii-chan offered.

Two hours of complete verbal silence extended as I tried to understand the concept that had just turned my view around. In that time, I had cooked rice, the broth was simmering, the vegetables were prepared and meat sliced, and we were dining.

"Can you give me an answer now?" I asked.

He morosely considered his bowl, the steamboat and the food, and ate methodically through a silver of chicken before he finally opened his mouth. "I guess you're not."

There was a moment of silence while I tried to wrap my head around that concept. I ought to have responded, but I seemed to have forgotten the whole of the language apart from the word _no. _That was the one word I could recall which meant, _that isn't possible, stop lying to me, why would you have to invent such a cruel joke, it cannot be so. _

So I heard myself breathing, "No."

"This is impossible," I shook my head. "Papa was definitely human. Unless you're going to tell me that my mother... Because I was under the impression that my mother... was just..."

I only owned two photographs of my father. One was an aged, brittle newspaper clipping showing him in full dress garb at an open house. The other showed him and a baby me and Setsu-chan's parents standing together. A good-looking young couple, and an older mentor of sorts even though they were about the same age. Madame had been caught mid-laugh. My father, holding a tiny form swaddled in blankets, looked as if he might burst from happiness.

My mother was conspicuously absent in both. There was nothing in those images or in my memories to indicate that she had been born and raised in a realm that had nothing to do with humanity.

I couldn't accept this. I _couldn't_. Being a normal human girl student was who I was. If I wasn't entirely human... well, wouldn't someone have noticed by now?

_I'm as human as you are_.

If... If Setsu-chan was right...

…no. I couldn't even complete that thought.

"Go on," I said, more for the sake of concealing my shock than anything else. Since my voice was barely intelligible and my throat felt and sounded as if it had been rubbed raw with a cheese grater, this didn't work too well. "Tell me. Please."

I had the impression that Nii-chan would have been squirming if not for his poker face. "I don't know."

"You knew her, you said. So..." I felt like trembling.

Nii-chan did not answer for a long moment. "I never saw her. There was no marriage certificate. Shimotsuki left you here when Rafael-jiisan and the Madame died. You wouldn't remember it. We didn't even know about Professor Kannazuki's death at that time, though I think Kaido would. Kaido was the Professor's graduate student."

"He was? Of course he was," I faintly murmured. "So I thought wrongly. Again." A pause. "Why didn't Kaido say anything?"

"I don't think he knew." Nii-chan simply replied. "After Professor Kannazuki died, and since Kaido might not know... the only ones left who might know anything is Shimotsuki or Nakamura-san."

"Nakamura-san is faithful," I rebutted. "He would not."

"Nakamura-san is faithful to the Shimotsuki family first," Nii-chan pointed out. "How would you know?"

"I... I believe in Nakamura-san," I stuttered.

"Oh yes, you believe in the man who had a part in placing you with us for the past ten years after your adoptive parents died, and then the next two years chaining you to the Movement," Nii-chan commented in a way meant to be cutting. "Yes, I can see how _that_ builds trust."

"He does not lie."

"Because you have not asked him, so a man that cannot answer cannot lie."

"He has no reason to lie."

"Are you sure?"

I paused. There was nothing I could say. After all, Nakamura-san was a Psychic Duelist, and the right hand of Shimotsuki Setsuka before. He had every reason to lie.

"You liar, Nii-chan." I whispered. "How long would you have continued to lie to me?"

"As long as needed," he answered.

I shook my head in faint denial. "Why? Why couldn't Setsu-chan stay with me? We... we... does Jii-chan know? Baa-chan?"

"Dad and Mum? No. As for your question, I can think of several reasons," Nii-chan idly toyed with his chopsticks as he spoke. "First, the Arcadia Movement. Growing up in the middle of a metaphorical battlefield ten years ago, we knew what was going on with the Movement – and with it the prevalent hatred and fear of Psychic Duelists and those associated with them.

"Second, Shimotsuki being what she is, as the folk of the spirit worlds are, she unquestionably knew that you were, or would be, someone of considerable power – precisely the sort of child that would have faced abuse and manipulation all her life."

He gave me a significant glance. "People have been known to sacrifice much to protect those dear to them.

"And third... remaining human as she was would have availed nothing, and risked your life. The Elysium Circle most likely knew about your importance, and had most likely sent trackers after you. And then, of course, several years before her death, Madame Shimotsuki had made a number of complex and, dare I say, unwise deals with certain dark powers. I'm quite sure that they would have been willing to consider your life, soul, or both as partial compensation for her debts, as her adopted heiress.

"So, Shimotsuki did the only thing she could have done. She accepted permanent exile from her own humanity and the loss of her family to save the younger sister she never had." Nii-chan gazed at me and spoke the next two sentences carefully, enunciating every syllable. "She had no regrets, Seika. Believe that."

"But she abandoned me," I weakly murmured.

"She left you with what was needed, but not what you wanted," Nii-chan gently told me. "Knowing as much as you do about Duel Spirits, you know the danger. I didn't choose this at first, knowing what was needed. In the end, I don't have that courage. But Shimotsuki... Setsuka. She chose. She made her choice, and in doing so changed the fate of many people."

I stopped eating, as my appetite waned. I remembered Setsu-chan, on the throne of Winter, disembowelling Orion-san. I remember Setsu-chan, her eyes flashing in delight as she defeated him, surrounded by her servants in the heart of the dark and cold.

I remembered Setsu-chan in Duelist Kingdom, her voice flat. _The blame for this lies with me. I cared too much._

What would this mean for me? Who could my mother be? Why would Setsu-chan do this, if really for love when there were other methods for her to use? What else was being kept from me?

"Could you tell me some more?"

Nii-chan steadily ate his way through the bowl, and now set it down. The tiny bloom of hope wilted when he turned blue-green eyes onto me. "Why would I?"

* * *

When Ryuusei and Rex left with the ambulance, I had returned to the apartment building. Slowly, I walked around it, noting the points of entry and the windows. I typed out a quick and convincing message to someone I barely knew, and then I planted myself at the front entrance and looked around me.

Even when I was in the Puzzle Area, I could see La Castle. It was the tallest building for miles, effortlessly dominating the scene without a single trace of character or style in its appearance. It was a craggy, bleak castle situated in the part of the city that was halfway between fancy and squalid (in Neo Domino standards). Neon signs dotted the landscape about it, but it stood out with its rock-like facets and its... its _feel_. Most buildings in Neo Domino were almost brutally ugly. Everything shouted of purpose and nothing more. It was all very efficient, but a total pain in the arse to look at. You can't help feeling someone should have made more of an effort. I mean, even the Gherkin in London had more style than some of the buildings here. But, the headquarters of the Arcadia Movement was something... warm. Safe. I might have been forcibly weaned off of brooding by Youkai, but I still think things.

Sometimes very loudly.

I stood right in the middle of the side-walk, staring at nothing. I only needed that large cigar to complete the image. You'd think that someone would notice me standing right there in a grey shirt with sweater-vest thrown over it and black slacks, which painfully stood out as a bastion of cleanliness in a sector of the city that was hardly classy by Neo Domino standards. People just walked right past him, paying no attention at all... because I had a mobile phone at my ear. The perfect excuse for just standing around doing nothing.

Youkai picked up as I activated the wireless earpiece and began walking the perimeter of the apartment building. "_Youkai, speaking_."

"Hello, Youkai?" I spoke. "I've got myself a case of spiritual infestation that's plaguing my boyfriend. Could you kindly tell them that he's off-limits?"

I heard him sigh. "_Hold on._" I could hear music in the interim moment. A party?

"_Hey, Chase,_" Youkai said once the musical background died off. "_You know that you just messed up my interrogation? We just saw each other today, you can't be getting antsy._"

"Your insinuation that I can't control my bodily impulses aside, have you eaten?" I asked. One thing about Youkai that was endearing and yet frustrating was workaholic-ism. If he didn't need food, I swear by every divinity I know that he would forget eating until he got dangerously hypoglycaemic.

A soft, frustrated sigh. "_You treated me to snacks at Rex Goodwin Cemetery. You saw me finish a bag of peanuts barely two hours ago. I'm perfectly capable of feeding myself._"

"Someone has to keep track of you."

"_Yes, Mom,_" he answered with all of the sarcasm he could muster (quite a fair bit). "_Anyway, I'm at the Ace of Spades right now. How's the plague-infested building?_"

I paused. "You're at a party?"

"_I just told you where I am._"

"Let me rephrase that," I corrected. "My hot boyfriend. Is at a party. And I wasn't invited?"

"_It's not a party,_" Youkai sighed. "_It's one of Ryo-nii's clandestine meetings and stuff. Besides, your plague-infested building is in the Puzzle Area. Don't tell me you can't walk over, because I am not believing that._"

"Give me an hour or so," I demurred. "I've always wanted to go dirty dancing with you."

"_The Ace of Spades doesn't have dirty dancing, and this is a business meeting. Think of all the people we'll scandalise... on second thought, come over._"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. Then swing dancing. We'll find something." I rolled my eyes. "Unless, of course, our dates end up in fire. Then the scandalised people had better bring out the fire extinguishers."

"_Any excuse for you to dip me on the dance floor, huh?_"

"I'll let you do the same as well."

"_Not enough upper body strength. I'll handle the acrobatics part. Especially the flat-surface ones._"

"Is that a code?" I snorted as the purr of a D-Wheel engine approached. "Right, I'm going to see if the Beckmans' case I told you about is spiritual or it's just a hallucination. With any luck, it'll be both, and then I can get out of here and we'll have a dance."

"_We'll kick the ass out of the competition,_" Youkai agreed. "_I expect to be lifted and thrown spectacularly, understand?_"

"Oh, that'll show off your legs nicely. But not in your usual black slacks."

"_What's wrong with the black slacks? You wear them!_"

"Your legs are proportionally longer than mine, hon, they look like someone built stilts on them." I advised. "The dark blue or the jeans actually set them off."

"_You wear a leather coat that's practically taken from those American novels you read. Don't think I don't know what you're a walking homage to, Chase._"

"I'm not Gandalf on crack and an IV of Red Bull, and guns are illegal where we live, last time I checked. Plus, my leather coat is not that big."

"_You spit in the eye of gods and demons alike if he thinks it needs to be done, and to hell with the consequences, and yet somehow you manage to remain a somewhat decent human being._ _You told me that you named that Infernity Beast Killer, which is just a step up from Mouse on the Ironical Name Scale. The only way this is lacking is that the fires that spring up around you aren't actually your fault directly._"

Having dismounted the D-Wheel, Ryuusuke put both hands over his face. "Quit the verbal repartee already, Princeton-san. I have an early morning shift."

"_The two of you can do your verbal foreplay somewhere else,_" Ryokai's vice came in over the phone, and the whining in the background confirmed that Ryokai had snatched the handphone away from Youkai. "_I'm the one who should feel irritated._"

He then hung up.

Jerk.

I clicked the phone off, put it away and then faced a terrifying-looking Himemiya Hazuki. Her red hair was smooth, hanging loose down her back. It was slightly curled at the ends, doubtlessly from how long it stayed in a French bun skewered with a single hairpin, and only contrasted slightly with her own red shirt and black slacks and Converse with white socks, and DuelDisk out. With her now standing on the pavement with her arms crossed, I was reminded that in the history of DA Queens and the Arcadia Movement, there were four outstanding women Duelists who managed to kick the collective asses of nearly everyone they met. The Four Great Queens of Queens, was what they were called.

To put it in perspective; Hinamori Seiran, or _La Belle Dame sans Merci, _was one of the few who ever beat Rex. Kujaku Satsuki was hands-down a master of the Black Feather Style in her own right, and she apparently schooled her own master and grandmaster, that is, Uncle Crow and her grandfather. At the top was Shimotsuki Setsuka, 'nuff said. Himemiya Hazuki was the only one of the Four Great Queens who had yet to turn to the dark side or become marginally insane like Hinamori. Facing her glare was like figuring out the old-fashioned way that hey, Natasha Romanov was called the Black Widow for a very good reason.

"That's... your ride?" I stupidly pointed out.

Hazuki was standing beside a black unmarked Honda Ridgeline. A winded Ryuusuke was climbing out of the shotgun, and Uzuki bounded out of the back with nary a glance at him.

"You. Ruined. My. Date." Hazuki said in a low voice.

"Oops." Open mouth, insert foot.

"_Date_?" Uzuki echoed. She said the word 'date' with the same horror as if Hazuki were contemplating siring warthogs.

"It's just dinner, really," Ryuusuke gave a slightly exhausted response, nodding to me. His long white hair was bunched into a ponytail, and he gave me a studied look with aqua green eyes.

"What." Hazuki echoed flatly.

"Erm... nothing. Nothing at all." Ryuusuke whistled.

"Anyway, Ryuusuke, remember the Seal card?" I prompted.

"Yeah?" the other normal member of the Arcadia Movement warily asked.

"Right, we're standing next to what could be a plague-infested building."

There was a collective shocked response, i.e. paling and general complaining.

"And the lack of medical personnel and barriers?" Hazuki asked.

"No one else got infected, but I see your point," I nodded. "The samples apparently disappeared, I just got notified by Aki-sensei. Either way, the ruling for the deaths that already occurred is freak disease. I think it's Duel Spirit work."

"A Duel Spirit killed them?" Uzuki leaned forward, her green eyes shimmering with curiosity and many other things.

"Who the hell knows, but it's likely," I nodded. "The Seal of Orichalcos or whatever you used on Suiren on Duelist Kingdom, it has ancillary properties. Since the plague or virus or whatever is supposed to be of Duel Spirit origin-"

"We can trap it in?" Ryuusuke asked. "I thought the Seal had to be active?"

"Let me finish," I snapped. "The bodies were found in just one apartment, but it's built on the ground here, and we're standing right outside the window. If I go in, I should be able to find proof of a Duel Spirit's presence somewhere inside. But I can't risk the virus, if any, escaping out of Neo Domino."

"So while you're inside, you want us to set up this Seal while you investigate, and presumably to act as a lookout as well," Hazuki finished for me. "That's why you called Ryuusuke, but why not the others?"

I paused. "I haven't informed Kaido or Seika. Not yet, anyway. And... I have evidence that the Movement's intelligence may be compromised."

Hazuki pondered this, eyeing Ryuusuke and Uzuki thoughtfully. "Aside from the fact that you're about to commit breaking and entering, you want us to be your witnesses?"

Crap. Ryuusuke might be his own man, but Hazuki was the Titania, one of the Four Queens. Some say that she could boss even Shimotsuki around on a good day. I might have signed my warrant just by stating my intent.

"What about yourself?" Hazuki asked. "If this virus has killed two people, as you claim, then what makes you think that it would not be deadly to you?"

I considered Rei's protection and flames for a brief moment. "I can see Duel Spirits. I'm not that defenceless in the face of those things."

"Noted," Hazuki murmured, frowning. Behind those placid green eyes was probably an incredibly powerful organisational brain to match her beauty. Hazuki was attached to the PR department of the Movement, after all.

"I wanna break in," Uzuki said in a hushed voice.

"Uzuki..." Hazuki warned, before considering. "We are talking about a criminal enterprise."

"It's for a good cause!" Uzuki volunteered. "And... and the Beckmans weren't very nice, treating Vanessa like that."

I felt my eyebrows rise. "You knew Vanessa Trent?"

"Well, she knew Sarah Wraith," Uzuki shrugged. "And she was also earmarked as a disappearance risk."

"Neverland?" I asked, referring to the organisation by which Summer and Winter seemed to recruit their willing slaves or something. Kiyoshi had been part of Neverland.

"The same," Uzuki babbled, scanning her surroundings. "So, we're going in?"

I paused to stare. "We? I mean _me_."

Uzuki crossed her arms to stare evenly at me. For a short girl, Uzuki had a stare to rival Hazuki. "Right now Sylph isn't here to pull your ass out of the fire. And being able to see spirits doesn't mean that you can battle Psychic powers. I am a Psychic Duelist with a low enough profile, unlike Nee-chan, and therefore the most suitably equipped to have your back while you break into a place."

When spoken like that...

I sighed. "You're going to wear a mask, and gloves. And a Hazmat suit."

"I can't move in those!" she protested.

"Uzuki!" Hazuki snapped.

"Nee-chan!" Uzuki pouted.

"Then you're not coming," I sharply replied. "Stay outside and... and search the perimeter."

Uzuki's lips tightened. "Don't die," she told me before she flounced off by an alleyway.

You know, I get feels when I'm thrown into these kinds of really fridge-tragic situations. The fact that a girl barely two years younger than me was already acknowledging the possibility of my death was rather saddening. It was things like this that I preferred not to think about.

So I strolled up to the front doors of the building, and slowly walked in like I owned the place. You know the front door vs window rule? That people who enter through the front door are less likely to be criminals than those who enter through the window? Well, no guarantees, but at least no one looked twice here.

The door's lock had been broken open when the paramedics were called in about the mysterious smell around the Beckmans' apartment. Yellow tape had been liberally used in the barricading of the door, but I ignored it after making sure that no one had placed a CCTV around. There were none; I judged the wiring too dangerous. So I hid a card under the carpet, and slipped in and clicked the lights open, resolving to get Hibiki-san on speed-dial if I was caught.

Don't try this at home, kids.

The apartment was clean, in a relative sense. Since I barely had time to study it when Team Black Knights was pulling in a charity mission of saving kids from their abusive guardians, I took my time now. It was a fairly standard L-shaped apartment, with the kitchen placed in the far corner of the short arm and the bedrooms extending out to my left. The back of the couch faced me, along with a tiny TV and the door to the kitchen. The furniture was nearly non-existent, doubtlessly taken away to be sterilised.

I sniffed experimentally. Aside from mildew and a bad case of bleach, nothing else.

I blinked experimentally, checking my Sight. I heard Killer growling outside where I had placed his card, so for now he was on watch and there was nothing blocking my sight.

"So what am I looking for?" I briefly considered the scored walls. It looked like something had been trying to scratch the walls. The left- and right-most of the five bloodied scratches were set lower than most. I raised my right hand, looked down, and tried to squint. If I hallucinated right, it looked like what happened when a right hand tried to scratch at plaster.

_Mortal desperation, _Rei murmured. _There was a monster. If I were of a mind I suppose that the Plague Wolf was here._

Plague Wolf? Did it have that power?

_Your kind calls the Hounds many different names. Why ever should it not?_

"So there are monsters that can spread this diseases anywhere it likes?"

_No. This was a very specific disease, infecting no other. I suppose that the Plague Wolf was sent as a harbinger and to transfer it out. A very expedient method of murder, employed by the armies of Summer back in the days under the Bloody Rose._

Summer. Bloody Rose.

I swallowed. "What kind of disease?"

_The Infectious Disease Virus Blackdust, or the Ekibyo Drakmord as it is also commonly known. If I am right, there should be residue from the unbidden necrosis._

Since the place was mostly cleaned, I had to study the scored markings on the walls, each one an examination of careful desperation. "Plague... why would Summer do these things?"

_Summer governs warmth and life, as Winter governs cold and death. Life includes the good and the bad. You can burn just as easily as you can freeze. They are what they are._

There was black dust trailing by the sides of the scratches. "What does it say when I don't want to think about it?"

_More fool to you._

"That answers nothing!" I snapped.

I whirled around as a pot crashed. The fat black cat stared at me with gleaming red eyes. But cats don't wear a giant golden choker with claws dangling off it as a collar. Cats don't wear a tail-band. And cats did not wear a gold charm bracelet on its right fore-paw.

Normal cats, that was. For A Cat of Ill Omen?

The bloody Persian rip-off grinned, and meowed before something hit me on the back of my head.

Lights darted and flickered randomly, and I blinked, trying to clear the stars away. But stars in the vision were usually white and silver. These were colours like a rainbow.

One of those lights pivoted in mid-air and flashed toward my eyes. I jerked away from it, still clumsy, and a sudden spike of agony burned through my face.

I screamed and staggered to one knee. Something had pierced my cheek and was still there, tacking a lock of hair to my face. I reached for it on instinct, but before I could get to it, pain exploded from my back, from my bruised hands, and from the back of my head.

That _did _put me on the ground. It was too much to process, much less ignore. I reacted on blind animal instinct, swiping at the most intense source of pain with my paw. There was another flash of agony, and suddenly the hair came away from my face. A bloodied arrow a good four inches long fell away, its sharp head bloodied.

Someone had shot me? With a freaking arrow? What the hell was going on here?

No sooner had I thought that, than another light flashed toward me. Before I could react, a second round of utterly ridiculous levels of pain slammed through me, starting at my leg. I screamed and swatted, and tore a second arrow, blunter and topped with a red jewel, from the flesh of my right quadriceps. How the hell did _that_ get there?

I looked up. The corona of light was... were some of Duel Monsters' really harmless creatures. Except for the incriminating bows and quivers of arrows and the glares. One Fairy Archer levelled its drawn arrow at me.

The rainbow lights were coming at me. There was no time to run, not in my condition. My body wasn't fast enough to dodge or swat them out of the way.

Even as I processed those thoughts, a third arrow hit me in the left arm, and I had to scream and thrash my way out of another spike of pure agony. I felt utterly helpless, and stunned at my inability to overcome so tiny a foe. I finally realised that this was how Gulliver felt against the Lilliputians, or giants against ants. I wasn't even Godzilla with thick skin and a hyper-beam.

"Get up," I panted, fighting through the disorientation, the pain. "Get up before they nail you."

Nail you. Get it?

But I always joke when I'm afraid, and being shot continuously by tiny Fairies were at the top of the list. Whatever these things were, if they got more than one of those arrows into me, I doubted I would be able to hold my thoughts together long enough to get them out again. I had a gruesome vision of myself stretched in lifeless, agonised rigour on the side-walk, arrows sticking out of every square inch of my skin.

I tried to scramble, to evade, but compared to the darting motes of light, I was moving in slow-motion replay. Half a dozen more of the glimmering things came arrowing toward me out of the corners, zooming at me in a flying V formation, and I knew things were about to get really bad.

Then I smelt it. The gas.

So I might have bodily thrown myself out of the apartment as fire alarms went off and the kitchen began emitting smoke, grabbing Killer's card at the last moment. Killer whined and growled as the Fairies, but I was limping as fast as I could out of there as the sprinkler system began flooding the hallways with stale water.

I made it to the back doors before the next volley of arrows came, and I promptly fled from the Fairy's Gift which was gifting me with Silver Arrows. Did I mention how much they hurt? Because they really did.

Another jewel-tipped arrow found its mark and I keeled in pain, slamming into a brick wall as I saw death by tiny Fairies approaching.

"What the hell-" I heard several screams behind the swarm. Great. They were real. All the more to get away.

I promptly flung myself down the alleyway-

-to get slammed into a circular barrier sort of thing. Bloody hell, ow.

"Oh," I heard Ryuusuke say as I slid down to the ground. "Erm... well, I got it active."

I struggled up, limping out as fast as I could. Ryuusuke dragged me towards the Ridgeline, where Hazuki and Uzuki were already sliding into their seats. I was bodily flung in before Ryuusuke shut himself in shotgun and Hazuki remotely locked all the doors.

"What's happening?" she demanded, gripping the steering wheel.

"I'm getting my ass kicked by tiny faeries!" I shouted back. "They've got my number!"

There was a loud _pop_, and a slender miniature steel dagger slammed through the passenger window, transforming it into a broken web-work.

"Ack!" Ryuusuke screamed.

Uzuki started laughing hysterically.

The dagger vanished. The same thing happened on the driver's side.

Hazuki got the Ridgeline into reverse, and it rumbled back off the side-walk onto the street, shedding bricks and debris. Just as we bounced down onto the street proper, the front windshield exploded into a web of cracks too, so she just kept driving backward, turning to look over her shoulder. That went well until the rear window broke, too. Hazuki sighed as I gritted my teeth.

Under normal circumstances, the next move would be to roll down the window and stick heads out of it. Tonight, I was pretty sure we'd get a miniature dagger in the eye if we tried.

So Hazuki kept driving blind through the middle of the Puzzle Area while Uzuki chortled. "Tiny fairies!" She giggled, rolling a bit as the Ridgeline weaved and jounced. "Tiny fairies!"

The plan worked for about ten seconds – and then we slammed into a parked car. We were lucky that it wasn't large, since it bounced off the Ridgeline.

It also knocked the wheel out of Hazuki's hands, wrenching it from her fingers and sending the ATV onto another side-walk. It smashed through a metal railing and then the back tires bounced down into a sunken stairwell. From Hazuki's muttered curses, there was nothing for the tyres to grab onto. End of the line.

"Tiny fairies!" Uzuki continued.

She let out a heartfelt curse and slammed a fist against the steering wheel.

I made myself close my eyes and think. _Think, think, don't react in panic. Keep your head, Chase._

"We've got to move," I said.

"Agreed!" Ryuusuke squeaked.

"Run away!" Uzuki giggled. "Run away! Tiny fairies!"

I growled in frustration and did a face-palm. "Stop that. This is serious."

Uzuki's voice was only barely muffled. It sounded like she couldn't breathe. "Serious! Tiny! Fairies! The m- m- mighty Chase Princeton!"

"You are not as funny as you think you are," I severely replied. "Anyone got any ideas?"

Light began to bathe the broken windows, highlighting the web-work of cracks in them. A lot of light.

"Crap," I gasped. "I am _not _going to be known as the guy who died thanks to a bunch of bitty bows and arrows."

Then there was a very sinister sound. Towards the rear, someone opened the lid to the fuel tank. It wasn't hard to work out what would happen next.

"Hell, no," Hazuki muttered as she engaged the parking brake. "Uzuki- get Ryuusuke and Princeton to safety. I'll hold them off."

"Hey!" Uzuki protested as the older Himemiya pulled an umbrella from under the driver's seat.

"There's another umbrella under your seat," Hazuki quickly instructed. "Ryuusuke, get ready to run. Uzuki, get out once I give you the opportunity."

"Why?" Uzuki looked crestfallen. "I wanna fight!"

"Serves you right, Giggles," I snapped, hefting the black umbrella in both hands. I knew we didn't have much of a chance of getting away from that swarm of Spirit piranha, but it was an infinitely larger chance than we would have if we stayed in the car and burned to death.

"On three," Hazuki called. "Three!"

I took several sharp and completely not-panicked breaths, then piled out of the Ridgeline, bringing up the umbrella to Fairies started hitting my shield almost instantly.

I went into a sprint. Between the dust and the swarm of hostile spirits, I could barely see. I picked a direction and ran. Ten steps. Twenty steps. The enemy continued pounding against the dome of canvas, and the canvas ripped as they continued. Hazuki's hands reached my wrists and tugged me along, and I followed as she whispered words.

Thirty steps – and I stepped into a small pothole in the side-walk, stumbled, and fell. I thought certain death by fairies was going to happen, before I heard the most wonderful sound of my life.

The Fairies charged as one – to slam into a circular shield.

Very slowly, I crawled up on my hands and feet. I could see the shimmery circle dictated by a ring of glitter.

"Well then," Hazuki's brisk voice began as the red-head stood between me and certain death by Fairies. "Good evening, gentlemen and ladies. I hope you would forgive the intrusive presumption of gender upon your persons, but I am sadly unacquainted with the anatomy of Duel Spirits like yourself."

The Fairies bristled, collectively raising their bows.

"You might not want to do that," Hazuki easily interrupted. "While my colleague cannot be targeted due to Pixie Ring, I assure you that I am well protected as a Psychic Duelist. Should you strike the first blow, I shall indeed be forced to retaliate."

The Fairies actually paused. Sure, none of them were talking at the moment, but they stared at Hazuki with their alien jewel-bright eyes. Hazuki placidly stared back. Seriously, the girl has balls.

Then I saw the Fairy Archer level an arrow. "Hazuki, look out!"

Without looking down, Hazuki depressed a button on her Disk. The arrow glanced off a shield that shimmered as it shot right back at the tiny fairy. Seeing that one heavy hitter had fallen, the fairies rose in a clamour of shivering wings, and left.

Hazuki, who had won against a whole team of Duel Spirits, just gave an inelegant snort. "Nothing compared to Setsuka. Now, Princeton-san, let's go find my sister and Ryuusuke before they get into mortal danger again."

Numbly, I nodded. I mean, what could I say?

But, Hazuki's words managed to clarify something. There was a secret, a secret behind these deaths, and it was enough for fairies to kill for. Ryuusei was in it, which complicated things.

I needed answers.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	55. LII: Hidden Armoury

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LII: Hidden Armoury**

It was only after dinner that I excused myself away from Nii-chan on the pretext of placing a call.

"_Good evening, Seika-ojou,_" Nakamura-san answered on the first ring.

"Good evening, Nakamura-san," I whispered.

"_I trust that everything is going well at the house?_" Nakamura-san sounded business-like.

"I..." I started. "Yes. We've eaten. Can you connect me to my answering machine, please."

"_Of course, Miss. But... are you sure?_"

"Nakamura-san... I don't know," I honestly replied. "I... I am sure. I shall be fine. This is my house, my home for ten years."

"_Very well._" Nakamura-san paused. "_I am... aware... that Missy's actions may be disturbing to you. That you may feel abandoned, that Missy does not care about you._"

"I believe Setsu-chan's betrayal and her gambit at hand conveyed rather appropriately what she believed," my voice was cold.

"_Even so, Seika-ojou. Did you ever wonder why I was present when you took over the Movement? Did you ever wonder why Kaido was so compliant?_"

"...No." No, I had not. I had always assumed that... that Setsu-chan had always kept them here. But... Setsu-chan was not here.

"_Before you place your recriminations upon him, Seika-ojou, please know that Missy... before you think otherwise... please believe that she had the best of intentions._" Nakamura-san breathed. "_And now... I will place your messages on._"

"Please do."

A click and a moment of silence.

"Hello, Kannazuki-san? It's Ryuusuke, Ryuusuke Diamondblade. So there are people who are looking for me over some business of Dad's? I would like to meet this Rafael when the Berets finish their training, please. Yamada Yuko-san said I could. So... thanks, and have a nice day."

_Whirr, click_.

"Seika-chan? Yuko here. Since Yukio's on the warpath once more, I'm giving you the oral report for the Knights. So far, we've received ten more disappearances, and three of them from the Knights itself. I think Yuuki's also a flight risk. And... and well, that's about it. So, do you want to inspect the Knights tomorrow? At your earliest convenience, although I think Yukio might be rather abrasive. We know that you do a good job, or that you're trying... anyway, call me back!"

_Whirr, click._

"Ryuusei? Seika? It's Mum here. The germs have disappeared, and now the Beckmans' deaths are being ruled as accidents. Do you think that it could be a Psychic Duelist? Also, Ryuusei... are you sure that you can only stay until Hallow- oh, what am I saying..."

_Click_.

I called the Movement, leaving an appointment and schedule with Nakamura-san before I set it down.

I bathed. I changed into pyjamas, before I went back to my own room and dialled another number on the attached line.

"_Himemiya._"

"Uzuki!" I said.

"_Seika?_" Uzuki laughed, the very sound soothing and infectious. "_You missed Princeton-san getting his ass kicked by tiny fairies! It was cool!_"

Uzuki was one of my best friends, but sometimes I worried for her sanity.

"_Say, Seika..._" Uzuki stopped. "Did you get the homework?"

"Y- Yes," I answered. "I think... I will attend tomorrow. After all, I've missed school for so long that Hibiki-sensei must be upset already."

"_Seika... are you alright? Are you really fine with being the head of the Arcadia Movement?_" Uzuki pressed. "_You know that you could leave the work to Nakamura-san and Kaido-san, right?_"

"I'm fine," I faintly insisted. "It's just... been a bad spell. Duelist Kingdom was troublesome for all of us-"

"_Seika~!_" Uzuki insisted. "_No one's expecting you to be a superhuman! You're a normal girl, you never wanted to run the Movement! So why are you throwing your life to the Arcadia Movement? Even Shimotsuki Setsuka had her limits!_"

"But... the Movement is all I have left..." I insisted. "I'm fine... I can do homework, I'm keeping up in class, Kaido helps me... I'm fine, really."

"_Enough! Nee-chan can take over for a few days._" Uzuki declared. "_I'm going to tell Nakamura-san. You'll be attending school for a whole week._"

"Eh? Uzuki-!"

"_Seika, you can't really think that you must do this, right?_"

"I inherited the Arcadia Movement! I-"

"_Wasn't supposed to even go near it until you were twenty. Everyone might expect a Shimotsuki out of you, but I don't. They can take it up with the Himemiya sisters if they want. You need to get out more. Look, Nakamura-san agrees, he's going to send you a text now-_"

"I can't!" I shook my head. "I... I have an inspection of the Knights tomorrow-"

"_Rescheduled. Yuko-san was very obliging. He even promised to make sure that the Cold Wolf was in a good mood before the inspection occurs. And Kaido-san even agreed. Come on, Seika. We can sit through Traps 300 and talk about Kohinata-sensei being jealous of Hibiki-sensei._"

"I-" I cut off. "...fine."

"_Good!_" I could hear the grin Uzuki doubtlessly had. "_See ya there!_"

She hung up, leaving me staring at the phone. I set it down, took a deep breath, and then walked out to knock on Nii-chan's door.

It opened before I even touched the wood. "Seika?" Nii-chan looked at me with concerned eyes.

I flushed. "Erm... Uzuki is making sure I attend school tomorrow. So..."

"I understand. I'll send you to Queens tomorrow," Nii-chan smiled.

"It's... fine..." I slowly nodded. "Nii-chan..."

"Yes?"

"Erm..." I stopped. "I... erm... is fear normal?"

"Pardon?" Nii-chan cocked his head. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yes."

I slowly entered Nii-chan's room. It was clean, very clean, and there was a constant faint perfume of plum blossom. His desk was covered with stationery set out, chaos with order imposed over it. His room was also plain and devoid of his personality, other than his desk.

"Is fear normal?" Nii-chan repeated as I sat on the bed and he perched himself beside me. Nii-chan was a warm and comforting presence, heady yet sweet. "Are you scared, Seika? Is this... about Kiyoshi? Or Sara Wraith?"

"N- Neither," I shook my head. "It's... it's... Nii-chan. Mother... left me. Papa died. The Madame and Setsu-chan left me the Movement, and it's all I have left of them. Is... is it wrong to not want to leave it? I... I know that Orion-san would be a better leader than I am... and that I don't have power to do anything. I don't have Psychic powers to identify myself with them. Half the time, I don't know if I am doing the correct thing for the Movement. Yet... even so, I can't leave the Movement. It's all I have."

"No one ever said that," Nii-chan whispered. "No one will ever take the Movement away from you, Seika. No one ever-"

He cut off as the phone began to ring once more. Quickly, I dashed out towards the hallway phone and took the receiver out of its cradle. "Fudo residence."

"_Seika-ojou!_" Nakamura-san sounded aggrieved and sad. "_The Chaos Emperor Dragon is stolen! We are betrayed!_"

What? How- the prize- James-san would be so disappointed. "What?"

"_The Knights are chasing after the thief already, but-_"

"I can return right now-" I was cut off as Nii-chan plucked the receiver out of my hand. "Nii-chan-?"

"Nakamura-san," Nii-chan spoke flatly into the receiver. "What great need drove you to call in the middle of the night? Seika is exhausted from today's work, and you intend to call her to come in, when night has already fallen? Is there any urgent business? If not, then I would recommend that business be restricted to office hours. Good night."

"Nii-chan!" I snapped as the receiver was unceremoniously dropped into the cradle. "That's rude! I was called-"

I was enveloped into a hug from Nii-chan. It was wonderfully warm, and comfortable. I could hardly react, nor did I wish to, when he stood so close.

"I don't want to lose you to the Movement," Nii-chan said in a hushed whisper. "I don't want you to end up like Setsuka, unable to let go of the Movement until death or a different set of responsibilities. You have a whole life before you. So, please stop."

My breath caught in my throat. "Nii-... chan...?"

"No one will take the Arcadia Movement from you," Nii-chan insisted.

"But... But, Nakamura-san..." I sputtered. "I... I can't. I don't have anything left. I don't have anything except the Movement left."

"You still have us," Nii-chan insisted. "You still have Dad and Mum, and me. Uzuki is your friend, and you have Rex and Chase if anything else. And Reina... and Nakamura-san, and Orion. So, don't push yourself. Don't force yourself to fill shoes that are impossible for you, to step into a role that forces you to grow up. You don't have to cling to the Movement, it will still be there tomorrow."

"But... it's the only thing I have left of Setsu-chan," I sobbed into his cotton-clad shoulder. "It's the only material inheritance she trusted me with. It's the one thing I can't lose, that I don't want to lose. I don't want to lose anyone else, I don't want to lose anything else. So... Nii-chan, I... at least, at least Nakamura-san is with me. At least he still trusts me to lead the Movement. At least I still have those I wish to protect with me. You're my big brother, but Nakamura-san... Nakamura-san was there, and always there, since I lost Papa and since I gained the Arcadia Movement. So..."

"Shh, Seika," Nii-chan softly whispered. "It's alright. The Knights are chasing after it now, right? It won't affect the Movement. The Movement will still be here tomorrow. So, stop worrying. Stop trying. The Movement will not be taken away from you, okay?"

Nii-chan was warm, even through my shirt, and the simple fact of his touch brought me a small but noticeable sense of comfort.

"You see. You've been badly wounded, and you have found neither rest nor respite from your pains. This is where it always begins. Monsters are born of pain and grief and loss and anger. Your heart is full of them. It makes you vulnerable. Vulnerable to her influence, to temptations that would normally be unthinkable. For how long? You need to heal,Seika. Let me help you."

I frowned at him. "How?"

Nii-chan gave me a small, sad smile. "I'll show you. Here."

His palm pressed a bit closer to my back, and somewhere inside my heart a dam broke open. Emotions welled up like a riotous rainbow.

Scarlet rage. Indigo fear. Pale blue sadness. Aching yellow loneliness. Poison green guilt. The tide flooded through me, searing and painful and beautiful.

After the tide receded, a deep, quiet stillness followed. Warmth suffused me, gently easing away aches and headaches. It spread over my skin, like sunlight on a lazy afternoon outside, and with the warmth my cares began to evaporate. My fear vanished, and I began to relax muscles I hadn't realized were stretched tight as the warmth spread.

I floated in warmth for a time, the release from pain a dream itself.

When I came back to my senses, I was lying on my back on my bed, staring up at the pale ceiling. My head lay in his lap. Hands, large and clean but roughened from mechanical work, rested lightly along the sides of my face.

The pain began to return to my body, thoughts, and heart, like some quiet and detestable tide washing in garbage from polluted seas. I heard myself make a small sound of protest.

"You didn't even realize how much pain you were in, did you?" Nii-chan whispered.

My chest heaved and I let out a quiet sob. The warmth faded entirely, and the sheer weight of the difficulties I had to face pressed down on me, suffocating me.

"Let me help you," he said.

Real tears formed, making my vision blur. I was so tired. I couldn't think straight. I just wanted to sleep for once, once and for all. "_Yes_."

Nii-chan began humming a song. A lullaby.

_Every time you kissed me, I trembled like a child..._

* * *

The Honda Ridgeline was beyond salvaging, so Hazuki called a mechanic and the Movement. Within ten minutes, two more near-identical ATVs and the Wonder Twins arrived.

Yuko rolled his eyes as I got in. "How many times already, Chase?"

"It wasn't my fault," I scowled as Uzuki got in and began babbling about tiny fairies and the scariness thereof.

"Tiny fairies!" Uzuki cackled.

"No candies for you," I sourly retorted. Uzuki responded by pulling a face.

So I put on my best face, and then directed Yuko to the Tops district. He dropped me off there, and I passed Carpe Jugulum and The Throne to reach Rex's house and see the parents ready for a night out.

Despite keeping an independent apartment of my own, I still dropped by the Atlas apartment on occasion. Carly-san had been the mother figure of my teenage life, and was probably more of a mother than my own.

"Both of you, take care of Reina!" the brunette wife of Uncle Jack squealed before the man himself sighed and whisked her away with a bellow of indeterminate content at Rex.

"Just you and me, Reina," Rex stiffly told the infant empress. Reina blew a raspberry at me. "Oh, and Chase."

"Much as it's amusing to see you entertain the baby queen, we seem to have this... thing here," I dryly commented as I closed the door behind me and toed my shoes off.

"So my purpose is relegated to entertaining you. Right, of course," Rex commented, setting Reina down to her blocks on the carpeted floor of the living room. Reina pouted, but began playing. "You want to talk to me."

I paused, considering for a moment. Although Rex and Ryuusei were my first friends, they had a lot more common history between them. It wasn't that important, but considering the topic I was about to broach, I wouldn't like Reina to be traumatised by the sight of her big brother punching his best friend.

"Have you noticed something with Ryuusei?" I decided.

Rex frowned. "Like what?"

"Well..." I shook my head. "He quit his job, right?"

Rex's expression turned disbelieving. "Miyagi moved out of town, Chase. It's not exactly a voluntary decision."

"How'd you know that?" I felt offended.

Rex rolled his eyes. "Doing an internship with the Daily Duel, never mind that. But you're right."

"I am? 'Course I am."

"Chase, for being the heir of the Manjoume Group, you're a social idiot at times," Rex snapped.

"Idiot?"

"_Idiot_. For when _stupid_ doesn't quantify your utter idiocy enough," Rex nodded, frowning. "What did Ryuusei do now?"

I hesitated, but there was no point in lying to Rex. "I think... I think Ryuusei might be behind the Beckmans' deaths."

Rex poured out two mugs of coffee. "Any proof?"

"No-" I cut off suddenly. Rex had skipped all recriminations to go straight to the meat of the matter. He had not questioned my statement, merely accepted it. Which meant that...

…that on some level, Rex must have already been aware, that Ryuusei could have done it.

Rex took his own perch on the couch, watching Reina slowly pick up block after block and start building a castle.

"I travelled with Shinamori and Rodriguez for two years," he began hollowly. "I was in Brazil, when sightings of a curupira came to us. Rodriguez led us there... and we nearly got killed. I saw a tiny hamlet, barely twenty or so people, maybe more, swept away by the storms and drowned in the floods."

"It was a flood?"

"It was judgement," Rex distantly replied.

I waited. "But you don't know it."

"It was one of those places where the spirit worlds touched the mortal world, is how Rodriguez described it. The people that live there depend on subsistence farming to live. They prayed for the mercy of the spirits to live. Whatever the cause, one of the spirits took it up with the authorities. That Spirit was a Mosaic Manticore. It was Summer."

"That... could be a coincidence," I wondered. "What does this have to do with Ryuusei?"

"The _curupira_ of Brazil is supposed to look like a human with red hair," Rex flippantly answered. "The village was said to have offended the _curupira_."

"Well, general consensus is that Ryuusei's a brunet."

Rex sighed, closing the grey eyes that was the only mark of Carly Nagisa anywhere in his physical form. There was a wealth of information beyond words there, that Rex wanted to speak but could not form, ideas that could not be given voice. I always said that Rex knew more than he let on. Being Jack Atlas's miniature doppelgänger didn't mean that Rex was _completely_ lacking in common sense, just... with a tendency to be hot-headed.

"Remember when we were in middle school?" Rex sounded wistful. "Life was great... well, until the two girls stabbed each other over him."

I nodded. The double stabbing might not have been the first incident of Ryuusei being far too attractive for his own good, but it was the first one with any chance of fatality happening. Rex had been freaking overprotective of Ryuusei during that time afterwards. "True, life was great. Did that...?"

"I don't know," Rex whispered. "Sometimes... when things like this happen, and in the end the ones who love him so much end up... end up with a horrible outcome... I see Ryuusei just staring at them. His expression is completely blank, and he does nothing to prevent them from destroying themselves. People who love Ryuusei destroy themselves over him sooner or later. But..."

"But they did it to themselves," I quietly picked up for him. "And Ryuusei had never done anything. Until now. Our best friend-"

"Don't say it." Rex swallowed. Even though we knew, we didn't want to acknowledge it. That in the end, Ryuusei was a power beyond mortal ken now. He was the Summer King.

"There has to be a way," I spoke, more forcefully than I had intended. Reina paused in her building, but other than that she continued.

"Halloween."

"Hallo- what?" I cut off. "Halloween, yeah, it's coming in four weeks' time. What about it?"

"Did you ever think it was a coincidence that they disappeared on Halloween night?" Rex asked. Of course the bastard would remember what happened on his own birthday two years ago.

"Coincidence?" I asked. "Or do you think... that Shimotsuki arranged it?"

"We found Shimotsuki's blood on the scene," Rex clarified. "She bled about a litre of blood, and that's a lot. They had a Duel, an intense Psychic Duel, and Shimotsuki lost. I was occupied with the horror show that was the stadium, you were Dueling Tenjouin Michiru, and so no one else actually knows why she did what she did. But, when I think about it... Ryuusei was the only one who stood a chance. In an all-out Duel..."

"Ah," I placidly commented. "And then?"

"I think Shimotsuki wanted to die there and then," Rex raised a hand as I coughed. "Listen. You and I, we are Duelists. If we have to lose, then we would rather lose to a worthy opponent. To Shimotsuki, who _could_ defeat or kill her? Ryuusei. And then I saw Ryuusei slice open his throat on Duelist Kingdom, and he didn't die."

I swallowed. "I saw Shimotsuki take a knife to the skull and get up again."

"My point exactly." Rex reasoned. "But, on that Halloween night, we know that a fatal blow was dealt to Shimotsuki. She's still alive, but it counts. So, either they can only be nearly killed by each other, or there's another factor we don't know about. Ryuusei... he said that he would only stay until Halloween."

"Then... Ryuusei wants to die?" I whispered, horrified.

"I don't know." Rex admitted in frustration. "What happened to you? You look like hell- is that _blood_?"

I looked down. My left arm, right quadriceps, and the other places with tiny arrows were bleeding. Nothing serious individually, but overall I suppose bleeding on the furniture was a big no-no.

"Dammit," Rex muttered as he stalked off, returning a few moments later with a first-aid kit. "Take the coat off. You look more like a pale nerd."

"I resent that," I tiredly shot back, but peeled it off of me before I dropped it to study my wounds. Aside that my slacks were ruined, my sweater was mostly intact. "No stitching needed."

"Basic bandaging, you know what to do," Rex sighed as he rearranged Reina's blocks. Reina pouted up at him, but scowled and continued working.

"So, what the hell happened?" Rex asked as he began cutting strips of gauze.

I described the fiasco at the Beckman apartment and what I found.

"Tiny fairies whooped your ass," Rex shook his head. "Story of my life."

"So, Rei told me that this might have something to do with Ryuusei," I finished. "You... aren't laughing."

Rex nodded, and I snarled at the rubbing alcohol he started applying to an exposed wound. "Bee List Soldiers. Anything that's tiny, flies and can attack in swarms are f- freaking terrifying."

I rolled my eyes at the near-miss f-bomb. "Right... and Rodriguez was the one who told you?"

"They were very real," Rex answered. He was frowning, and it was not a good sign. "So, the tiny fairies..."

"Were Summer-bound," I nodded. "Whatever it is, the Plague Wolf was a pretty good indicator of Summer hiding something to do with the Beckmans. But why? It's not like the justice system can affect the spirit world."

"Smells like a cover-up," Rex remarked. "The only reason for a cover-up is only if someone suspects that they could be found out."

"By someone with Sight," I guessed. "So the Plague Wolf was the carrier, and the fairies to guard it was to ensure that no hapless mortal with Sight actually got into the flat or saw the evidence..."

"Which means that _they, _whoever they are, knew that there would be someone who could see spirits involved at some point of the procedure," Rex wisely added. "Is there physical evidence?"

"Just... necrotic tissue," I mentally gagged at the idea of the scratch marks on the walls of the empty apartment. "Ekibyo Drakmord."

"So either a Psychic powerful enough to cause death by one of the vaguest equip Spells known to Duel Monsters, or a Duel Spirit, if we assume that this was deliberate, and not a freak accident or something like that," Rex pieced together. "But then we'll need police details of the case."

See what I mean? Rex isn't dumb at all.

"The thing is, if it's a Duel Spirit, then it's a ridiculously powerful one," I shook my head. "Something with an actual, physical effect would need a lot of willpower to master. Heck, even a Psychic Duelist would have it easier than a Duel Spirit."

"Think horses before zebras," Rex muttered. "If it's a Psychic? I mean, the Beckmans were outed as abusers. I think the Movement would take umbrage to that."

"There was plenty of proof to convict the Beckmans. The Arcadia Movement would want them on the ropes for as long as possible." I shook my head. "In a way, it's their particular brand of sadism. Executions are reserved for those whom conventional justice cannot touch."

"There are so many wrong implications with that," Rex shook his head. "But I see your point."

"Even with the Arcadia Rights Bill, the concept of justice isn't addressed," I continued. "If Vanessa Trent had fought back, she would have been judged guilty. So, it could have been-"

My phone went off.

"What the hell-" I clicked it open. "Hello-"

"_Chase, where are you?_" Youkai cut in, his voice panicked.

"At Rex's house," I sighed. "Why?"

"_The Chaos Emperor Dragon was stolen!_" Youkai jabbered off. "_Vanessa Trent stole it, and she's got help!_"

"Look, hon, what does this-"

"_Damned Duel Spirits! She's backed by Duel Spirits, right now I can't hold on her tail!_"

Any sluggishness I might have had died quickly. "I'm coming. Where?"

"_I'm going to corner her towards the apartment building. You wait on the roof._"

"Got it."

Rex stood up as I clicked off. "Oi, what-"

"Gotta go, Duel Spirits and everything," I babbled as I stuffed my feet into the sneakers and hot-footed it into the lobby. It was an agonisingly slow wait, but I managed to get to the top floor and pick the lock in time.

I threw open the door to see a pair of wings. They weren't feathered; instead, they were the round-edged butterfly wings, wavy-patterned of navy blue outwards to black. The presence between those gaudy wings kicked a black-clad presence into the wall beside me, which impacted with a solid thud and a grunt.

"Bloody A," Youkai spat, struggling up.

"Oi, you alright?" I hissed.

"I will be," he winced, before he looked at me. "You're hurt."

I looked down at myself, at the bandages on my forearm and quadriceps. "Tiny fairies, long story. The Himemiya sisters didn't tell you?"

"The card was stolen directly when they came back," Youkai muttered, gingerly trying to struggle to his feet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The last time I saw Vanessa Trent, she was being levered into an ambulance, injured and clearly suffering. Now, she was healed. Her blonde hair was done up in a butterfly bun, four loops to form the pale wings that sprouted from either side of a dark-skinned head. Her smile was wide and berry-red. She wore mainly blacks and oranges, trousers set out with deck-belts, and the entire ensemble set off with a green belt. It looked good on her, but it was also surprisingly conservative, since the orange top had sleeves.

Beside her, the butterfly-winged assassin cleaved its knives.

"So this is all the power the Sylph has?" she intoned, her voice annoyingly high-pitched. "Leaves me to wonder how much power the Knights actually hold."

"Stay for a while, and Yukio can show you," Youkai sniffed back.

"I am not going to wait for the Cold Wolf to catch up," she snarled, and the fire in her eyes seemed real before she looked at me. "Who are you, boy?"

"Okay, for one, I'm twenty," I snapped. "And, I'm Chase Princeton, this guy's boyfriend."

The assassin sharpened its tonfa knives once more in my direction.

Vanessa's face cleared of confusion. "I don't want a fight."

"You got one when you stole from the Arcadia Movement, Trent," Youkai gasped. "Now, you can choose to Duel, or you engage me in a Psychic battle right here. You might have the advantage now, but you know that I'm going to drag this out, and without Aquila around I pretty much rule the skies here. You know what will happen when Cold Wolf and Flame Beast gets here. Do you want to risk it?"

Vanessa's body stilled. "Can you even Duel?"

"I can," I snapped as I extracted my DuelDisk and deck, getting ready.

"Fine," Vanessa pulled out her own DuelDisk, and the butterfly monster by her side disappeared.

"Duel!"

Vanessa: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"I'll start, draw!" Vanessa called. "First, I'll play the Field Spell, Paralysing Butterfly Spore Garden!"

The scene changed immediately into a field of flowers of red and green and yellow.

"That's... well..." I was at a loss of words.

"I summon Moonlit Papillon [1200/1600]," Vanessa called next as the white-blue butterfly appeared. "Now, I activate the quick-play Spell, Miracle Skipper Pollen. By destroying Moonlit Papillon, I can special summon from my deck a Butterspy monster with the same level as the destroyed monster. So arise, Lacewing Butterspy [1500/1000]!"

A flash of off-crimson wings, and the green-armoured monster appeared, carrying knives in both its hands.

"Even though the search effect of Moonlit Papillon misses the timing, I can still search for a monster with Miracle Skipper Pollen. I'll set two cards and end here," Vanessa called.

"Draw!" I called. "I'll summon Infernity Necromancer [0/2000], who then shifts into defence mode. Now, I can't do much, so I'll just set two cards and end my turn."

"At the end phase, Paralyzing Butterfly Spore Garden changes the battle position of all face-up monsters, except for Butterspy monsters." Vanessa declared as Necromancer rose, floating before me.

Well, bloody hell.

"My turn, draw!" Vanessa called.

"Trap card, Infernity Inferno!" I called. "I can pitch up to two cards in my hand and mill two Infernity monsters from my deck to the graveyard. I'll send two cards from my hand and two Infernity monsters from the deck to my graveyard."

Vanessa snorted. "Like that would save you. Since I control a Butterspy monster, I can special summon from my hand Sulphur Butterspy [500/1600] in defence mode. I then normal summon Morpho Butterspy [1200/1600]."

Two more knives-wielding assassins appeared in the midst of the glittering garden.

"Morpho, attack Infernity Necromancer!" Vanessa called. "Blue Scale Stream!"

Chase: LP 8000 → LP 6800

Vanessa: LP 8000

You know the idea that butterflies were weak and girly? Well, I was wrong. They _hurt_ like a _bitch_.

"Trap card, Damage Condenser!" I called as I pitched my last card in hand. "I can special summon a monster with attack power equal to or less than the damage taken, and I choose Infernity Guardian [1200/1700] in defence mode!"

"I see," Vanessa looked like she had swallowed a lemon as the monster appeared. "Main phase two. I activate the effect of Lacewing Butterspy to change the battle position of Infernity Guardian from defence mode to attack mode."

"Huh?" I blinked.

"When the battle position of a monster my opponent controls changes, two things happen with this field," Vanessa pointed out. "First, Sulphur Butterspy allows me to draw a card if the position change was brought about by the effect of a Butterspy or Papi monster. Secondly, Morpho Butterspy will cause the monster to lose one thousand attack and defence power [1200/1700 → 200/700]."

Sulphur Butterspy coated her field in gold pollen as she drew, as my own Guardian was drenched in blue dust from the wings of the blue Butterspy.

"Now, I construct the overlay network with Morpho Butterspy and Lacewing Butterspy." Vanessa called. "Exceed summon! Arise, Photon Papilloperative!"

Amethyst wings shrouded in black fanned out. The figure was dressed in an orange bodice and a blue skirt, the whole affair more imposing than any ball gown. Even the black mask that hid her features could not detract from the imposing figure the Photon Papilloperative threw [2100/1800] as it stood.

Kinda odd for an assassin, but then there was another reason for a butterfly's wings.

"I activate the Continuous Spell, Butterfly Charm," Vanessa declared. "With this, all of my opponent's monsters must attack where able, and all face-up monsters that did not declare an attack are destroyed. Turn end, and now at the end phase Infernity Guardian and Photon Papilloperative are turned to defence mode."

The giant amethyst-winged creature descended into a crouch, wings a-flutter.

"Dammit," I muttered. "I draw!"

No monsters, and right now I had cards in hand. But... "I activate the face-down Legacy of Yata-Garasu to draw a card," I called.

I found myself grinning as the next card came. Perfect.

"Now, I'll summon Summoner Monk [800/1600] to the field," I called as the monk knelt. "Then, I discard the Spell, ZERO-MAX from my hand to special summon from my deck a level four monster such as Infernity Demon [1800/1200]. With that, when Infernity Demon is special summoned while my hand is at zero, I can search my deck for an Infernity card to add to my hand, such as Infernity Launcher. I activate the Continuous Spell, Infernity Launcher. I construct the overlay network with Infernity Guardian and Summoner Monk. Exceed Summon! Come, Lavalval Chain [1800/1000]!"

The flame dragon glowed red as it appeared, crouching and ready to attack.

"Now, I activate the effect of Lavalval Chain, detaching one Exceed Material to activate one of two effects, and I choose the second one, to mill the tuner monster, Infernity Avenger. I activate Infernity Launcher, special summoning from my graveyard Infernity Necromancer and Infernity Avenger [0/0]!"

As I said so, the necromancer and the Stetson-wearing gun-toting monster appeared on the field.

"Tuning, level four Demon and level three Necromancer to level one Avenger!" I called. "When the dead and the living meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro summon! Come forth, Infernity Death Dragon!"

My ace card, my first dragon, appeared on the field, pincers clicking and ratty leather wings beating fiercely [3000/2400].

"Trap card, Butterspy Protection," Vanessa quickly called. "I will change an opponent's monster of my choice from face-up attack mode to face-up defence mode, and so any damage dealt to me this turn is halved. I choose Lavalval Chain."

"Infernity Death Dragon, attack Photon Papilloperative with your Infernity Death Breath!" I called as black flames enveloped the screaming assassin.

"Because Photon Papilloperative was placed in defence mode, I take no damage from this attack," Vanessa called. "Trap card, Xyz Reborn. I revive Photon Papilloperative and attach Xyz Reborn as Exceed material."

The amethyst-winged monster reappeared once more in a crouch, glaring in defiance.

"I'll end here," I scowled.

"Butterfly Charm will destroy Lavalval Chain," Vanessa tonelessly murmured as the small dragon imploded. "And Infernity Death Dragon is shifted to defence mode, as Photon Papilloperative is changed to attack mode. My turn, draw."

She glanced at her card. "I activate the Spell, Moon Dust Pollen. I shall target two level four or lower Butterspy monsters in my graveyard, and special summon them in attack mode, but at the end phase of the turn they will be sent to the graveyard. Revive, Morpho Butterspy, Lacewing Butterspy."

The blue and green butterfly-winged creature appeared, wings flashing.

"I will activate the effect of Photon Papilloperative," Vanessa declared. "By detaching one Exceed material, I will change the defence mode Infernity Death Dragon to attack mode, and reduce its attack and defence power by six hundred [3000/2400 → 2400/1800]."

Pollen fluttered all around the largest of the Phantom Butterfly Assassins, and my dragon growled.

"The effect of Sulphur Butterspy allows me to draw a card, and the effect of Morpho Butterspy reduces the attack and defence stats of Infernity Death Dragon by a further thousand," Vanessa declared as blue-tinged pollen drenched Infernity Death Dragon [2400/1800 → 1400/800]. "And I pay two thousand life points to activate the Continuous Spell, Butterfly Swarm. Upon the destruction of a monster that is sent to the graveyard, the controller of the destroyed monster take fifteen hundred damage. Photon Papilloperative, attack Infernity Death Dragon with Butterfly Distortion!"

Multiple shades of the winged beauties separated, a riot of colours all of its own. I could hardly react, transfixed as I was on seeing the assassin come, beautiful and certain death approaching. It swooped down, hardly a contest as the assassin drowned my dragon in a swarm of butterflies.

Chase: LP 6800 → LP 6100 → LP 4600

Vanessa: LP 8000 → LP 6000

"Now, Morpho, Lacewing," she called. "Direct attack with Grand Scale Stream!"

Chase: LP 4600 → LP 1900

Vanessa: LP 6000

"That's... some pretty good moves," I panted from the exertion, even from the minute amount of damage. I didn't even know _why_ I couldn't move.

"I overlay Morpho and Lacewing once more, exceed summon!" Vanessa declared. "Appear, Kachi Kochi Dragon!"

This one was a dragon of rock, solid and unwaveringly jagged as it growled, on all fours by her [2100/1300].

"Turn end," she called.

I was sweating through my duster, without a field, without a hand, and with less than likely chances of winning. I was teetering on the edge, so to speak. "You know... with talent like that, you could probably make it in the Pro scene. So, Ms Trent? Why do this to yourself?"

"What makes you think that I'll talk?" Vanessa shot back.

"It's a standard question," my eyebrows climbed. It was as much curiosity as an attempt to buy time. I'd yet to meet any megalomaniac who didn't want to talk about themselves.

Vanessa frowned, and her brow knitted softly. "My mother was a dancer."

"Pardon?" I blinked.

"My parents were in the performing arts, particularly ballet." Vanessa raised her arms in a curved gesture, mimicking some dance posture I'd be hard-pressed to name. The grace was all there, evident in how she stood and how her arms moved in a curious economy of grace and movement. "So was I. I dreamt of dancing on stage in the _corps de ballet_. I would have done anything to dance professionally. I'd perform the _Le Papillon_, all over the world. I would have been free."

Her expression hardened. "Then my parents died, and I was left to the Beckmans. They took my money, and they tried to kill me when I came back."

She lifted one pant leg up, and I gasped as I saw the stitches that ran clear across one shin and the puzzle of prosthetic parts embedded in skin. It was like seeing the Bride of Frankenstein somewhat, seeing beauty in neat stitches and cuts sewn up and body parts cobbled together in a facsimile of humanity. If that had been done by the Beckmans... I didn't know what to think.

"They did this to me," she whispered. "But he came. He told me that the other doctors were all wrong. He told me that... that he could make me dance again. I believed him... and he did. He pulled me out of the darkness and into the light."

She met me, eye for eye. "I owe everything to him, to Summer. I will now have my revenge... on the rest of the world."

I shuddered as the matter-of-fact tone in her voice, with the promise of vengeance hidden underneath. So much anger, so much hate at the world...

Youkai whimpered. "So what? You're not the only one with a sob story."

"I will settle you later, Sylph." She cocked her head, intently studying me and ignoring Youkai. "It's your turn. You might want to finish quickly... it wouldn't do to tarry for an ugly and drawn-out demise."

I swallowed, praying to every one of the Duel gods I knew. _Don't fail me now._

I drew what could be classed as a destiny draw, and with it the seeds of a plan began to form.

"Do you remember the Infernity Inferno I used?" I asked innocently.

Vanessa's eyebrows rose. "You mean to say that this was all according to plan?"

"Well, not entirely," I admitted. "I stand by that you're a fantastic Duelist. You could've been a Pro, really, and I trust that your dancing would be equally graceful. I can't claim to understand your anger or hate, but let me ask you; does this merit betraying the Arcadia Movement?"

Vanessa swallowed. "It is for its sake. Chaos Emperor Dragon has destroyed greater men and women than Kannazuki-sama. If only Shimotsuki-sama were still around... fear of her was the only thing that kept the Beckmans back. When she left... you know? Everyone cried."

I sighed. That kind of loss of security had thrown the entire Movement into upheaval, but that humans could be so cruel to each other really called the feasibility of the entire race as a whole into question. "That's not my call to make. But I'm done here."

"What?" Vanessa scornfully muttered. "What could you possibly do that would matter now?"

I held up the card, reciting tonelessly. "By revealing Infernity Demon in my hand, I can special summon Infernity Demon [1800/1200]. Upon the special summon of Infernity Demon, I search my deck for Infernity Mirage and summon Infernity Mirage [0/0]."

The poncho-wearing monster appeared, floating overhead.

"I tribute Infernity Mirage to special summon from my graveyard Infernity Demon and Infernity Necromancer, and so I search out Infernity Break and set it." I called as the two appeared. "I use the handless effect of Necromancer to revive Infernity Avenger. Tuning, level four Demon and level three Necromancer to level one Avenger. Against the backdrop of darkness, many eyes open... open the truth of the gates! Synchro summon! Take flight, Hundred Eyes Dragon!"

Ugly it may be, and terrifying it may look, but the many-eyed silhouette of it was a rare comfort. All of its eyes blinked, and it gave a low growl as it stared at the field [3000/2500].

"I banish the Infernity General in the graveyard to special summon the level three Infernity Knight [1400/400] and Infernity Beast [1600/1200] from my graveyard," I called as they appeared. "Although their effects are negated... we probably won't need them. I overlay Beast and Knight to Exceed Summon! Arise, Leviair the Sea Dragon!"

The blue-green apparition appeared, growling faintly[1800/1600].

"The effect of Hundred Eyes Dragon; I banish Infernity Mirage to use the revival effect of Mirage as that of Hundred Eyes Dragon's. From my graveyard, I revive Infernity Demon and Avenger once more!" I called as they reappeared. "So I search for, and set, Infernity Burst. Tuning, level four Demon and level one Avenger. The lone ranger that patrols the highway of hell, time to make your stand! Run, Stygian Sergeants!"

The two-headed protector of the streets. The twin cops of Hell, Jaw and Kick. The terrors of the roads... and ugly as sin [2200/1800].

"Stygian Sergeants, attack Gem-Knight Pearl!" I called, pointing at the kneeling figure in defence mode. "Hell Claws!"

My sergeant sliced them to shreds.

"And your own Butterfly Swarm bites back!" I called as carmine butterflies swarmed her.

Vanessa: LP 6000 → LP 4500

Chase: LP 1900

"When Stygian Sergeants destroys a monster by battle, it gains eight hundred attack power [2200/1800 → 3000/1800] and can attack once again in a row!" I called. "Attack Photon Papilloperative with Hell Claws!"

Vanessa: LP 4500 → LP 3600 → LP 2100

Chase: LP 1900

"Leviair! Attack Sulphur Butterspy!" I called as the demon leapt up and beheaded the kneeling assassin. "Dimensional Burst!"

Vanessa: LP 2100 → LP 600

Chase: LP 1900

Vanessa's expression was so lost, so painfully sad that I almost faltered. Pity died when Youkai groaned in pain behind me.

"Infernity Demon!" I called to the only one of my monsters left. "Get to it! Direct attack with Hell Pressure!"

The Demon raised its arms, and the circle of power that descended overhead crashed down.

Vanessa: LP 600 → LP 0

Chase: LP 1900

I staggered, listing to one side. An owl hooted overhead, and I glanced up to see the crown-wearing owl. After the Cat of Ill Omen, what were the chances?

That... that had been intense. And fun. And painful, but pain was par for the course. This was a real challenge, something... something incredible.

Vanessa gave a panicked hiss as the four-man team of Knights appeared. The field shattered, blinding glittery garden giving way to pitch-black street-ridden darkness. A blond young man I knew was Reggie tripped her, and the orange-head with him named Glen held her arms back in a hold.

"You're under arrest, Trent." Yukio snarled, falling from a flaming bird overhead.

I gave him a thumbs-up as the lethargy kicked in. "We won."

The redhead Hazuki began to pat down Vanessa. "It's not here... it's not here!"

Aww, _man_.

* * *

_**Lacewing Butterspy (Genchō no Shikyaku Kusakagerō)  
**__**DARK/ Warrior/ LV 4  
1500/1000  
Effect: Once per turn, you can change the Battle Position of 1 monster your opponent controls. This card is treated as Level 4 if it is used for an Xyz Summon for a Warrior-Type Xyz Monster.**_

_**Sulphur Butterspy (Genchō no Shikyaku Iō)**__**  
LIGHT/ Warrior/ LV 4  
500/1600  
Effect: If you control a "Butterspy" or "Papi" monster other than "Sulphur Butterspy", you can Special Summon this card (from your hand) in ATK position. When a monster your opponent controls changes battle position by the effect of a "Butterspy" or "Papi" monster: Draw 1 card from your deck. The effect of "Sulphur Butterspy" can only be activated once per Turn. **_

_**Paralyzing Butterfly Spore Garden (**__**Mahi Chō Hōshi Niwa**__**)**__**  
Type: Field Spell  
Effect: During the End Phase (of either player's turn): Change the battle position of all face-up monsters on the field, except for "Butterspy" monsters. **_

_**Miracle Skipper Pollen (**__**Kiseki no kafun o sukippā**__**)**__**  
Type: Quick-play**__**Spell  
Effect: Destroy**__**1 face-up Insect-Type monster you control, and Special Summon 1 "Butterspy" monster from the Deck with the same Level as the destroyed monster. **_

_**Moon Dust Pollen (Tsuki Hokori Kafun)**__**  
Type: Normal Spell  
Effect: **__**Target 2 Level 4 or lower "Butterspy" monsters in your Graveyard; Special Summon them in Attack position. During the End Phase, send them to the Graveyard. **_

_**Note: the Butterspy cards mentioned above can be looked up in YuGiOh! Card Maker (brackets stand for author's interpretation of the effect). All credit goes to **__**Rockmanmegaman**__** and other fellow Duelists who contributed to that wiki page on the YGO Card Maker wiki.**_

_**The Butterspy archetype is used by Droite in the YGO ZeXal animé.**_

_**Please review!**_


	56. LIII: Trial of the Princesses

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Edited 13 June 2013**_

* * *

**LIII: Trial of the Princesses**

I awoke to blissful sleep and the smell of cooking miso. That was odd... Nakamura-san never made miso soup on the rare days that he made breakfast-

I sat up quickly. "The soup!"

It was a quick dash out of my room that resulted in my skidding on the hallway floor, but I could hardly help it.

"Oh, Seika?" Nii-chan gently called from the kitchenette. "Good morning. We didn't have much eggs left, so I mixed the rice in with the eggs and garlic and I made soup. Seika? You need to change."

I looked down to my own pyjamas, flushing as I realised that the sheer cotton meant that Nii-chan could see everything. "G- Good morning!" I shouted as I ran.

I ran to the bathroom, panting as I splashed my face. My own violet eyes, large and quivering, greeted me in the mirror. "W- What was that?"

My reflection looked about as confused as I felt. Like everything was normal and nothing hurt.

I washed up, brushed my teeth and got dressed before I got out. Nii-chan had set my place, and I began eating after giving thanks. It was delicious...

"I'm not quite up to your standard yet," Nii-chan offered as he set two more places.

I blinked. "Nii-chan...?"

He placed a finger to his lips, smiling. "Dad and Mum came home together last night. They're in their room."

I blushed, understanding the implications. "O- Oh."

A peaceable silence fell as I finished breakfast, cleared the dishes and ran to grab my school bag.

"So, do you have everything?" Nii-chan asked as I climbed into my shoes.

"Yes. I'll be going, Nii-chan," I smiled.

"Be safe."

"Seika!" Uzuki glomped me the moment I ran out of the house. "Come on!"

"U- Uzuki!" I insisted as she pushed me into the nearest shuttle bus, where we were uncomfortably jostled.

"Anyway, what do you think about the Queen of Queens tournament?" Uzuki hissed to me.

"Queen of Queens..." I felt depressed at the mention of the school's bi-annual tournament. There was no time for me to prepare, not at all. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it."

"Why?" Uzuki insisted. "After all, you have that Number card and Stardust!"

"Two good cards don't make everything alright," I explained. "There's still the fact that I don't have time to prepare."

Uzuki stared at me as if I'd grown two heads. Given that Uzuki was an infamously stubborn student who only got into Blue and the Disciplinary Committee because of her Dueling ability rather than any theoretical test, she was probably subscribing to the Yuuki Judai school of thought. "But... Dueling is Dueling," she faintly repeated.

She was echoing the same thing as the entirety of DA Queens gathered in the campus's Dragon Auditorium later.

"Nikki-chan?" Uzuki echoed as Nikki-chan stood at the podium beside Chancellor Tenjouin. Both of them were not alone, though; there was a blonde head that I recognised as the former Queen of Queens, Hinamori Seiran.

Chancellor Tenjouin Asuka seemed to have aged fairly since I last saw her at Ayame-san's funeral. "Will Himemiya Uzuki step up to the stage?"

"Wish me luck!" Uzuki hissed as she departed to run up.

Chancellor Tenjouin studied the entire cohort. "As everyone is aware, traditionally the disciplinary system of Queens is handled by the Disciplinary Committee, while the other aspects of student-run activities in Queens are overseen by the Student Council. But, there has been a proposal for the Disciplinary Committee to be absorbed into the Student Council since the recent mishandling of the Sara Wraith case."

More discussion as I felt my spine stiffen.

"Wait, Chancellor!" A girl in the black uniform spoke up. "The affairs between the Student Council and the Disciplinary Committee has been running fine since the system was set up five years ago! So, why...?"

"This system was set up between the then-President Hinamori Seiran and Shimotsuki Setsuka," Chancellor Tenjouin crisply replied. "It relies on the assured cooperation of the heads of both committees to work together. Since Himemiya Hazuki had left school, I have received twenty complaints of bureaucratic incompetence between the two Committees. I assure everyone, that members of the Disciplinary Committee will still keep their status but will have to give up the privilege of being able to miss lessons."

Her stern amber-eyed gaze filtered over the heads of the students, and narrowed on me. "Of course, I understand that the loyalties of the school is divided between the Disciplinary Committee and the Student Council. Therefore, I have proposed that each committee elect a representative to Duel. If the Student Council wins, then the Disciplinary Committee will be absorbed in effective today. If the Disciplinary Committee wins, then it remains independent with the assurance of President Matsumoto that the Council will give every contribution necessary for the Ladies in Black to fulfil their duties. President Matsumoto, Chairperson Mitsuki, please submit the names of your champions. I will now allow our former Student Council President, Hinamori Seiran, to preside. Hinamori-san, if you please."

Hinamori-san stepped up, and curtseyed. "I am the former Queen of Queens, and thirty-sixth President of the Student Council of Duel Academia Queens, Hinamori Seiran. I hereby present myself to the student body of DA Queens as referee and judge adjunct of this situation of Disciplinary Committee versus Student Council. The Student Council produces the arguments of streamlining procedure and keeping student brutality and abuse of authority at a minimum. The Disciplinary Committee protests of bureaucratic interruptions and being unable to fulfil their duties of maintaining discipline amongst we students of Queens and keeping the criminal and unruly element out of Queens where needed. As such, this will be settled by ritual Duel. Present your Duelists."

President Matsumoto stood up by the side. "The Student Council recognises Nicolette Kurosagi as its representative."

Another redhead in black, Chairperson Mitsuki, stood up from the seated crowd. "The Disciplinary Committee recognises Himemiya Uzuki as its representative."

The two of them, Uzuki and Nikki-chan, turned to face each other.

"They say that you're really strong, Himemiya-sempai," Nikki-chan offered.

"A stuffy title like 'sempai' is more suited to my Nee-chan," Uzuki rebutted. "Well then, let's begin this rondo!"

"Duel!"

Nicolette: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Nikki-chan called. "I'll summon Elemental HERO Stratos [1800/300] to the field in attack mode. Stratos allows me to move an Elemental HERO of my choice from my deck to my hand, and I choose Elemental HERO Lady Heat. Then, I activate HERO's Bond to special summon from my hand two copies of Elemental HERO Lady Heat [1300/1000]."

The two fiery ladies appeared on the field, both in a fight-ready stance.

"With that, I activate the Field Spell, Skyscraper 2 – Hero City and end my turn. At the end phase, Lady Heat will inflict two hundred damage for every Elemental HERO monster I control, including herself. I have two copies of Lady Heat in play, plus a total of three, so take a total of twelve hundred damage!"

Uzuki: LP 8000 → LP 6800

Nicolette: LP 8000

"Heh, so you're using the burn strategy that's the signature move of Yuuki Ayame," Uzuki commented.

"Yes," Nikki-chan admitted. "I set a card, turn end."

"Very well. Then, my turn, draw!" Uzuki called. "First, I'll play the Spell Double Summon, which allows me to normal summon twice this turn. Then, I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Madolche Ticket. First, I summon Madolche Magileine [1400/1200]!"

From a cloud of sparkles, the witch spun around as a large broad-brimmed hat popped atop of her head and a long fork-like staff appeared in her hands. The cute witch stopped spinning around and winked, creating a few holographic hearts around her.

"She allows me to take one Madolche monster from my deck and add it to my hand, so I'll add Madolche Mewfeuille." Uzuki called. "Now, I summon Madolche Mewfeuille [500/300], and thus I can special summon the princess of the castle, Madolche Puddingcess!"

Like with the other Madolche monsters, another pop of colourful smoke exploded. However, several small coughs echoed through the air, and before long the princess did a jute onto the field. Tossing her blonde curls back, Madolche Puddingcess was... very cute, close-up. Her dress was like a wedding cake, white and baby pink with a double hem, the lower one of white lace like cream, and the upper of brown ribbon like chocolate icing that matched her be-ribboned ballet flats and white stockings. A delicate tiara, like spun sugar, glimmered next to the giant cherry in her hair. She coughed delicately as she waved aside the smoke [1000/1000].

"Okay... and she warranted to be special summoned?" Nikki-chan asked.

"When I have no monsters in my graveyard, Puddingcess gains eight hundred attack and defence power [1000/1000 → 1800/1800]," Uzuki answered as the princess did a slow turn. "Magileine, attack one Lady Heat with Magical Patisserie!"

The fork was employed to stab through one Lady Heat.

Nicolette: LP 8000 → LP 7900

Uzuki: LP 6800

"Now, Madolche Puddingcess, attack another Lady Heat with Sauté Arabesque!" Uzuki called as the princess leapt, and then stretched out one leg while standing on the other in the air, and lashed out at the second Lady Heat. "Plus, the effect of Puddingcess; when she battles, one card on the field goes boom! So I'll choose your Field Spell!"

Nicolette: LP 7900 → LP 7400

Uzuki: LP 6800

"What?" Nikki-chan shielded herself as the field of futuristic buildings shattered.

"I'll set a card, turn end." Uzuki called.

"My turn, draw!" Nikki-chan called. "I activate the Spell, Polymerization!"

"Counter Trap, Madolche Tea Break!" Uzuki defended. "I'll negate Polymerization and return it to your hand. But, when I control Madolche Puddingcess while Madolche Tea Break is activated, I can cause another card to go boom! So Stratos is destroyed!"

The last Hero screamed as he imploded.

Nikki-chan flushed. "I summon Elemental HERO Neos Alius [1900/1300]. Neos Alius, attack Madolche Puddingcess!"

The princess screamed as she was shattered.

Uzuki: LP 6800 → LP 6700

Nicolette: LP 7900

"All of the Madolche share the ability to be shuffled into the deck when they are destroyed in my possession," Uzuki declared. "By the effect of Madolche Ticket, when a card from my side of the field or my graveyard is returned to my hand or deck, I can add a Madolche monster from my deck to my hand, so I choose Madolche Butlerusk. Also, the effect of Puddingcess activates no matter if she wins or loses, so your Neos Alius is gone!"

"But I activate Hammer Shot to destroy Mewfeuille!" Nikki-chan retorted.

"Mewfeuille will be shuffled into the deck as well," Uzuki intoned. "Since Madolche Ticket can only be activated once per turn, this effect does not apply."

"Turn end with a set card," Nikki-chan admitted, her green eyes narrowed.

"My turn, draw!" Uzuki called. "I summon Madolche Butlerusk [1500/1300]."

A brown-haired butler in a monocle and dark tail-coated suit appeared in a burst of dignified dark purple glitter. He coughed lightly into a gloved fist, and then began pouring tea into a cup from a small china teapot that appeared out of nowhere.

"By his effect, while I control another Madolche monster such as Magileine when he is normal summoned, I can add a Field Spell to my hand, such as Madolche Château. I activate the Field Spell, Madolche Château!"

The surroundings changed to the candy-rock castle, and a familiar song began to play as well.

"I construct the overlay network between these two monsters!" Uzuki called. "The fairy that rules the sugar kingdom, come! Begin the haunting dance of the night! Exceed summon! Queen of the kingdom of sweets, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!"

As the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' began playing, the throne appeared. It was made of a confection of opera cake, and primarily decorated with cappuccino-coloured whipped cream at its head and white chocolate at its arms, carved into a curve. It stood empty for a moment... and from stage left entered the queen. Her hair was grey-white and spun, like cotton candy, to hand on either side of the beaming, rosy face. She was dressed in a frilly gown with overcoat, the gown being white on ochre, and the coat edged with brown lace on ochre, complete with a bodice tied with laced liquorice ropes around her waist. The overall effect reminded me of a tiramisu cake. Her crown was perched on her head, delicate as sugar spun into that shape, and a horned staff was held in one hand [2200/2100 → 2700/2600].

Now, I activate the effect of Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!" Uzuki called. "I can detach one Exceed material, and shuffle up to two Madolche cards from my graveyard into the deck, and shuffle two cards from your field into your deck! I shuffle the detached Magileine back into my deck, and with them your set card! Crown of Confections!"

Giggling, the Queen banged her staff and whisked Stratos and Neos Alius back to Nikki-chan's deck. "My defences!"

"I'm not done!" Uzuki called. "Due to Madolche Château, my shuffled monster is returned to my hand instead, and due to Madolche Ticket, I can special summon a Madolche monster from my deck since I control a Fairy-Type Madolche monster like Queen Tiaramisu! So return, Madolche Puddingcess!"

The blonde princess did a pirouette as she reappeared [1000/1000 → 1500/1500 → 2300/2300].

"Queen Tiaramisu, Puddingcess, direct attack!" Uzuki called. "Royal Victorian! Sauté Arabesque!"

Queen and princess cast their spells, giggling all the while.

Nicolette: LP 7900 → LP 2900

Uzuki: LP 6700

"I'll set a card, turn end." Uzuki declared.

"I can't lose... I can't lose," Nikki-chan whispered. "Draw! I'll activate The Warrior Returning Alive to take Stratos back. Then, I summon Stratos and use his effect!"

"Counter Trap, Madolche Nights!" Uzuki called. "When a monster effect is activated, if I have no monsters in my graveyard, I can negate the activation of that effect, then if I control Madolche Puddingcess, I can shuffle one random card from your hand into the Deck."

"What?" Nikki-chan whispered as Stratos disappeared. "No... I end my turn."

"Draw!" Uzuki called. "Queen Tiaramisu, Puddingcess. Direct attack!"

Nicolette: LP 2900 → LP 0

Uzuki: LP 6700

"The victory is certain," Chancellor Tenjouin decreed. "Therefore, the Disciplinary Committee will remain."

There were the sounds of celebration, slightly subdued but definitely there.

"Nikki-chan...?" I murmured as I approached the stage and everyone else except Uzuki and I left.

"Leave me alone."

"What?" Uzuki muttered. "Seika, let's go. We have class."

"Why?" Nikki-chan whispered. "Even with this deck of Ayame-neesan... am I incapable of using the Elemental HEROes?"

"Uzuki's Madolche deck focuses on taking advantage of the opponent's loopholes and quickly exploiting them," I explained. "See, all Madolche monsters except for Queen Tiaramisu has the ability to return to the deck after destruction, or to the hand when Château is active. So they are very difficult to deck out. Not only so, but the Madolche feature a wide variety of searchers, which makes it inherently stable for a deck full of low-level monsters as well. The ultimate goal of most Madolche decks would be to maintain card advantage, and take advantage of openings to quickly deal damage. The speed and recycling of resources of Elemental HEROes is slower. So even though Nikki-chan started out with a great rush and at an advantageous position with two beaters and three burn-damage cards, and a way to protect them, Uzuki could turn the field about quickly because she could search out the necessary cards and also implement them quickly to exploit the greatest weakness of Elemental HERO cards; searching."

"As expected of Seika!" Uzuki sighed.

"But... why does Kannazuki-san attend school, then?" Nikki-chan asked. "She's smart enough to graduate, right?"

"No," I shook my head. "It took a lot out of me to keep on top of my classes. In fact, the only reason Hibiki-sensei allows me to skip classes is because I keep on top of my grades and so I can afford to pay attention to the Movement."

"So, Kannazuki-san... didn't do this by choice," Nikki-chan murmured.

"No," I assured. "I... I chose this."

I chose this. I chose to miss this. I chose to work with a Movement I did not know if they truly liked me.

For the first time in a long, long while, I smiled.

* * *

There was no reception in the infirmary, so I made the call outside of it. I had to prod my brain with a sharp stick until it figured out my next move. My brain is sometimes overly optimistic, but I indulged it on the off chance that I came up a winner in the investigative lottery.

It rang eleven times before she answered. "Yes?"

"Kaiba Kisara?" I asked.

"Mmmph," answered a rumpled-sounding female voice. "Who is this?"

"Chase Princeton."

"O- Oh!" Her voice brightened with immediate, if somewhat sleepy, cheer, which seemed far more appropriate to the Summer champion. "Yes, Princeton-san? What's going on?"

"That's the question of the day," I said. "I need to talk to you about Summer business."

The sleepiness vanished. So did the friendliness. "Oh."

"Look, it's nothing big," I started. "I just need to-"

"Mr Princeton," she sounded like a school-ma'am. She had never cut me off before. In fact, if you'd asked my professional opinion, I'd have told you that Kaiba Kisara had never interrupted anyone in her life. "We can't talk about this here. The line might not be secure."

"Come on," I said. "Really?"

"A phone tap is not a difficult thing to engineer."

I frowned. "Good point," I allowed. "Then we need to talk."

"When?"

"Soonest."

She mentioned a place close to the Daimon Area.

"Fine," I said.

"When?"

"Lunch?" I offered.

"Noon, then," I agreed before we mutually hung up and I made the second call of the day, arranging a few more details before I went in to check on him.

Youkai was seated up in bed, poring over a few pictures and yawning. "Yukio managed to get a few stills of the other guys."

I took one, frowning immediately before I pocketed it and hauled the rest away from him. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I can't rest, not right now!" Youkai looked agitated. "I'm the primary investigator of the Movement! I'm supposed to be-"

I pushed him down, sternly fixing my best unimpressed glare. "You're in no condition to go anywhere. Stay. Rest. Dr Erik can get creative if you want, but don't push it."

Youkai glanced at my thigh and my shoulder. "Pot, kettle, black. I can't afford to."

"You can. I can do the legwork," I snapped. "Come on. Indulge me?"

Youkai's jaw set. "Chase... you know where's the Magic Formula?"

I was meeting Kisara there for business and lunch. "Yes."

Youkai's breath caught. "When? Where? How?"

I blinked. "Huh? Why?"

Youkai gave me his best unimpressed glare, which considering the unique shade of his eyes made it rather malevolent. "Why are you going to the Magic Formula?"

"I'm meeting Kisara. Summer business," I answered. "I'm chasing down a lead."

After a moment, Youkai slowly nodded. "Be careful."

"What's up with the Magic Formula?"

"It's an information nexus. All the gossips go to this little café-slash-bookshop and exchange information within Neo Domino itself," Youkai answered. "It's also accorded neutral, so Psychics can also mix there."

I felt my eyebrows rise. "And why haven't we been there?"

"Because the food sucks, and the only reputable thing is the coffee," Youkai dutifully informed me. "You're a food snob, Chase."

I snorted. "For that, you're paying next time."

"Take one of the Knights with you," Youkai offered. "Kasai might have a job there, but sometimes it gets rowdy."

I stayed with Youkai until I was sure he wasn't going to suddenly drop unconscious, and after he ate his breakfast.

"You've called her, right?" Youkai muttered, attempting to push me to the door. "Go. Investigate this."

"B- But, Youkai!" I insisted.

"I'll be fine! You already saw me suffer through breakfast, right?" Youkai sighed, crossing his arms and pursing his lips. "Or do you get a kick out of just staying here?"

"You'll really be fine?"

"Dr Erik!" Youkai pouted, calling the name of the infirmary chief.

A solid, steady hand landed on my shoulder, and Dr Erik escorted me to the door.

"You go investigate. Find us the bastards responsible, and call back." Youkai called. "Then we'll rain hell down on them, hear me?"

I growled, but it was with that sentiment that I left the infirmary. My own injuries were bandaged, but I was obviously in no position to ride anywhere. I might have intended to ask Ryuusei or Rex for a ride, but yet found myself unable to ask them for two good reasons. For Ryuusei, I could hardly say that I was investigating if he was having murderous impulses, and Rex was occupied with Reina.

Hence, I was stuck with no alternative but to get to the first floor.

"Oi, Yukio. Mind if I borrow a ride?"

Orion, Yukio and Yuko glanced up from their desk where they were playing poker. Despite being a fifty-man force, the Knights of Arcadia was run out of one floor of the Arcadia Movement headquarters. It was accessible from the ground floor, had its own Duel field, and was currently rather empty.

"Why?" Yukio asked without preamble. He was winning.

I waved one bandaged leg. "Can't exactly ride like this."

Orion looked down and over, and he frowned down at it. "Can't exactly drive either. What the hell happened to you?"

"Tiny fairies." I glared at him as I heard a choked sound.

Yukio frowned at me. "I see. And how are you still moving?"

I blinked. "Huh?"

"Your quadriceps and shoulder was hit, which was a move calculated to keep you from moving," Yukio slowly informed me. "By all rights, you should be limping, rather than still ambulatory."

I shrugged. "I can book a room later. Right now I need a ride to the Manjoume Entertainment."

Yuko frowned. "I don't think you can drive like that. Yukio, you're free now, right?"

Yukio's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he considered his twin.

Yuko stared back evenly at the other two Psychics. "He's attached. Even if you have a type for mouthy bastards, your particular mouthy bastard would set him on fire if he tried anything, and Chase knows it. You can't stay in here forever and get out only on missions. And Orion-san needs to get out, as well. Take it as a milk run, approved by the co-captain."

"About what?" I asked before the rest of it caught up with my brain.

Yukio groaned, getting up to grab a key-ring from the nearest store cabinet. "I've heard things about you, Princeton. We're taking the Armada."

So I found myself bodily escorted into a Nissan Armada marked with the lightning-struck tower, and Yukio drove out with Orion riding shotgun. Unlike his cool exterior, Yukio drove carefully, which was an improvement of the _Initial D_ that Rex put on in anything involving four wheels.

"So, why the sports utility trucks?" I made casual conversation.

"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you," Yukio answered, not flippantly, but more matter-of-fact.

I dropped that line of questioning right there. "I'd be much easier if there was conversation."

"Princeton, we hardly meet face-to-face." Yukio shortly informed me. "Your contact with the Knights is limited to Hercules, Sylph, and now Goldenrod and I, and you usually contact us through Nakamura-san or Sylph, usually in lieu of property damages. Forgive me if I don't seem chummy to you."

"Oww," Orion winced for me, as I was too busy attempting not to strangle Yukio. "That's just cruel. Are you this abrasive all the time?"

Yukio did not answer.

"So... you were taught by Setsuka?" Orion asked casually.

Yukio paused for a moment. "Since ten years ago, the new ruling changed for new members Class III and above to be tutored by a more experienced Psychic Duelist. Due to the increasing membership of the Movement, this was partly a move calculated to justify the work for room and board scheme that Shimotsuki-sama had set up, but it was so successful that it became standard procedure. I was one of the first few to enter this scheme, and I lucked out when I was chosen to be trained by Shimotsuki-sama."

"That's... very detailed." Orion frowned lightly. "What did she teach you?"

Yukio paused. "Ask me no questions and I shall tell you no lies."

"A ten-year-old taught you," Orion pressed. "You couldn't have thought that it was a good choice."

"I was thirteen," Yukio bristled. "And initially, perhaps not, but Shimotsuki-sama was an able teacher. I wanted to learn the best way to hunt people down. How to trace them anywhere, how to find them anywhere... and to Duel. How to control my powers. When it turned out that my affinity was with water, I expressed some reluctance until Shimotsuki-sama taught me some truly inventive methods. I stayed with the Movement for about four or five years, and from the remains of the Pawn programme I built out the Knights of Arcadia with Yuko and Kasai."

Orion gagged. I swallowed. I think Orion must have been really afraid to ask the next question: "What kind of inventive methods are we talking about here?"

"For the most literal way, there's always drowning. Of course, my own power being able to cause reverse osmosis of the-" he paused at Orion's blank look as the Armada stopped at a junction. "Basically? I can rupture all cells in the body with my brain."

That was even scarier than the butchered Firefly quote.

"So what would be the programme for today, Princeton?" Yukio asked. "I was going to show Goldenrod the methodology of the Knights, assuring him that his cousin hadn't taken it in herself to teach us glorified bruisers ultra-violence as a countermeasure, and yet I seem to have failed pathetically. Just as well that it was planned."

I cracked up at that, despite the inherent danger. "Under that cool exterior you keep a deadpan snarker, huh?"

"Where did you think Nowaki got it from?" Yukio gently murmured as he swung through the West Hearts into the Tops district.

"Cool."

"I await your next syllable with bated breath."

I bristled. "We could stand here and exchange snark all day, buddy."

"Then it is just as well that we are seated."

"Fine." I did a face-palm. "I concede. You win this round."

"Assuredly," Yukio shot back, but accepted the win with good grace. "Where will you go?"

"Manjoume Entertainment," I decided to tell them everything. Two, or three heads, was definitely better than one, and Yukio did have some measure of wit. Orion too had a modicum of intelligence and experience, hopefully gathered from his travels. "I saw Shimotsuki at the KC Grand Prix recently. Since the Duelists invited to it were all financed either by KaibaCorp or Manjoume Entertainment, I need to check the reason for Madas Elvin appearing there at the KC Grand Prix."

"Madas Elvin?" Orion blinked. "Who's that?"

"The newest contractor of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon," I answered flippantly.

"Indeed?" Yukio murmured. He was surprised; incredible.

"Listen to me," I groaned. "Chaos Emperor Dragon was offered by the Kaiba family as a prize in this years Grand Prix. Even if Kisara's inexperienced, would she knowingly give it away?"

"I see your point," Orion conceded. "What then?"

"Satsuki was there, but lost," I replied. "If Winter's champion was in KaibaLand, I'd bet you that Shimotsuki was there as well. Satsuki must have entered the KC Grand Prix for some reason, undoubtedly to get Chaos Emperor Dragon."

"You said it yourself, that the KC Grand Prix was invitation only," Orion pointed out.

"Kisara's sided with Summer as the Summer champion since Duelist Kingdom," I groaned as I realised that they did not know it, and spent a while explaining the Summer-Winter debacle before adding: "If she wants to show off her power, what's the first thing anyone would do as well?"

"Invite their rivals, enemies," Yukio promptly replied as he turned, catching the Armada in a traffic jam. "So if we assume that the entire Grand Prix was a ploy by KaibaCorp, and by extension Kisara, to regain their reputation, and that Kisara also needed power amongst Summer and Winter, then this entire thing was a show of attention. However, the fact that Chaos Emperor Dragon is incredibly powerful in the wrong hands cannot be denied."

"Satsuki's Winter, I guess it's a Summer thing to invite a representative," I reinterpreted. "So while Kisara offered Chaos Emperor Dragon as a prize, she sure as hell isn't intending to let Winter get to it, either. But there's no way to get Satsuki out if Shimotsuki is present, because wanted fugitive or not, Shimotsuki would find a way to make Satsuki's path clear to the prize. So Madas Elvin was that; a distraction."

"A distraction?" Orion echoed.

I rolled my eyes. "Think, Hunter. Not many can see Duel Spirits, and within Neo Domino I only know of two, three others with that ability. That's Ryuusei, Shimotsuki and myself, and Kiyoshi, but he's vegetative right now. So if a really powerful spirit like Galaxy-Eyes was planted anywhere within, likely with hostile intention-"

"Then it would attract Setsuka, since she would class it as a threat, or something to be watched," Orion caught on. "Kaiba Kisara is actually pretty smart."

"If not for her bad health, she would have been a Queen of Queens," I recalled when her frailty itself had disqualified Kisara from DA Queens' coveted title.

"Codename Otohime: Kaiba Kisara, was a Class IV because of her smarts." Yukio recalled. "She was a potential recruit for the Knights, but then we decided that association with KaibaCorp might become overkill."

"Noted," I nodded to him. "The thing is, some Duelists don't attend the KC Grand Prix or want anything to do with it due to any perceived vendetta between KaibaCorp and them. Plus, all invitations are issued at the same time, so there's no way that Kisara could have planned for someone who's also conveniently a Duel Spirit contractor to turn up. I know that Drake Lancaster does some work with Manjoume Entertainment, and the agents usually keep a list of which company sends whom to these sorts of things."

"So you intend to find out who is Madas Elvin's agent, and then trace the whole thing back to the plan at hand."

"And hopefully find out the real aim at hand," I added. "I don't believe that Shimotsuki risked exposure, especially at the KC Grand Prix, just on the off case of one possibly hostile Duel Spirit. I think she must have challenged Madas sometime after his being kicked out by Jimmy Cook."

"Meanwhile, I'll be looking at these with Goldenrod," Yukio took a stack of photographs from the glove compartment, which had to be deliberate. "We can get a positive match somewhere if we use our contacts at the Magic Formula. It's just across Manjoume Entertainment, so you can just hobble over there while Goldenrod and I do some legwork."

I frowned at it, before fixing a glare at Yukio. "You planned this. I knew you couldn't be that charitable."

"It was convenient," Yukio sniped back.

I looked at Orion instead. "Goldenrod?"

Orion turned beet-red. "Shut up. I was fourteen."

"Better than being called the Knight of Zero," I sighed, remembering my moniker back in DA Kings. If I remembered, Shirahane had followed his dad to become the Master of Ceremonies.

The former Manjoume Group headquarters was a thing of steel and glass and, as expected, understated old money. If there was one thing the Manjoume family was good at, it was flaunting their wealth. I walked in after being unceremoniously dropped off, bulldozed past the reception without much fanfare, and after a geological epoch I found myself in an old-world office, the kind with wooden panels and sliding and oak desks and _serious _money.

"Chase," the sole occupant of this luxurious office acknowledged.

"Uncle Jun," I cheerily offered, deciding that anything else was better than the melancholic expression he had. "How are you? I guess you're not a morning person?"

"Family trait," Uncle Jun fixed a gimlet glare on me, yawning behind one hand. "I haven't seen you since Ayame's funeral."

Oh. That. "I sent a bouquet of irises."

Uncle Jun snorted, and I caught a whiff of peat. "I told Asuka that naming things after flowers guaranteed that it would have a short life. Did she listen? _No_. Now Asuka's daughter is _dead_."

"Are you... _drunk_?" I realised in some horror as I approached him, and then I realised that the office's natural dimness and oppressive aura had shrouded his real state. His black coat was rumpled badly, as if aside from its default stained state it had been slept in for more than a month. Uncle Jun was shivering, and his skin was feverishly warm as I clicked the lights to levels I could peer in and glimpse at him. "What did you drink, top-grade whiskey? You broke the bank with that!"

"I really... _hate_ kids, you know," he slurred as I dragged him to the plush and leather-upholstered couch at the far end. "I hate brats, and the three stooges... well, they weren't an improvement to _brats_. Manjoume Entertainment... just taking off... and then you ran away. Freaked the hell out of me. I thought I failed Shoji Nii-sama, that his own freaking _son_ got _killed_ because Chosaku Nii-sama and I were too freaking occupied to _care_."

I paused. At that time, I was eight. I hadn't considered the consequences of running away from home, nor did I thought that Uncle Jun would have cared. I had just wanted out from the sheer boredom and losing to Ojamas and... and that I just wanted to find a nice ledge to stand on and consider if I wanted to jump off. So I had packed my stuff and ran for it. I slipped on a truck out, dropped out on a highway, and made the hike to Satisfaction Town by sheer accident. I survived, intact, and I had found the way of the Infernity.

I hadn't thought that Uncle Jun would feel like this. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"No, you were right." Uncle Jun mumbled. "You and I, Chase. We're too much 'like. _Alike_. We have nearly the same _everything_. But, the difference between you and I? You weren't a pussy about it. You knew what you wanted then, and you _took_ it."

"Oh, Uncle," I sighed. "I was young and stupid. So were you."

Uncle Jun's face was right in mine, his grip tight as he braced himself, and it was freaky seeing your older doppelgänger breathing whiskey-scented breath into your face. "The Hanged Man... Saiou. I knew what I wanted, I thought. You knew, what _you_ wanted. Unlike me, you didn't wait for the crazy idiot, or even to see if you could see _them_. Eight years old, and you knew what you wanted, and you took it. You flung yourself deeper into hell than even I dared, just to see if you could claw out of it."

"I didn't fling myself into hell for shit and giggles, Uncle," I groaned. "It's not what you think."

He gave a weak laugh, a giggle that I would never have seen him admit when sober. "You and I... we're not like _them_. Them... my older brothers, your father, your other uncle, they're builders, movers, shakers. But they need that stable foundation. You and I, Chase? We _challenge_ it."

He gave another floppy giggle and then lay back, giving another snort. I threaded one grey strand I found in his spiky hair, and then I stood to haul him to his side, facing out in case.

I closed my eyes. "You guys there? Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, Ojama Black."

I opened them, and nearly flinched at the sight of the red underwear with white polka-dots.

"_It's the Boss's nephew!"_

"_Really?"_

"_No, really!"_

I glared at the three stooges, or the three Ojama brothers that existed before Red and Blue came out. "Hi, I'm Chase Princeton. This is the first time we've officially introduced to each other, though I think you were there when I was eight, and before Satisfaction Town. Did you guys see a list around? I called him this morning asking for it."

"_That would explain why he got wasted,_" Yellow nodded. "_On the desk, buddy._"

"We're not that chummy," I replied, but I shifted to the desk to find a file with a convenient label and checked through it. "Why did he? Get wasted, I mean."

"_Ah, Boss is... sensitive about it,_" Green shrugged. "_Family, you know. We Ojama brothers being a tight-knit clan doesn't help when he remembers that he effectively lost all his closest family within ten years. Didn't help either when Ayame-chan died, too._"

"Family?" I pondered. Since Father was dead, and Uncle Chosaku was in the chokey for life after my attempted murder, and I was living away from him after custody was shifted to Kiryu-sensei... yeah, I figured. "Maybe I shouldn't have been blunt when asking for it."

"_Can't help it,_" Black chipped in. "_Take it from me, the Boss keeps his feelings wrapped even back on Academy Island. Don't think he's ever had anything close to a soul-baring Duel after Yuuki Judai up and went on Herald things. And Judai-aniki's kid, Ayame... he tried to clean up his act after the mess with you. He was Ayame's godfather. 'Course, Ayame being the daughter of the Tenjouin woman helped, but... he doted on her, you know? Ten years, and besides us and sometimes Ayame was all he had. How did she die, anyway?_"

I took a deep breath. "It was... arranged. By the Winter Queen."

"_T- The Winter Queen? I'm scared!_" Yellow screamed.

"_Winter? How in the twelve dimensions did Ayame get mixed up in that crowd?_"

"_Now, brothers,_" Black advised sadly. "_The kid is dead... and there's nothing... that we can do... We just have to wait until Boss is healed... I''m not crying, dammit!_"

Even Duel Spirits could feel despair, I reflected as I thumbed through it. "His mood must be bad. Can you guys manage?"

"_Yeah, we'll be fine._" Ojama Yellow glanced down at my feet, and at me. "_Unlike you, we're mobile and nothing like that big lug. He'll be fine after a while._"

"I'll have you know that Killer can chew you," I snarled. By my feet, Killer growled.

"You can see them?"

My head swivelled as I stared at him. He was built rather like a puppet, all long lanky limbs and little fat or muscle. His light skin, blue eyes and green hair made him stand out against the relative dimness of the office. He wore a black trench coat with coattails that extend only by his legs with red lining, black pants with matching calf-high boots, and white gloves. A fedora topped his head. The entire ensemble was overblown and pretentious; his build really wasn't made for trench coats.

I recognised him. "Madas Elvin?"

He blinked, and I caught a feeling that Galaxy-Eyes was hanging somewhere about. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

I opened the file immediately. "I'm Chase Princeton. Uncle Jun called me here for business."

Technically not a lie... just not company business. "I should be asking you that, Elvin-san." I cocked my head. "You too?"

Madas solemnly nodded, his eyes flicking towards the Ojama brothers. We had already formed a silent accord as fellow seers. "Madas, please," He looked exhausted. "I remember... you brought Galaxy-Eyes back to me. At the KC Grand Prix. What happened to Manjoume-san? I was here for an interview."

I glanced down, and then judged that Uncle Jun was in no position to conduct one. We might as well get settled.

"Walk with me?" I offered.

We left the office and a trio of terrified Ojamas as I reflected on the file and the list. Manjoume Entertainment had fielded only Jimmy, Ryokai, Hibiki-san and Drake Lancaster. Rafael and Archie, both being students of Duel Academia, would be subject to KaibaCorp. Satsuki doubtlessly got hers from Kisara. The important thing was, Madas was nowhere on this list.

"Who invited you to the Grand Prix, anyway?" I enquired.

"Kisara Kaiba herself recognised my skill!" Madas bragged. "I got a gold-leaf invitation!"

I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness as he continued on his own self-praise. So KaibaCorp had directly extended an invitation to him. From what I could already tell of the man, Madas Elvin was attention-seeking. If he thought KaibaCorp was paying attention to him like this, he'd obviously jump at the possibility of future sponsoring. No matter how good a Duelist, there was no way to the world leagues without funding. Even Team 5Ds worked jobs for sponsorship. Kaiba himself couldn't be interfering with this. For one, he was publicly reclusive, and the business world didn't give any indications of him doing anything other than lying low and licking his wounds. Some said that he was in a sanatorium. Besides, Kaiba making a move this soon after Duelist Kingdom could cripple KaibaCorp, and Seto Kaiba was not the type to place his life's work on the line.

So if not Kaiba, then Kisara.

_And, _my nasty voice told me, _by extension, probably Ryuusei._

Shelve that thought aside, I decided. There was no indication just yet.

"Why did you approach Manjoume Entertainment?" I asked.

As Madas started on a long spiel on how the company had a history of fielding successful Duelists, I continued pondering. What other value did Madas have? As a Duelist, he was acceptable, if rather easily overlooked, but KC Grand Prix needed, no, _demanded_ showmanship and _flair_. He tries, but the whole Gothic look wasn't working for him. Madas would have had better luck at the quieter local tourneys first, working out his image, reputation and confidence issues, and not heading head-first as an unknown in the big-rep tourneys with suck a risk of washing out. The idea that he was invited just to get Galaxy-Eyes on the scene was more plausible, since that tidily explained Shimotsuki's presence, her actions, and Satsuki's words.

_A distraction..._

If Shimotsuki was around, there was no way for Satsuki to be washed out by Kisara, since no matter what Duelist agreement, Shimotsuki would do anything to fulfil her aims, up to and taking over for Satsuki. The only way for Kisara to Duel Satsuki and possibly win would be to draw Shimotsuki away.

"You lost in the first round of the KC Grand Prix, right?" I asked. "But between your altercation at the Amphitheatre and the first round, there was one more Duel. Who were you Dueling?"

The silence was a palpable thing. "A... A Water-Ice deck," Madas breathed out harshly. The frozen statue of Galaxy-Eyes back there, no matter what, was an indication of Shimotsuki's hand. Ergo, that Madas faced off against the Winter Queen.

So what had inviting Madas achieved, in terms of the Galaxy-Eyes?

I reflected back to Ryokai's aura. "Does Galaxy-Eyes have any idea of changing allegiance?"

"What? No!" Madas insisted. "You mean the Hieratic guy back there, huh? No, no. Galaxy-Eyes thought that the guy would be a good vessel for its other half. Which isn't here."

That was a cold comfort, since it mean that my effectively-cousin-in-law was possibly going to be the recipient of a spirit contract sooner or later. Otherwise, inviting Madas had changed nothing of the partnership between Madas and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon itself.

Yet, what has it ultimately led to?

_Winter's champion being displaced, _Rei suggested. _Chaos Emperor Dragon exchanging hands to any other than Winter._

The contestants were informed beforehand, at least in rumour. What this had done was technically not match-fixing, since _only_ Satsuki was deliberately removed. In fact, Kisara's move ensured that the Chaos Emperor Dragon went to any other than Winter, while still allowing her to invite a Winter delegation to the tournament and still show off.

Except, Jimmy won. If Kisara was working with Ryuusei in this, then why choose someone so close to the Winter Queen, so close to Shimotsuki? It was too uncomfortably close to Winter's clutches.

_Maybe it was not deliberate, _Rei suggested.

How?

_What has the movement of Chaos Emperor Dragon's avatar fulfilled for its victor? Nothing but trouble. Perhaps the choice of victor in this game of ritual combat was not deliberately one person or criteria, but rather everyone else to the exclusion of one criteria. Without the Emissary of Destruction, the avatar is very much a card, albeit one of much cultural and historical value amongst mortals. If Chaos Emperor Dragon landed into the hands of anyone except for those of Winter, then its purpose as a status symbol has been fulfilled. A weapon is useless if it cannot be used._

And the theft? How had it been done?

_How is this important? Theft is theft, no matter the prize._

I looked down to the incriminating picture of the other thieves, and put the file from Uncle Jun away as I listened to a long spiel of Madas's achievements. The accomplice of Vanessa Trent and fellow thief of the Chaos Emperor Dragon, who had a sister who was a Psychic and yet hiding from the Movement.

From the grainy image, Kit Sakumo's face was panicked and unclear.

If Kit had stolen it, I doubted that it was deliberate, or with ill intent or anything. It was probably for money. I wouldn't want to stay in a possibly plague-infested building either, even if the plague was magical.

And Vanessa Trent living in the same building... was it a coincidence?

I decided to hold off until I met my source, and hopefully Kisara would give me some clues.

But first...

"Madas," I patiently asked. "Who dressed you?"

Of every question, he was not expecting that. His breath caught in his throat. "M- Myself. Why?"

"No offence, but..." I sighed. "No one is going to take you seriously. If you had a reputation from the lower leagues, then yes, it could be placed down to eccentricity and uniqueness, but right now you look like a wannabe Duel champion."

Which he was, but I was not about to say it to his face.

Madas's face fell. "Does this mean that I'm rejected?"

"It means," I informed him, "that you'll be looking for another general look. You're lucky I caught you before Uncle got on your case, because you would've been booted out immediately, drunk or not. Your Duel profile is impressive-" for a Duelist just starting out "-but there's no accounting for taste if you turned up at formal interviews in a colour wheel."

He stared doubtfully at my trench coat, before nodding. "Oh. But... but I thought-"

"Madas," I severely grated. "Look at yourself."

He glanced at a passing silvered surface, and just sighed. "But a King is supposed to look like this. Since Jack Atlas always wore white... I thought that wearing black would place me as opposite of him. Then there was a nice coat..."

_He could understand such nuances of the colour wheel, but not how to dress himself?_

I recommended changing to a duffel coat and sticking to shades of dark blue, and also pointed Madas towards the Daimon Area as a suggestion. With strong emphasis that if he didn't want Uncle Jun to fling him out within the first five seconds of opening his mouth he'd better follow my advice.

"I don't understand," Madas shook his head.

"You have blue eyes, green hair and you're wearing black and red," I groaned. "Your eyes are immaterial at the moment. With such distinctive hair, it's best to wear understated clothes."

Madas quickly retreated from me. "Erm... I appreciate the advice, but-"

"I'm not hitting on you, I'm trying to make a prospective talent get through the door and stay there!" I groaned. Damn business sense... "Look, the company would probably make you go to a fashion consultant at this rate, and if you're not offered a sponsorship you can't make it here. If KaibaCorp about to give you one?"

Madas looked seriously doubtful. "But..."

"White," I shrugged. "In the place of dark blue. You run a Photon-Galaxy deck, right?"

"R- Right!" Madas seriously answered.

"So since the MCs all say that you look like a prince of light, you might as well play it up," I explained as we walked into the cavernous lobby of the Manjoume Entertainment. "Didn't they cover this in Central?"

I continued shooting back his assertions about the colour wheel before I had to shoo him off and limp across the street. Before that, I may have left a text message to Uncle Jun's office telling him to reschedule for Madas Elvin. He was a good, if rather easily manipulated kid.

The Magic Formula was a dinky little café-slash-bookshop in the Tops. It stood like the Daimon Area, straddling two places of great social and financial divide; in its case, the busy rich and the lower-middle class with a dash of lower-income. It was also situated underground, and the first thing I saw was not its signboard, but rather the handwritten sign tacked onto the door with what looked like a bone pin:

_Accorded Neutral Territory. Take it outside._

There was a snowflake sigil scratched below it. It looked blunt, like it had been done with a blunt blade or something like it. The threat was clear enough, even if implied.

I walked in to stop and stare.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	57. LIV: Message in a Bottle

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Happy Birthday to me!**_

_**Note: On the 15th to 16 of June, I'll be going with my family to a vacation somewhere in Kukup, Malaysia. It's just a Causeway hop, but there's no guarantee of Internet access, but don't worry, I'll be back soon! **_

_**LLS**_

* * *

**LIV: Message in a Bottle**

"Say, Seika," Uzuki whined when school had ended. "Let's go for cake! Nikki-chan too!"

"Uzuki..." I groaned. The thought of cake might be nice, but now? Now was-

"I..." Nikki-chan hesitated. "I'd rather-"

I grunted as we walked into a dark-haired girl. Books and my deck spilled out and onto the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" we quickly cleaned the cards up as the girl took her books back.

"It's al-" I stopped as I matched eyes with ice-blue chips.

She smiled and pushed a card into my hand, before standing up to walk away.

"What's with that? Not even a sorry," Uzuki grumbled. "Seika? Are you alright?"

"Why...?" I was confused as I held the card. What should I do? Take it to Chase-nii and check for Duel Spirits? Allow it to be locked away? What use did I have for it here?

I would not put it past her to do this just as a game, but in front of Nikki-chan? Whose cousin was effectively killed by her?

Someone screamed before I could consider further. "_Help!_"

"What in the-" Uzuki nodded as she oriented herself, her ochre pendant glimmering in the little sunlight there was. "Seika!"

"Yes!"

"What's going on?" Nikki-chan demanded as she followed us, running towards the source of the sound. "That was- this close to Queens-!"

"_Someone help me!_"

I followed as Uzuki ran across the road, where the screaming person was found as a girl in the carmine-red uniform of Duel Academia's middle school section was struggling. Her DuelDisk was open, and the multi-coloured robot with sharp pincers was fending off another monster, a large marionette-like monster with a fencing sword.

"Is that all, little missy?" the man snickered. His blond hair hung loosely, cut short on all sides save for his bangs, which hung loose over his head. "Looks like your Wind-Up Zenmaines can't stand up to my Gimmick Puppet – Heaven's Strings."

"Huge..." the dark-haired girl whispered. "This..."

"Blame your brother for your imminent death," the blond man gloated. "Heaven's Strings, attack! Heaven's Blade!"

"Trap card, Shadow Spell!" The black chains Uzuki summoned looped themselves around the blade and the one wing the marionette monster had, restraining it as we arrived. "Arcadia Movement, codename Kraehe. You're under arrest."

"How... unexpected," the man crossed his arms, smirking and completely relaxed though he was surrounded. "That's why I said to be quiet. Now your big brother is going to be in so much trouble."

"Nii-chan... no," the girl shook her head. "No... Nii-chan..."

"The Arcadia Movement are here, aren't they?" the man pointed towards Uzuki. "How long do you think they'll take to trace him? You screamed, they came. And now you're going to trade your worthless life for your brother's safety, little girl."

"B- But, Nii-chan- you guys promised to protect Nii-chan," she shook her head.

"I say it like it is, Serena-chan," the man replied. "After all, what else can a monster who only knows how to destroy do? Your powers caused you guys to move how many times? How many jobs did Kit lose because of you? Your own powers betray you at every turn, and your very existence destroyed your brother's life, reducing him to always worry, worry, worry. So, Serena-chan. Come along now."

"No," I spoke up, walking to stand between him and the girl, Serena. "We of the Arcadia Movement confer our aegis and protection to all Psychic Duelists. It is nothing to extend that to the relatives of Psychic Duelists in need."

"What? Who are you?" he demanded.

"I am the fourth head of the Arcadia Movement, Kannazuki Seika," I stated. "Code-name Polaris."

He snorted. "Don't kid with me. There's only one Polaris, and you're not terrifying enough for it."

"The head of the Arcadia Movement was traditionally code-named Polaris at inauguration, as a sign that one person has been crowned as the one direction by which the Movement can judge itself relative to," I answered. "You are thinking of Shimotsuki Setsuka. True, I may not be equal to her, but I am the current head of the Movement. I did swear to protect the Psychic Duelists of Neo Domino and not abuse my powers over them. For you to lie, for you to besmirch an organization that exists to protect, and therefore insult our purpose... Uzuki!"

"Is that really advisable?" he threw a hand out at the same time that Nikki-chan screamed.

I turned around to see Nikki-chan scrambling away from a disembodied hand. It was large, mechanical and seemed attached to a giant orange egg-shaped head. It grabbed at her, and she screamed again as she scrambled away from it, but it held fast, ball-jointed limbs hoisting a squirming Nikki-chan up into the air with both arms.

"Nikki-chan!" I cried out, pulling the Duel Anchor. "Let her go!"

"You stop me, then she goes splat," the man threatened as the puppet-monster waved. "You do anything, ginger, and I mean it, and your friend goes splat. Now let Heaven's Strings go."

"Kannazuki-san, help me!" Nikki-chan cried out as she dangled, clinging on to prevent her fall. "Himemiya-san!"

"I..." Uzuki hesitated.

"What's wrong?" he smirked. "My Egg Head will smash her skull on the pavement. Are you prepared for that, Kraehe, Polaris?"

Serena had already scrambled to hide behind Uzuki, who looked between her, the man, and me. "We can't, Seika. If that Heaven's Strings is released, then we will all die. Then no one would protect Serena-san."

"The way I see it, you're screwed no matter what," the man sniggered.

"If you try it," Uzuki evenly answered. "Then I will burn you alive where you stand."

There was a pause, and he snickered. "You won't. Bitches like you talk tough, but when it gets tough you'll fold eventually. Wanna try it? Let's see if your friend can spare a limb, shall we? Arm or leg?"

"Himemiya-san!" Nikki-chan screamed in panic as the puppet-monster raised an arm, preparing to close on another limb.

Uzuki did not answer as fire started on his limbs. The man just looked down and snickered. "That's it? Bomb Egg-"

"Now!" I shouted.

As I threw the Duel Anchor, the puppet-monster gave a loud creak. The Duel Anchor connected me and the assailant right as ice formed over the puppet, freezing it in place before Uzuki's spell of blunt force impact destroyed it. Uzuki skidded down, barely latching onto Nikki-chan in time to drop into a roll as they hit the ground.

At the same time, Heaven's Strings dropped its sword, and screamed, the strings holding it together frozen over with ice. From around the foot of the giant marionette, she elegantly snapped her fingers. The ice shattered, and with it the alley and us were showered in bits of debris and gunk from the destroyed monster.

The assailant was about to dodge a blast from Uzuki that never came, and he was still there, staring at her. "You..."

Setsu-chan inclined her head from the sidelines. "It is I."

"I had him on the ropes," I commented.

"So you did," Setsu-chan answered.

"I can't," Nikki-chan was scrambling up. "I can't. I can't, not anymore."

Uzuki let her run, standing up. She was covered in dust, and her red curls were askew, and she had a split lip, but otherwise my best friend was fine. "You... Shimotsuki Setsuka!"

"Oh... Oh!" the man cackled as he flung another Duel Anchor to latch onto Uzuki's arm. "So, are you going to interfere? This Duel Anchor is filled with det-cord. If you cancel it forcibly... well, we both know what it does."

I set my teeth on edge. Though my own Duel Anchor was a bluff, I knew that such things were standard fare in the Knights' rather more illegal arsenal of passable street weapons, broken out only in emergencies.

Even Setsu-chan looked wary at the proximity. "Leo Sterling. I will kill you for this when you lose."

"Battle Royale," Uzuki concluded, sidling up next to me. "This means war."

"Agreed," I opened my own DuelDisk as Uzuki's unfolded.

So did the man, Leo, unlatch the plate and unfold the Disk. "This, will be _fun_."

"Duel!"

* * *

A light dusting of frost covered the floor. The bartender was studiously not looking at anyone, even me. All around, the few patrons of the place were asleep. Except for two.

Mizore Setsuna's laugh was warm and throaty. "Mr Lancaster, I certainly didn't except your allegiance to be so... hypocritical."

"I don't like bullies," Drake Lancaster evenly replied.

They occupied the centre table, Drake seated across her. Both of their sides were to me, but they ignored me and the barkeep in favour of a staring match. "Ms Mizore, my signing up with the Heaven Movement is no reason for you to attack my girlfriend. Or should I say, Ms Shimotsuki?"

"Call me Setsuna," Setsuna, or Shimotsuki, replied in a throaty purr. "Do I look like her now?"

"Forgive me if I seem doubtful, since you seem to have shredded anything left of my girlfriend's confidence in the vicious manner only the Cold Queen is known for," Drake evenly answered. "Marin can't even look me in the eye. You destroyed her."

"She called me a B-List actress," Setsuna sounded peeved. Setsuna was infinitely more expressive than Shimotsuki; I can see why Shimotsuki preferred to be Setsuna.

"That is the most ridiculous reason I have ever heard." Drake flatly replied, standing up and flinging a large-denomination note onto the table. "We're done. If you cross me again..." he trailed off. "I will finish you."

Shimotsuki gave him a flat stare. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"It's a promise," Drake glared. "I know where to find Jimmy Cook."

"Mr Lancaster," Mizore Setsuna said after a long silence. "You have been remarkably frank with me. Please permit me to do the same for you, so as to save all parties concerned the maximum of discomfort."

"By all means, Ms Mizore." Drake neutrally replied.

"Well, then, Mr Lancaster, I thank you very much for this extrapolation you have provided me." She laced her fingers together on the desk, and adopted a chilling stance of staring at him, unblinking. "And I also thank you for having made a distinction between myself and the Arcadia Movement. Because you have drawn a line between us, I shall do the same for you."

We both stared at her in puzzlement, for her voice was growing more ringing by the moment. "If you ever in your life make such a proposal to me again, you will find very suddenly that you have committed a series of crimes. There will be, I assure you, incontrovertible evidence to this effect. The jury will find you guilty and you will spend a very long time in the dock, unless my mind alters and you would dance the hemp fandango instead."

The barkeep dived under the table. I felt like joining him as she silenced any protests with an upraised hand and a voice nearly shaking with rage.

"If, however, you make any such overture to James Crocodile Cook the Second, you will find yourself part of another sort of investigation entirely. I will see to it, sir, I swear to you I shall, that your body will be rendered quite unrecognisable before it is dead, and that after it is dead it will be scattered to the four corners of the earth in such minuscule lumps, that dust mites will not consider a morsel of you worth their time. Do you understand me?"

Drake gritted his teeth. "You're bluffing."

She met him, cool stare to raging glare. "You grew up in Los Angeles, California, as the youngest of two. Your older sister, Jessica Lancaster, is twenty-seven this year and owns a dance studio. Your father, Andrew, is an architect. Your mother Danielle, her paints are horrible, tell her to stick to sketches. Give me enough time, and I will ruin Andrew Lancaster. I _will_ ensure that your mother can never draw again. I will cripple your sister, or I could arrange for her to meet a monster in the middle of the night. I will send spectres to haunt your precious Marin until she never knows a night's peace. I can know your entire life, and being a wanted fugitive will not stop me from finding them all, and teaching them how to play silly buggers. That, Mr Lancaster, is not a _threat_. It is a _promise_."

Drake stormed out, having clearly lost the argument. I watched him go, trying not to wet myself and looking towards the slumbering Orion and Yukio.

"Sit down, Mr Princeton," the Winter Queen masquerading as Mizore Setsuna whispered. "Jarvis, music. We cannot conduct business without the proper ambience."

"Shimotsuki," I acknowledged aloud, that I knew who I was facing. I tried awkwardly to stand my ground, and in truth while that was a panic response, I knew if she meant me harm there was little I'd be able to do to stop her. Figuring I'd rather die comfortable, I sat down and leaned it back, but carefully kept my feet on the ground. "How's the ruling going?"

She stared at me for a long moment, sweeping dark locks across a throat of heart-stopping beauty. "Well, it seems that any lessons you have had are not a complete waste of time. Care to tell what other 'lessons' you've had?"

There was a wicked and teasing look in her eye, but I also sensed something else. She could not completely hide that she was actually interested in the answer.

"I can see this information is worth much to you." I said with a hint of a knowing smile of my own. "How many wishes are you willing to offer for it?"

She looked at me, and then let her lips blossomed into a full smile. "See, you're already getting smarter."

"I wasn't looking for you," I automatically said. "I didn't call you. I've been a remarkably smart guy for about three months. Or is this about the KC Grand Prix thing? Because I'm pretty sure I wasn't actually involved in it."

"Yet," she acknowledged in a way that aroused and terrified me. Dealing with Shimotsuki Setsuka was a challenge all by itself. "Sunset approaches. During that time, I shall be available should you call upon my name. I anticipate that you will have... questions."

I've always known that dealing with Duel Spirits and their type was never a straightforward endeavour. Instead they wove intrigues within plots within schemes. With millennia at their disposal they were master manipulators, and even though they could not state a falsehood they had no problem leading mortals into disillusioning themselves by making untrue assumptions. But for a Duel Spirit, this was starting out remarkably level. It meant that Shimotsuki already knew, or had some inkling, about what I was doing, and since she was offering information, I was on the right track.

I was mulling over continuing the conversation versus running away before she stood up. Between the curve of one leg and the step of the other, she _changed_. I didn't mean that she did a strip-tease; her very form shimmered, a curtain of frost descending over her and taking away whatever banality she had to reveal sheer cold, frosty beauty.

The Winter Queen threw me a wink before she sauntered out.

The barkeep, Jarvis, set two glasses on my table. "Business?"

I nodded, barely able to speak.

"Yeah, Her Majesty does tha' ta people," Jarvis nodded thoughtfully. "Wait a mo'. First time?"

I nodded again.

"'Kay then, welcome ta the Magic Formula," Jarvis rumbled. "This here is neutra' ground, enforced by Her Coldness. Human, Psychic, Changeling, or Duel Spirit, I ain't caring, take it outside if yer got trouble. You mess with it, either you get the Knights on your ass faster than you can run, or Her Iciness deals with you personally. So sit there, shut yer mouth, and drink while ye wait."

He paused. "Please."

I sat there, shut my mouth and drank the lemonade, and waited. Well, if this nectar wrested from the gods was the lemonade, I had got to try the coffee.

I didn't have long to wait. A couple of minutes before noon, the door opened and the champion of the Summer Court walked in. The dim shadows retreated somewhat, and a whispering breeze that smelled of pine and honeysuckle rolled through the room. The air around her did something to the light, throwing it back cleaner, more pure, more fierce than it had been before it touched her. I had seen her in white at the KC Grand Prix, of course. But that was from a distance, and I had been occupied. Now, though, I could see the changes five months of being stuck with incredible power had wrought on her.

Kisara had never been hard on the eyes. The daughter of the late Mokuba Kaiba, she had the looks usually reserved for magazines and movie stars. She had grown; not physically, though a somewhat juvenile eye might have made certain comparisons to the past and somehow found them even more appealing. What had changed most was the bashful uncertainty that had filled her every word and movement. The old Kisara had hardly been able to take care of herself. This was Summer's champion, and when she came in the room, the whole place suddenly seemed more alive. She wore a simple sun-dress of deep forest green, starkly contrasting the silken waterfall of purest white tresses that fell to her waist.

More than that, she carried around her a sense of purpose I had never seen before: a kind of quiet, gentle strength. Her face, too, had gained character, the awkward shyness in cobalt-blue eyes replaced with a kind of gentle perception, continual quiet laughter leavened with just a touch of sadness. Where she walked, I was prepared to swear that flowers twitched and then burst into sudden blooms of living colour. The lingering taste of lemonade on my tongue became more intensely sour and sweet. I could hear every whisper of wind in the room, and all of them murmured gentle music together. This was what she had become: the mortal champion of the Summer, a thunderstorm in a skirt.

Everyone there, myself included, stopped breathing for a second.

Her gaze went first to Jarvis, and she gave the barkeep a polite little bow of respect. Then she turned to me and nodded. "Princeton-san."

"Kisara," I said. "Oh... wow. You've... grown."

She looked down, and looked briefly like the flustered young and sickly girl I had first met in DA Queens. "It sort of snuck up on me."

"Life has a way of doing that," I agreed.

Kisara looked at the lemonade as she sat down. "Jarvis-san. I've never known you to be able to read minds."

"I got a heads-up," Jarvis flippantly replied. Such an ordinary face, and yet completely snarky.

Kisara sipped lemonade through a straw. "I see."

"Um. I'm following a lead," I said. "We weren't expecting Chaos Emperor Dragon to be given out of the Kaiba family, or for it to be stolen from us. We were kind of expecting a different thing."

"_We_ meaning the Arcadia Movement?" Kisara asked quietly. Her voice was calm, but something just under its surface warned me that the answer might be important.

"_We,_ meaning me and some people I know, This isn't exactly, ah, official. Or necessarily related," I conceded. "It's... personal."

She nodded once. "Good. Good, I was hoping that would be the case. I am not permitted to speak for the Summer Court," she explained. "But you have a prior claim of friendship to myself. There is nothing to prevent me from speaking to an old friend regarding troubled times."

I glanced at her for a moment, before I said: "So why give away Chaos Emperor Dragon?"

Kisara sighed. "A complicated matter."

"Just start at the beginning and explain it from there," I suggested.

"Which beginning?" she asked. "And whose?"

I felt my eyebrows arch up. "I wasn't expecting the word games from you."

Calm, remote beauty covered her face like a mask. "I know."

"Seems to me that you're a couple of points in the red when it comes to favours," I said. "Between that mess in Duelist Kingdom and Ayame-san."

"I know," she said again, her expression showing me less than nothing.

I leaned back into my chair for a second, glaring at her, feeling that same old frustration rising. Damn, but I hated trying to deal with the Courts. Summer or Winter, they were both enormous pains in my ass. "Is this another gambit between you people?"

"I am not free to comment."

"Kisara," I rubbed at my brow. "You're Summer's champion."

"But Ryuusei-san is the Summer King," was her reply. "If you'll forgive me for pointing out the obvious, it wasn't so long ago that Ayame-san died, and I... ended up like this."

"What does that have to do with anything," I began, but snapped my lips closed over the last word. Of course. When Kisara had taken over, she got the whole package – and it went way beyond simply giving her more power. She would have to follow the bizarre set of limits and rules to which all of them, Summer and Winter Court, seemed bound to. And, more importantly, it meant she would have to obey the more powerful of the Courts, the rulers.

"Are you telling me that _Ryuusei _ordered you not to help me?" I asked in stunned shock.

She stared back at me with a poker face that told me nothing.

I nodded, beginning to understand. "You aren't permitted to speak officially for Summer. And Ryuusei laid some kind of compulsion on you to prevent you from helping me on a personal level. Right?"

Had there been crickets, I would have heard them clearly. Had my table companion been a statue, I'd have gotten more reaction from it.

"You're not supposed to help me." I deduced. "You're not supposed to tell me. You're supposed to leave me, and the Arcadia Movement, sinking in whatever gambit is playing out in a twisted chess game between them right now." I followed the chain of logic a step further. "But you want to help, so here you are. Which means that the only way I could get information out of you is to approach it indirectly. Or else the compulsion would force you to shut up. Am I close?"

Cheep-cheep. If it went on much longer, she'd have to worry about inbound pigeons.

I frowned, and thought about it for a minute as I looked towards Orion's and Yukio's prone form by one side.

"Theoretically speaking," I said, "What kinds of things might lead to an intervention from either Court into the mortal world?"

Kisara's eyes sparkled. "In theory, only a few things could do it. The Courts are bound to the mortal planes in a link far closer than even the Realm of Shadows steeped into legend, or the Crimson Dragon and its Signers, or even the Gentle Darkness or the Light of Destruction, though far outside as well. They are linked to the passage of time, the powers that come of opposites and the shades of grey, mortal and yet not."

"Uh-huh," I noted. "Go on."

"The simplest would be upon mortal interference into the spirit worlds, that is not of magnitudes far greater than the Courts and that would clearly affect the two worlds," Kisara bit her lip, trying to explain. "Aside from the conflict of the Gentle Darkness and the Light of Destruction, very few conflicts actively involve mortals. Those that do usually have their origins within the mortal plane, such as the legend of the Nameless Pharaoh, or the opening of the Gates of the Underworld. During such trying crises, it is actively demanded that mortal-kind resolve their own mistakes. That is within an active capacity. Yet, these times are aberrations. Troubles. Kairotic moments. They are not the maintenance of the natural world at work."

"Right..." I rubbed my head.

"Another cause to involve either Court would be to the protection of its champions or mortal agents," Kisara replied. "Both Courts collect mortal agents, extensions of the rulers' power into the mortal plane where they themselves cannot go. To protect the sacred hospitality that is extended between ruler and champions, the rulers would be allowed to directly involve themselves in any capacity. Yet, this move is not without risks. Though an attack on one Court is seen as an attack on both Courts, any reaction would alter what resources one would have at hand. If one Court did not act in concert with the other, it would provide an ideal opportunity for a surprise assault while the other had its strategic back turned."

I rubbed my hands along my thighs, squinting one eye shut. "Let me see if I've put this together right. Summer has another agent that got hurt by a third party, and you guys are ready to throw down. But Winter isn't gonna help, because apparently they'd rather take a poke at you guys when you were focused on another threat. Hence the start of this whole thing."

I took her silence as an affirmative.

"That's insane," I finally said. "If that happens, both Courts are going to suffer. Both of you will be weakened. No matter who came out on top, they'd be easy pickings. Theoretically speaking."

"An imbalance between Winter and Summer is nothing new," Lily said. "It had existed even before the latest war, my predecessor's time. It continues today because of the war and because of the situation of Duelist Kingdom."

I grimaced. "How? There's a Summer champion. There's a Winter champion. What's unbalanced?"

Kisara tilted her head. "A large part of the danger inherent in the Courts comes from the experience of the rulers. For all his power, Ryuusei-san is not a matching strategist to the Winter Queen. And I, for all my power, cannot match Kujaku Satsuki and Tenjouin Michiru together."

"So that's why," I quietly murmured. "She has two champions and Ryuusei only has one?"

"We do not know the true extent by which Summer is outmatched by Winter," Kisara whispered. "We believe that Winter may be searching for more agents. And where she goes, pain and fear and horror shall follow for all of us."

Kisara's obvious discomfort made a certain impression on me, especially given that Shimotsuki had displayed an unnerving amount of interest in me. I shifted uneasily in my chair and tried to blow it off. I may be in the Nile.

"Whatever," I said. "All right. You guys are inexperienced to Shimotsuki and her kind. So before Winter wants to push a power play, you guys are looking for ways to even the odds. If Summer goes running off to take on this thing that took your agent, it'll give Shimotsuki a chance to strike."

I shook my head. "I don't pretend to know her very well, but she isn't suicidal. If the imbalance is so dangerous, why continue it? She must see what the consequences of another war would be, after the fiasco at Midsummer." I looked back at her. "Right?"

"Unfortunately," Kisara quietly replied, "our intelligence about the internal politics of Winter is very limited – and that woman is not the sort to reveal her mind to another. I do not know if she realises the potential danger. Her actions of late have been…" She closed her eyes for a moment and then said, with some obvious effort, "Erratic."

I propped up my chin on the heel of my hand, thinking about Shimotsuki just now. "She's a lot of things," I said thoughtfully. "Sure as hell isn't _erratic_. She's like some damned glacier. Not a thing you can do to stop her, but at least you know just how she's going to move. Constant as the northern star."

She frowned, as if struggling with an internal decision for a minute, then let out an exasperated sigh and said, "I think many who know the Courts would agree with you." Which was neither a confirmation nor a denial – technically, at any rate. But then, these sorts of magic and bindings tended to lean heavily toward the technical details.

I sat back slowly again, thoughts flickering over dozens of ideas and bits of information, putting them together into a larger picture. It wasn't a pretty one. The last time something like this had happened, the situation had become a potential global catastrophe, on the same order of magnitude as a middling large meteor impact or a limited nuclear exchange. I wish it was smaller in scale, but considering the last time, it wasn't happening.

If Shimotsuki had blown a gasket, matters wouldn't be just as bad.

They would be worse. A lot worse.

"I've got to know more about this one," I told them quietly.

"I know," Kisara said. She lifted her hand to a temple and closed her eyes in a faint frown of pain. "But…" She shook her head and fell silent again.

"I need answers," I murmured, thinking aloud. "But you can't give them to me. And there can't be all that many people who know what's going on."

Silence and faint expressions of pain. After a few seconds, Kisara shook her head. "I think we've done all we can here."

I racked my brains for a few seconds more. "No, you haven't."

Kisara opened her eyes and looked at me, arching a perfect, silver-white brow.

"I need someone with the right information, and who isn't under a compulsion not to help me. And I can think of a few who fit the bill."

Kisara's eyes widened a second after I got done speaking.

"Can you do it?" I asked her. "Right now?"

She chewed her lower lip for a second, then nodded.

"Do it," I said.

Kisara closed her eyes and folded her hands on her lap, her expression relaxing into one of deep concentration. I could feel the subtle stir of energy around her, warm and heavy. My stomach rumbled. I ordered a sandwich and settled down to wait.

My sandwich wasn't halfway done when I heard Killer let out a sudden, rumbling growl of warning, and the temperature in the bar dropped about ten degrees. The air-conditioning let out mechanical moans of protest. Then, the door opened and let in sunlight made wan by a patch of dreary grey clouds. The light cast a slender black silhouette.

Satsuki marched in. She wore a short-sleeved purple coat over her white tube top, along with purple high-heeled boots and Bermudas. It was surreal how well she resembled those old posters of her grandmother when Mai Kujaku was young. She wasn't alone, though.

The young woman who then followed her into the bar could have been Shimotsuki's twin. She had the same exotic beauty, the same pale skin, the same cold blue in their eyes, almost entirely darkened by dilated pupils. But this one's hair was worn in a dark blue frizzy storm-cloud, with bangs shaped like lightning bolts dyed lavender that went past her shoulders. She wore a maroon crop-top with a metal loop decoration attaching the shirt to a loop around her neck studded with silver snowflakes, and I could see a belly piercing. She also wore a shiny maroon mini-skirt high enough to flash lavender panties, and maroon platform high-heeled prowled across the room to us, all hips and lips and fascinating eyes, looking far too young to move with such wanton sensuality.

I knew better. The witch was the psychotic attack dog of the Winter Court, Shimotsuki's understudy in wickedness and power. When she walked by the flowers that had seemingly bloomed in Kisara's wake, they froze over, withered, and died. She gave them no more notice than Kisara or Satsuki had.

"We're here," Satsuki shortly announced.

"Oh, it's you," the other said, her voice low, lulling, and sweet.

And I said, "Hello, Michiru."

Tenjouin Michiru stared at me for a long minute, and licked her lips. "Look at you," she all but purred.

I could have said something back, but I decided that if I ignored the taunt, maybe she'd get bored and leave me alone. So instead of taking up the verbal épée, I rose and drew out two chairs politely. "Sit with us, Satsuki, Michiru?"

Michiru's head tilted almost all the way to her shoulder. She stared at me with those intense eyes. "Maybe you and I should have a private talk. Just the two of us."

"I'd rather just sit and have a nice chat," I said to her.

"Liar," Michiru smiled.

I sighed. "All right. There are a lot of things I'd love to do now. But the only thing that's going to happen is a nice chat. So you might as well sit down and let me get you a drink."

Her head tilted the other way. Her hips shifted in a kind of counterpoint that drew the eye. "What if I don't want to?"

Satsuki's brown eyes snapped to Michiru. "Michiru. We are in neutral ground."

Michiru scowled, but sank her ass into the chair and let me push it in for her. Jarvis came over with two more glasses of lemonade, and my sandwich, and then scarped. A few more of the patrons that were waking up took one look, and began packing up to leave. They probably knew the ladies by reputation, if not on sight, and they wanted nothing to do with any kind of incident between Winter and Summer. They were safer if he were never noticed.

Hell, if I could have snuck out, I would have led the way. Sure, I might have stared Michiru down, but ultimately I was bluffing, trying to fool the oncoming shark into thinking I might be something that could eat it. If the shark decided to start taking bites anyhow, things would get unpleasant for me. This time, at least, the shark didn't know that.

Dead silence filled the whole place. Michiru took her lemonade, wrapped her lips idly around the straw, and sipped. Then she settled back into her seat, chewing. Crunching sounds came from her mouth. The lemonade had frozen solid when it passed her lips.

"Show-off," Satsuki shook her head. "Can't leave you anywhere."

"That's what Her Majesty said," Michiru agreed.

"Would you give the Evil Kinkstress act a rest?" I sighed. "It gets tired pretty fast."

Tenjouin Michiru let out an exasperated breath, put down her drink, and folded her arms sullenly across her chest. "Very well. What is it, Princeton?"

"I'd like to know why did Winter strike at the KC Grand Prix." I spoke out loud.

Michiru arched a brow across the table. "That is knowledge, and therefore power. What are you prepared to trade for it?"

"Forgetfulness," I answered.

Michiru tilted her head. "I can think of nothing in particular I would like to forget."

"I can think of something you want _me_ to forget."

"Can you?"

I smiled, with teeth. "I'd be willing to forget Sara Wraith."

"Pardon?" Michiru commented. "I don't seem to recall being present."

She knew the score. She knew that I knew it, too. Her legality pissed me off. "Of course," I replied. "You weren't there. But Sara was. Sara even gave your regards to Tenjouin-sensei for your sake."

Michiru's lips parted in sudden surprise.

"Didn't you know who shut her down?" I asked her, lifting my own eyebrows in faux innocence. "That was petty cruelty, Michiru, even for you."

"They did me a petty wrong," Michiru replied. "They caged the Winter Court and its retinue."

"They owed their loyalty to the Arcadia Movement when they besieged the castle at Duelist Kingdom," Kisara murmured.

"They acted with consent and upon the will of the Movement," Satsuki agreed.

Michiru gave Satsuki and Kisara a dirty look.

"For what happened that night, they were the responsibility of the Movement. So was Sara." I put my hands flat on the table and leaned a little toward Michiru, speaking with as much quiet intensity as I could. "I protect them. You should know that by now. I have lawful reason to throw down here. I can lodge a complaint to the Winter Queen as a concerned party. Do you think Shimotsuki would let you off when she finds out?"

Michiru's attention moved back to me, and her expression became remote and alien. "What is it you propose?"

"I'm willing to let things go as they are, all accounts settled, in exchange for honest answers." I settled back in my chair and asked, "Why was the Winter Queen herself at the KC Grand Prix?"

Michiru regarded me, and then nodded. "We received a report of a potentially hostile Duel Spirit. While Satsuki was sent to win the Chaos Emperor Dragon card, Her Majesty left to recover the beast. Of course, it turned out to be for nothing, and that Summer has played us." She flashed an incisor. "We _will_ strike back."

"Sooth," Satsuki confirmed. "The Queen has readied her forces to strike at Summer should they move, and has furthermore given specific orders preventing her captains from disobeying these orders."

"That's insane," Kisara quietly replied.

Satsuki folded her hands on the table, frowning at something far away. "It may as well be."

"Dark things stir in Winter's heart," Michiru added. "Things even I have never before seen. Dangerous things."

I tilted my head a little, focused on her. Something in her expression or manner gave me a sudden sense that she was worried. Deeply, truly worried. Little Miss Overlord was frightened. "How so?"

"While the Winter Court as a general rule applauds such actions that weaken our rivals, we prefer they do so at a time and a means of choosing," Michiru detachedly answered in a manner that must have been all Shimotsuki. "This current event was neither, and in fact places us in nearly equal jeopardy of a war whose time and choosing is not currently within our interests."

"Yet, were the Queen of a mind to do so, she could perform this action without our knowledge," Satsuki explained. "But even so, each Court is so vast that it is impossible for even the Queen to know all that takes place within the Gensokyo. If some rogue agent is responsible for these actions, then they might indeed be hidden beneath our notice."

"But this could also be with her approval, and you've simply have been left uninformed," I repeated the unsaid but important fact.

They merely nodded.

"We do not know the mind of the Queen," Satsuki offered her answer with these very specifically selected words.

The problem with those words and their meaning, lay in that _Satsuki_ herself believed that Shimotsuki was the one responsible, again. If the Winter champion was willing to acknowledge she did not know the mind of her queen at this time, could she really be saying that these events were merely the prologue of even worse things to come? That thought sent cold shivers through my body at the implications of such potential for both worlds. So what was I asking Shimotsuki for? And why did Shimotsuki tell me to call her?

Michiru suddenly shuddered. With a curt voice, she spat: "I have answered you with truth, and more than needed be said. Does that satisfy the accounting?"

"Yeah," I told her, nodding. "Good enough for me."

"Then we take our leave." Michiru turned as Satsuki got up, took half a step, and there was a sudden gust of frozen air that knocked her mostly full glass of lemonade onto the floor. It froze in a lumpy puddle. Somewhere between tabletop and floor, Michiru and Satsuki had vanished.

The two of us sat there quietly for a moment.

"Could it be her?" I wondered out loud. "Could it be a grand plan by Shimotsuki?"

"It does fit with our concerns," Kisara told me quietly. She shivered and closed her eyes for a second, her expression distressed. "I'm very sorry, but the bindings on me… I stretch the bounds of my proper place."

"Don't worry about it," I rose politely to my feet again. "You did what you could. I appreciate it. I think you'd better tell Ryuusei this as well."

Kisara gave me a strained smile. She departed, quick and quiet. The door never opened, but a breath later they were both gone.

I sat at the table and sipped my lemonade without much enthusiasm. More trouble. Bigger trouble. I put the lemonade down. It suddenly tasted very sour.

"Bad time?" Jarvis began packing up the other three glasses, and dragged a mop over as well.

I glared at him, squinting close. He was utterly forgettable, if familiar with Shimotsuki. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jarvis," Jarvis answered. "I regulate this place, and I cook."

I sighed. "I'll bite. What are you?"

"Oh, you were asking about _that_," Jarvis commented, making the seemingly innocuous air seem slightly more terrifying. "I was a Changeling. Dad was a Bistro Butcher. Went by Jeeves."

"Was?" I noted. There was a theme going on here...

"I Chose," Jarvis wistfully replied. "I lucked out, you know. Dad didn't quite _understand_, but he loved Mum. Gotta give props to Dad, what he chose to do."

"I'm sorry," I automatically replied. "I guess that Shimotsuki helped you."

Jarvis's grin was even more manic. "Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I have no allegiance to the Winter Queen, but to Shimotsuki Setsuka, I'd be willing to make an exception. Are you taking that sandwich to go?"

"No," I was tearing through it. Youkai was patently lying; this was good. "Dammit, Youkai was lying."

"Oh, you with them?" Jarvis asked, pointing towards the sleeping Yukio and Orion as he slapped down a folder. "I just got in the traces. Can you hand it to them? I gotta load them in the Armada now."

On official forms, you see name, date of birth and many other details. The network connected to Jarvis was way more information than that, listing down flight risk, address and known associates. I looked down at the profiles of the two who had been working with Vanessa, and I felt the pit of my stomach drop.

One was Hayato Ichimonji; that I could tell. The other was now established as Kit Sakumo.

_Known associate(s): Serena Sakumo (sister)_

What the hell?

I closed the files. "What's the bill?"

"Oh, it's covered," Jarvis smugly informed me. "Now that the Winter Queen's bought you a drink, yer' bound by hospitality to get yer skinny arse to her little clandestine meeting. Why else d'you think I gave yer the lemonade?"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	58. LV: Star Light, Star Bright

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Let me get this straight first: the story is not finished. The fourth arc is still being concepted, though, so updates would be much later starting from after Chapter 61 (LXI) onwards, where the third arc ends. **_

_**Also, I am thinking of writing a spin-off story about the minor characters mentioned in Infernity Mirage, Boss Rush and Call of Darkness. As readers often notice, there are often a few questions left unanswered about the character interaction behind the scenes, and a lot of events that go unwritten due to the nature of Call of Darkness being told first-person. Rather than turn all other characters into Generics, I'm using this to give life to some of them, and also hopefully answer a few questions that occur during the series that never come up.**_

_**For one thing, how did the unusual pairing of Setsuka and Jimmy Cook come about? What is the true relationship between Satsuki Kujaku and Kisara Kaiba? When did Rex and Kisara actually meet for a date? **_

_**I find myself already attempting to write a few of these spin-off tales, and so I've decided to name this project tentatively as Thousand Strings. Personally I think of Thousand Strings as the Agents of SHIELD to The Avengers that is this series.**_

_**On a side note, I have also decided to take down Secrets of the Gallant. I'm going to reinvent and rewrite them as part of Thousand Strings, so keep an eye out!**_

_**LLS**_

* * *

**LV: Star Light, Star Bright**

Upon looking at him, the name of Leo Sterling was at once suitable and unsuitable. His blond hair shimmered, framing his face like a lion's mane would frame its wearer. He was regularly handsome, if not outstanding, and seemed to carry proud features not unlike Rex-nii. That was where the resemblance ended; one look into his eyes and I was rendered speechless by the madness and hysteria and sadism that would be more suited to a hyena.

"Duel!"

Leo: LP 8000

Seika: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 8000

By the sidelines, Serena had chosen to stand beside Setsu-chan. "Nee-chan... will the big sisters be alright?"

"Since this is Battle Royale, I'll start," Leo declared. "Draw. I'll discard a level eight Machine-Type monster such as Gimmick Puppet – Nightmare from my hand to special summon Machina Fortress [2500/1600] from my hand."

"Machina?" Uzuki commented as the light-blue machine appeared, unfolding over his field.

"Now, I'll summon Machina Gearframe [1800/0] and therefore search out a Machina monster to add to my hand, such as Machina Cannon." Leo continued as the orange humanoid machine appeared on the field. "With that, I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"My turn, draw!" I called. "I'll set a monster and two cards. Turn end. Uzuki!"

"Got it!" Uzuki called. "Draw! First, I'll summon Madolche Mewfeuille [500/300]! Now when this cute kitty is normal summoned, I can special summon a Madolche monster from my hand, so come, Madolche Messengelato [1600/1000]!"

A loud meow echoed through the air, as a pop of pink smoke billowed. Almost immediately, the smoke dissipated to reveal a small, fluffy pink kitten with a purple vest and a feathered yellow cap atop of its head. A four-leaf clover glimmered on its forehead. This was followed by a whoop, and a teal-haired postman in red-brown uniform appeared.

"When Messengelato is special summoned when I control a Beast-Type Madolche monster, I can search my deck for a Madolche Spell or Trap and add it to my hand, and I choose Madolche Ticket." Uzuki called. "I'll activate Madolche Ticket and set two cards, turn end."

"My turn," Leo gloated. "I normal summon Gimmick Puppet – Scissor Arm [1200/600]!"

_Snip, snip,_ the monster that appeared had a pair of scissor blades on its head, perched atop an otherwise normal female body shrouded in shadow, or a puppet wielding a giant pair of scissors. It was rather hard to tell.

"This monster allows me to mill a Gimmick Puppet monster of choice from my deck to the graveyard," Leo called. "I'll construct the overlay network with the level four Machina Gearframe and Scissor Arm! Exceed summon! Appear, Gear Gigant X!"

Gears began unfolding as the monster revealed itself as a green-armoured creature with a giant blue gear attached to its back [2300/1500].

"The effect of Gear Gigant X: I can detach one Exceed material, and so add a level four or lower Machine-Type monster from my deck to my hand. I choose Gimmick Puppet – Gear Changer." Leo announced with relish. "Machina Fortress, attack the set card!"

I stood ready to receive it. "At this time, the effect of Rai-Mei allows me to add Fortune Lady Lighty from my deck to my hand."

"That's alright," Leo pointed with one hand. "Gear Gigant X, direct attack!"

"Seika!" Uzuki called

"Trap card, Staunch Defender!" I called. "The target is changed to Madolche Messengelato!"

The gear monster flung out several discs, which sliced the messenger to pieces.

"Since Messengelato was in defence mode, I take no damage," Uzuki called as she put the card into her graveyard slot, and pulled it out again just as quickly. "Also, the effect of all Madolche monsters means that Messengelato is shuffled back into the deck, which activates Madolche Ticket. So, I shall add Madolche Magileine from my deck to my hand."

"Well, that's turn end." Leo smirked.

"Draw!" I called. "I'll summon Fortune Lady Lighty [?/? → 200/200]! Now, I activate the Trap, Raigeki Break, to destroy Lighty, and so I special summon Fortune Lady Darky [?/? → 2000/2000]! Appear, Darky!"

Lighty's most partnered sister appeared on the field, twirling her staff.

"I shall equip her with Bound Wand, increasing her attack power by one hundred points times her level. Right now, Darky's level is five!" I continued [2000/2000 → 2500/2000]. "Fortune Lady Darky, destroy Gear Gigant X with Dark Fate!"

Leo: LP 8000 → LP 7800

Seika: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 8000

"By the effect of Darky, I special summon another Fortune Lady from my graveyard," I called. "Arise, Fortune Lady Watery [?/? → 1200/1200]! With the special summon of Watery while I control another Fortune Lady, I can draw two cards. Now I equip Watery with Wonder Wand, and then tribute her to draw two more cards. I'll set one card, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Uzuki called. "I summon Madolche Magileine [1400/1200]!"

The purple-dressed witch appeared, twirling her fork-broom.

"The normal summon of Magileine allows me to add a Madolche monster such as another Magileine from my deck to my hand," Uzuki called. "I'll then tribute Mewfeuille for Madolche Puddingcess [1000/1000]!"

The blonde princess appeared, making a curtsy.

"But, since Mewfeuille wasn't destroyed, the returning effect won't activate," Uzuki continued. "That's no matter right now. Continuous Trap activate, Ultimate Offering!"

"Ultimate Offering...?" He snickered softly. "What can you do about that?"

"I pay five hundred life points, to summon another Magileine!" Uzuki called. "And then this Magileine allows me to search for the third and last Magileine! I shall pay again, and summon my last Magileine, and finally, I pay again to summon Madolche Butlerusk [1500/800], who allows me to search for the Field Spell, Madolche Château."

Leo: LP 7800

Seika: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 8000 → LP 6500

"That's... too much..." Serena murmured.

"Activate Field Spell, Madolche Château!" Uzuki called. "I construct the overlay network with the three Madolche Magileine! Exceed summon! Appear now, monarch of the spectrum! Number 16: Shock Master!"

From the network constructed, a prism formed. The sealed form that shimmered rainbow colours began to break apart, destroying itself to form a mask-like face with beak and the rest of its folded body. It resembled a crane folded out of blue pin-stripes on purple [2300/1600].

"You... have Number cards?" I was stunned.

"You didn't think Yamada-san was the only one?" Uzuki asked. "Even Nee-chan has them! Anyway, I activate the effect of Shock Master: once per turn, by detaching an Exceed material, I can declare either Spells, Traps or Monsters, and that card type cannot activate at all until the end of my opponent's next turn. I choose Traps!"

"My cards...!" Leo snarled.

"Chain Trap card, Madolche Lesson! I shuffle Mewfeuille back into my deck, and then all Madolche monsters I control right now gain eight hundred attack and defence power [1000/1000 → 1800/1800], while I can shuffle another monster back into my deck," Uzuki showed one Magileine and one Mewfeuille before placing them atop her deck and allowing the auto-shuffle to do its work. "Due to the effect of Ticket, this time since I control a Fairy-Type Madolche monster, I can special summon a Madolche monster such as Madolche Marmalmaide [800/2000] from my deck instead."

A maid in a black-and-white French uniform appeared and bowed, and the Puddingcess happily began jumping [1800/1800 → 2600/2600].

"Since now I have no monsters in my graveyard, Puddingcess gains eight hundred attack and defence power as well!" Uzuki declared. "And, I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! The fairy that rules the sugar kingdom, come! Begin the haunting dance of the night! Exceed summon! Queen of the kingdom of sweets, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!"

'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' began playing, and the throne appeared. It stood empty for a moment... and from stage left entered the beaming queen [2200/2100].

"The effect of Queen Tiaramisu: by detaching one material I can shuffle up to two Madolche cards from the graveyard to my deck, and shuffle an equal number of cards from my opponent's field to his deck," Uzuki called. "That includes the material itself, and Spells and Traps, so I shuffle Madolche Lesson and the detached Butlerusk back to my deck. Crown of Confections!"

The queen's staff pointed down, mandating that the sole Machina Gearframe present and one of the set cards be removed from the field.

"Due to the effect of Château, I can take Butlerusk back to my hand. Also, Madolche Château grants all Madolche monsters five hundred more attack and defence power [2600/2600 → 3100/3100] [2200/2100 → 2700/2600]. Queen Tiaramisu, direct attack!" Uzuki called. "Royal Victorian!"

"By discarding Swift Scarecrow [0/0] from my hand, I negate the direct attack and also end the battle phase," Leo quickly announced.

"Che. I'll set one card, turn end," Uzuki pouted.

"Draw." Leo smirked. "I'll normal summon Gimmick Puppet – Gear Changer [100/100]."

The Puppet that appeared this time had outright bizarre anatomy, which was beyond my limited descriptive powers. There was a very old-fashioned dial-lock, with one spindly blue arm on the top of it, and another where the right arm would be on a human, perched on a pair of spindly blue legs. That was the closest thing I could figure it as.

"By banishing Scissor Arm from the grave, I can special summon Gimmick Puppet – Dreary Doll [0/0] from the graveyard," Leo called.

The ground pulled back in front of him, allowing a small black rotted coffin to rise up to the field. We waited with bated breath. The coffin slowly creaked open, and from the opened coffin, a small creepy doll sat up, its lace-edged dress ripped and torn, messy blonde hair clumped and fraying, and its cracked and broken body covered with several bandages. The doll lifted its head up and screeched, a curious mix of clicking resin and wood creaks and clashing porcelain [0/0].

"Once per turn, Gear Changer can change its own level to that of a Gimmick Puppet monster on the field," Leo announced as the mutant gear clicked to show eight sprocket teeth. "With these two level eight monsters, I construct the overlay network! Exceed summon! Appear... the messenger, the puppet who controls the strings of fate... Number 15: Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer!"

_Bump-thump. Bump-thump. _Setsu-chan glanced up from the sidelines. "Oh."

From overhead, a pulsating heart made out of limbs coiled together seemed to beat. It was attached to a puppet controller. The heart opened to reveal moving gears which connect together and start clicking, while the controller used the strings to lift individual giant body parts. The parts connected and were sealed up before we saw it fully.

The giant puppet was grey of skin and green of eyes. Its red hair was the one thing of colour that stood out, along with the crown of gold fronted with a round gold medallion. It was naked except for the swath of white silk about its hips, but even that was unconvincing of its humanity. It was a giant machine, in the guise of man, and there was no semblance of the better things of life within its eyes, just the dead, vacant look of something approaching life but not the ultimate miracle, a Frankenstein's monster created with the eeriest medium known [1500/2500].

"What the hell is that? Gives me the creeps..." Uzuki shivered.

"It feels... wrong," Serena whispered from the sidelines.

"The effect of Giant Killer," Leo gloated. "Up to twice per turn, during my main phase one, by detaching one material, I can destroy a special-summoned monster on the field, and if it had the bonus of being an Exceed monster, I can inflict damage equal to the original attack of the destroyed monsters. So, I'll detach both material, and destroy Madolche Queen Tiaramisu and Shock Master! Taste the pain of the messenger of hell who suffers without a heart!"

A hole in its chest opened, and the queen and the crane squealed and tried to escape, but they were dragged with strings reeling them towards the grinder and their deaths. Uzuki tried to look away, but she could not and continued staring in horrified wonder as her monsters were destroyed, before a cannon formed and shot at her.

Leo: LP 7800

Seika: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 6500 → LP 2000

"Uzuki!" I screamed as Uzuki was blasted back to hit a wall.

"Is that..." Uzuki coughed, bravado barely stopping as she stood once more. "...it? Nee-chan inflicts more damage that you do. Sloppy."

Leo bristled. "I damaged you, didn't I?"

Uzuki motioned towards the scored burn marks that littered the ground and the walls, wiping blood from her split lip. "You're wasting power. You're sloppy. Your control sucks. There are Class II Duelists in the Movement who could do better than you, with the same result. You want me to be afraid of your power? Not. On. My. Watch."

I gave a choked laugh. "Uzuki..."

"I'm still standing," Uzuki fiercely answered me. "Well, bastard?"

"By tributing an Exceed monster such as Giant Killer, I special summon from my hand Gimmick Puppet – Nightmare [1000/2000]," Leo called as a dark pink collage resembling an assembly of corpses appeared on the field, and a second one also followed. "This effect also allows me to special summon another copy from my hand or graveyard, and I choose the second copy in the graveyard."

"What swarming power...!" I murmured. "Another two level eight monsters...!"

"With these two Nightmares, I construct the overlay network! Exceed summon!" Leo cackled. "Appear now, Number 40: Gimmick Puppet – Heaven's Strings!"

It appeared first as a crystal embraced by a wing. Soon, it unfolded, the wing corkscrewing to show the giant grey marionette that I saw attack Serena before, another facsimile of humanity, fake and heartless as it swung its sword in its right hand, the left side of its torso sliced open to show the glimmering silver strings holding it together [3000/2000].

"I shall activate the effect of Heaven's Strings," Leo gloated as the monster placed its sword to its open heart-strings and begun using it as a violin bow. "Once per turn, by detaching one material, I can attach a String Counter to all other monsters on the field, and by the end of my opponent's next turn, all monsters with String Counters are destroyed, and five hundred damage is inflicted to my opponent for each monster destroyed this way. Melody of Mayhem!"

Uzuki's brow tightened as red strings bound a crying Puddingcess and my Darky.

"The clock is ticking," Leo mocked. "Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" I called, calculating. This card... "Standby phase, Darky gains one level [2500/2000 → 3000/2400] and with it a power-up. Main phase, I activate the set Call of the Haunted, and I special summon Watery, therefore I draw two more cards. Uzuki..."

"No worries," Uzuki briskly answered. "Leave Puddingcess. Don't worry, I have a plan."

"Now, I tribute Watery to summon Fortune Lady Earthy [?/? → 2400/2400]!" I called. "I construct the overlay network with these two monsters, Exceed summon! Appear, Magi Magi Magician Gal!"

The older-looking, more feminine version of the Black Magician Girl appeared, and she threw a wink at us [2400/2000].

"I activate the effect of Magician Gal," I called. "Once per turn, I can detach one Exceed material from Magician Gal, and banish one card in my hand, to activate one of two effects. I will choose the first one, to take control of Heaven's Strings."

"Are you sure, little missy?" Leo smirked as Heaven's Strings floated over to my field. "The cost is rather high."

"No worries," I replied. "Watery, attack him directly with Torrents of Fate! Magician Gal, attack directly with Black Burning! And Heaven's Strings, attack directly with Heaven's Blade!"

"Trap card, Gimmick Box!" Leo howled. "At the last direct attack, I reduce the battle damage caused by Heaven's Strings to zero, and special summon Gimmick Box as a level eight monster with attack power equal to the battle damage reduced to zero [?/0 → 3000/0]."

Leo: LP 7800 → LP 4200

Seika: LP 8000

Uzuki: LP 2000

"Trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Device," Uzuki called. "Puddingcess is returned to my hand, and so I can add the sole copy of Madolche Magileine to my hand due to Ticket. With this, all monsters with String Counters are removed from the field, and so no monsters are destroyed."

"I shall set a card. End phase, Heaven's Strings returns to your field," I called. "Uzuki."

"Right!" Uzuki called. "Shall we...? Draw! I play the Spell, Pot of Avarice, shuffling Madolche Queen Tiaramisu, Shock Master, two Magileine and one Marmalmaide into my deck or extra deck, and then I draw two cards from my deck. I will summon Madolche Magileine to the field, and then I play the Spell card, Xyz Reception to special summon from my hand Madolche Chouxvalier [1700/1300 → 0/0] with its effect negated and its attack and defence power at zero. I overlay Chouxvalier and Magileine once more, Exceed summon! Queen of the Kingdom of sweets, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!"

The queen appeared once more, smiling [2200/2100 → 2700/2600]. Uzuki's face took on a look of malice. "I'll use the Crown of Confections on Heaven's Strings. Go!"

The monster was swallowed up in the magic of the queen, leaving only the smell of baking gingerbread.

"I'll set a card, turn end." Uzuki declared.

"My turn, draw!" Leo cackled. "I set a card, and play Aurora Draw to draw two cards. Banishing one Nightmare to revive Gimmick Puppet – Dreary Doll again. I construct the overlay network with Gimmick Box and Dreary Doll. Exceed summon! Number 40: Gimmick Puppet – Heaven's Strings!"

He grinned as Heaven's Strings reappeared. "Now, I activate this! Xyz Revenge!"

"What?" I gasped as Giant Killer appeared right beside Heaven's Strings. "I'll steal the last overlay material of that Magi Magi monster," Leo gloated as the glowing orb floated to Giant Killer. "And, I use it to destroy your Magician Gal! Take this!"

It was my turn, to endure the torture of seeing my monster destroyed and the damage sent to hit.

Leo: LP 4200

Seika: LP 8000 → LP 5600

Uzuki: LP 2000

"I'll discard Gimmick Puppet – Magnet Doll in my hand to revive Machina Fortress [2500/1600]. Giant Killer, attack Fortune Lady Watery!" Leo called. "Final Dance!"

"Trap card, Impenetrable Attack!" I defended. "This battle phase, Watery can't be destroyed by battle or card effect. Chain, Staunch Defender. This turn, you can only attack Watery."

"Fine," Leo snorted. "Quick-play Spell, Shrink [1200/1200 → 600/600]! Everyone, attack!"

"Giant Killer inflicts nine hundred, Heaven's Strings twenty-four hundred, Machina Fortress nineteen hundred..." Serena counted loudly.

"That's... fifty-two hundred damage!" Uzuki calculated. "Seika, no!"

I braced myself as the attacks hit.

Leo: LP 4200

Seika: LP 5600 → LP 400

Uzuki: LP 2000

As I found my back hitting the brick wall, I wonder... I wonder if Setsu-chan ever felt anything? If... If I were to die...

"Seika!" I heard Uzuki scream.

"Turn end," I heard Leo's smarmy voice, soft and dangerously sadistic. "Can the little missy even stand? Just sleep. I'll take good care of you..."

"You have bruised ribs," I heard Setsu-chan whisper into my ear. "Can you stand?"

It hurt, my legs. I numbly considered it through the pain. "I... I don't know."

"You must stand," I heard her urgent words. "Seika, stand. Himemiya Uzuki needs you. Serena Sakumo needs you. Right now, if you die... a lot of people will die. Do you understand me?"

"Yes..."

"Especially Serena. She has faced deceit all her life. What is there to wash away the deceit? Remember, the last gift left in the box."

"Last gift... box... Pandora." I whimpered. "Hope. The wish... for a future."

I don't know how I stood through the pain. I don't know how I clawed my way back there. I just knew that everything was shaky and it all hurt and my head hurt and I was wobbling on both legs. I just knew, the fervent wish to do _something_.

I wish... I wish... I _wish_...!

"Seika?" Uzuki whispered. "If you want... I can help you hold-"

"You are still in the Duel," I heard Setsu-chan's voice in my ear. "Seika?"

"I... I must stand," I heaved a dry sob. "I must... stand."

My fingers struggled, painfully slow as I draw.

"Draw," I gave a hoarse whisper. "Activate Magic Planter, send to the graveyard Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted, and draw two cards, therefore Watery is destroyed. Activate Spell, Fortune's Future, return banished Fortune Lady Fiery to graveyard to draw two more cards. Activate Spell, Message in a Bottle. I special summon Fortune Lady Lighty, Fortune Lady Darky and Fortune Lady Watery from my graveyard with their attack and defence power at zero, their effects negated and at the risk of taking four thousand damage at the end phase upon failure to Exceed summon."

"Four thousand...?!" Uzuki's whisper was nearly a scream.

"Activate... Spell," I gritted my teeth. "Star Light, Star Bright. Change all Fortune Ladies on the field to the level of Watery, four. I... I construct the overlay network with Lighty and Darky. Exceed summon! Number 39: King of Wishes, Hope!"

Hope's wings unfurled itself as it appeared [2500/2000].

_I wish..._

"I... I wish... Right now, I don't need serenity. I don't need wisdom. I am willing... to face the change," I groaned. "So, Hope... lend me your sword. Lend me your strength. Lend me... the power to grant wishes."

In answer, he flashed his sword up in the air, as if taking a vow.

"Chaos Exceed Change!" I called, as Hope folded himself, and the resulting form began to shimmer with both light and shadow.

"W- Wait, what?" Leo coughed as he stared at the field.

"Evolve, and bring up to bear! Chaos Number 39: King of Wishes, Hope Ray!" I called as Hope reappeared, donned in gunmetal grey and holding a larger sword. Around him, three materials played [2500/2000].

"Chaos Number? This is the first time I've heard of the damned thing, and this...!" Leo backed away. "Even so, it's weaker than Heaven's Strings..."

"The effect of Hope Ray!" I called. "This effect can only be activated when I am at one thousand life points or less. I can detach any number of materials from Hope Ray, and he gains five hundred attack power for each while one of my opponent's monsters lose one thousand attack power until the end phase. I choose to detach all Exceed materials from him, and my target is Heaven's Strings!"

"My monster..." Leo growled as the marionette groaned and slumped on the field [3000/2000 → 0/2000].

"Next, I activate the Spell, Mini-Guts," I firmly replied. "By tributing Watery, I can make the attack power of Giant Killer zero until the end phase [1500/2500 → 0/2500], and when it's destroyed and sent to the graveyard you will take its original attack power as damage. When I use the effect of Hope Ray they never specified that I had to attack that one monster with it. Torrents of Weakening!"

Water flooded at the chosen monster with no small amount of vindication as Hope Ray charged.

"Battle! Hope Ray, destroy Giant Killer!" I called. "Hope Sword Chaos Slash!"

Giant Killer met a swift and decisive end by the end of a sword, and with it the rest of Leo's life points.

Leo: LP 4200 → LP 200 → LP 0

Seika: LP 400

Uzuki: LP 2000

"Seika!" Uzuki cried as I sank down to my knees, shaking.

"Good," I heard Setsu-chan's vaguely praising voice, and I smelt something close to winter mint, lush and corrupt. It didn't matter, not now. "I'll take it from here, Seika. Rest."

So I did.

* * *

I drove the Armada instead, after swearing up a storm at the back-stabbing bastard Jarvis and waiting for him to put Orion and Yukio into it. After dropping them off, I made a few more investigations and decided that there was no way to wait till sunset.

I took the Armada out of Neo Domino proper, following the highway out of town. Driving stick with only one good hand and one good leg is not fun. In fact, it's the next best thing to impossible, at least for me. I wound up using my wounded leg more than I should have, and the discomfort intensified and I had no painkillers on hand that would still let me drive. So I drove, and swore under my breath at anything that made me change gears.

By the time I was far enough from town, the sun was setting, though the cloud-veiled western sky still glowed the colour of embers. I pulled off onto a side road that was made of old gravel and stubborn weeds that kept trying to grow up in the road's smooth centre. It led down to a little dead end of the Neo Domino Harbour, where some kind of construction project never went through. It was a popular spot for local kids to hang out and imbibe illegal substances of one intensity or another, and there were empty beer cans and bottles scattered around in abundance.

I left the Armada on the road, and walked maybe fifty metres down through trees and heavy undergrowth, to the shore of the Bay. At one point, a little spit of land formed a promontory only a few centimetres higher than the surface of the water.

I walked out onto the spit to its end, and a cold wind off the Bay swept around me, blowing my coat and threatening my balance. I grimaced and stood, out at that point of land where earth and water and sky met one another, and focused my thoughts. Blocking out the pain of my leg, my fears, my questions.

I gathered together my will, then lifted my face to the wind and called out, quietly. "I call out to you, she of the snow flower, she of the frosted moon. She who is Winter, cold and dark and bleak as the season of death. She of the hunger, the darkness, the pain. Queen of Air and Darkness, hear me, and come!"

I sent my will coursing into the words, and they echoed from the surface of the lake, repeating themselves in whispers in the swirling wind, vibrating the ground upon which I stood.

I waited. I could have repeated myself, but she had certainly heard me. If she was going to come, she would. If she wasn't, no amount of repetition was likely to change her mind.

The wind blew colder and stronger, throwing cold droplets up from the lake and into my face. One gust of wind brought me the sound of an airliner overhead, and another the lonely whistle of a freight train. Distantly, somewhere on the Bay, a bell rang out several times, a solemn sound that made me think of a funeral dirge. Beyond that, nothing stirred.

In time, the fire faded from the overcast sky, and only the darkest tones of purple were left on the western horizon. She wasn't here...

Dammit.

After I thought that but before I could actually turn around, there was a swirling in the waters near my feet, and a slow spiral of water spray spun up from the surface of the lake like the beginnings of a hurricane. The spray rolled up and away from a female form, beginning at the feet, shod in soft moccasins of dark blue, and rolling up over a blue Chinese-style robe of light blue, the lapels secured around the neck. The gown was belted with coarse blue cotton, flat and wide, and a slightly curved, single-edged knife hung at an angle through it. The robe bore no pattern itself, aside from the embroidered snowflake sigil that all of the Ice Barrier seemed to wear in one form or another.

When the spray rolled up, I expected her features that always made her seem smug and somewhat pleased with herself, in absence of the animation of any other emotion.

Instead I saw a long, male face, with the thin eyebrows and eyes that characterised most Asian faces, with curiously pale skin, framed by thick black locks that hung smooth like a geisha's hairdo from under his hexagonal tasselled cloth cap.

"Greetings, mortal," said the Duel Spirit.

My mouth went dry and my throat got tight. My limbs tightened as I made a half-bow. "Greetings, spirit. I do beg your pardon. It was not my intention to disturb." My head shifted into panicked, quick thought. She hadn't come. She sent someone else. She was _busy_.

"Disturb me?" said the Duel Spirit. "Hardly. I am here only to fulfil the duties my Queen hath bade me to take upon myself. It is no fault of thine that this summons reached mine ears when my Queen placed me to await thy request."

I straightened up slowly and avoided meeting his eyes. "I had expected Shimotsuki to come."

"Alas. Her Majesty is occupied with pressing matters at the moment. She said that she would deal with the matter momentarily."

I drew in a breath. "For what reason has she been detained?"

"Because of the matters at hand," he said. One pale hand drifted to the hilt of the knife at his belt. "Certain events had convinced Her Majesty that a certain gambit has placed the mortal pretenders of power she holds under her notice in mortal danger. She is actively settling the issue."

"What has she done?" I asked. It didn't sound like a question so much as a demand.

"She is occupied," the blue-robed man answered. "She is engaged with matters of great priority."

"I need to speak to her _now_." I groaned.

"Of course," the Duel Spirit standing on water replied. "Yet Her Majesty is occupied with far more pressing matters at hand, and time presses for you mortals, if not for Her Coldness. Thus am I here to fulfil her obligation to teach and guide you."

I frowned. "She's busy, but she sent you to keep her promises?"

"Promises must be kept," the Duel Spirit answered simply. "My liege's oaths and bargains are binding upon me, so long as she is restrained from fulfilling them."

"Does that mean that you'll help me?" I asked. Exact words were always needed to deal with these locos.

"It means that I will give you what Her Majesty might give you," he said, "and speak what knowledge she might have spoken to you were she here in flesh, rather than in proxy. I do hereby swear, thrice bound, as my title of General of the Ice Barrier, that I may speak no word that is untrue during the duration of this conversation. Thus is my word given to you."

_In your mortal parlance, you could take that to the bank, _Rei whispered._ He shall indeed fulfil that vow to the letter._

I eyed him warily. It was true that the higher powers of Duel Spirit were bound by promises – but that wasn't the same thing as actually fulfilling the _spirit_ of the promise. Most of the spirits I had met in passing were masters of the art of deception, speaking in allusions and riddles and inferences that would undermine the honesty of their words so thoroughly that they might be much stronger lies than direct falsehood. Trusting the word of one was an enterprise best undertaken with extraordinary caution and exacting care. If I had any choice in the matter, I would avoid it.

Yet, there was nothing I could do but forge ahead. I still had to find out more about what Ryuusei was doing, and that meant taking the risk of speaking with Shimotsuki. This stand-in was simply more of the same risk with an unknown quantity.

"How may I address you?" I began.

"The mortal planes do know of me as Raiho."

I twitched. Of course she sent one of her own Duel Spirits, Raiho, General of the Ice Barrier.

"I seek knowledge," I continued, "About the Summer King."

"Him," Raiho commented. It was as flat as any conversation about the weather. "Yes. What would you wish to know of him?"

"I want to know why did he kill two people who had no links to the Courts," I said. "I want to know what is the greater gamble at hand. I want to know if this had anything to do with the missing Chaos Emperor Dragon."

The wind came to a sudden, dead halt. The waves of the shore abruptly stilled to a sheet of glass beneath his shod feet, dimly reflecting the glow of the city skyline in the distance and the last shreds of purple light in the leaden sky.

"Deaths," he said at last. "Mortals die. It is the way of the worlds. And yet... could it be?"

"Could what be?" I asked.

"The Chaos Emperor Dragon," he replied. "Avatar of the Emissary of Destruction. Was it misplaced?"

"Um," I said. "Sort of. It was... moved."

One delicate brow rose. "Meaning what, pray tell?"

"Meaning that it was stolen," I explained further. "By a local thief, Vanessa Trent. We think that whoever stole it is also linked to one of the Psychic Movements."

"Vanessa Trent," Raiho sounded the name, the syllables rolling off his tongue with unfamiliarity. "I take it, this happened days after the Chaos Emperor Dragon passed into the hands of another?"

"Yes," I said. "It was stolen by a group of thieves who then proceeded to run a decoy plan. We caught the decoy, but she won't say anything. We think we're close to the real thieves."

"Then it seems that the matter is largely resolved," Raiho sounded uncaring.

"Vanessa got into the Movement because of injuries caused by abuse," I spoke out loud. "Barely twenty-four hours later, her adoptive guardians, the Beckmans, were struck down by plague. I saw the Plague Wolf that carried it to their door, I saw the necrotic tissue caused by Ekibyo Drakmord. Hafiz at the Rex Goodwin Cemetery can testify, he squashed it flat."

"A hound of pestilence," Raiho guessed. "It killed them."

"...yeah."

"So, are you searching for the murderer of these Beckman people?" Raiho paused. "Or are you searching for the thieves of the Chaos Emperor Dragon? You realise, of course, that I am unaware should the Summer King proceed to commit murder whilst he stands upon the mortal plane."

"Either one," I answered. "Both are related, aren't they?"

"From, as you mortals call it, the outside looking in, the murders of one or two people are hardly noticeable," Raiho commented. It was neutral, not mocking, a statement of cold fact. "Yet, I submit, there are noticeable salient points relative to either case. What has the theft of the avatar accomplished? In the hands of spirit-callers or those with power in your world, then yes, it is a weapon, an incredible one. But, without an incredibly gifted and powerful summoner, then it is worthless, no? And I cannot imagine there being many."

I opened my mouth, and closed it. True, it might be threatening, but right now it was a super-weapon no one else could activate. "Assuming that no one can activate it... then it just becomes a target," I scowled.

"And what does one do with a target, to place an offensive to one's enemies?" Raiho asked.

"Well, they give it to the target and get the hell out of-" I froze. "That's it! It's a bloody great target. It's a bullseye designed to get the Arcadia Movement crashing down on whoever is holding it!"

"Indeed. Insidious and dangerous," Raiho mused. "You keep deadly company, mortal."

"You don't say."

"Impudent," Raiho commented. "It's sweet on you. I can see why Her Majesty keeps an eye on your activities."

"Gosh, that's flattering," I drawled despite the chilling thought that Shimotsuki might be stalking me. "But you haven't told me a thing about why, or how, did Ryuusei kill the Beckmans when the rulers shouldn't be able to touch people outside of the Courts."

Raiho studied me. "The method does not matter, so much as the motive. To my knowledge, and that of my Queen's, shades that lay in quiet rest beyond the beck of the mortal pale are unlikely to commune with the living barring a miracle or occult intervention."

I stood there quietly. "No, I don't get you."

"It means that the primary motive for the murders of the Beckman family is linked to the case at hand, but not necessarily of the same importance," Raiho suggested. "I suggest you ponder these questions: how do the Beckman mortals fulfil the condition that allows a ruler to perform summary execution? What has the deaths of these Beckman mortals achieved? And, ultimately, what is the goal of offering a high-profile card such as the Chaos Emperor Dragon? You have suitably answered the third question, hence the first two remain."

I followed the chain of logic from there. The rulers of either Court cannot kill directly; that was why they had champions, agents. Sending a virus specifically for them was pretty direct, I'd admit. Hence what condition was there...?

_Sacred hospitality..._ Kisara's words came back to me.

"What's sacred hospitality?" I spoke up.

"The host must not harm the guest, the guest must not harm the host, and the host not offering becomes a serious affront to the Courts and their champions." Raiho dutifully reported. "The host is also obligated to the protection and care of all his guests, provided that the guests follow the conditions laid down by the host within reasonable discretion while they are under the host's roof. To not offer hospitality sacred is a capital crime comparable to treason amongst we of Winter."

I had to do a double take at that. "Wait. You can be _executed_ for being a lousy host in the Winter Court?"

"I believe that Summer holds similar, if rather more lax, punishments," Raiho thoughtfully offered. "But, yes. Hospitality was a useful practice amongst the nomadic tribes that make up the bulk of the Winter Court, and it has long been our tradition and necessity that if nothing else, we of Winter must be able to rely upon the hospitality of our hosts. To ratify it by law is merely custom. To punish by sacred hospitality is also the duty of the rulers."

"So, hospitality laws could be used to bypass the restriction," I realised with mounting horror. "But... whom did they offend?"

"So clever for one so young," Raiho agreed. "That is for you to answer."

"Flattery," I muttered, considering as I looked at the fine cut of the robes that seemed to hang off of Raiho. I caught myself before the general realised that he was being checked out. "So is there a gambit at hand?"

"There always is, and even I am unclear as to most of them," Raiho replied. "I am barred from revealing any supposition of the Queen to an outsider of the Court, you understand."

I ground my teeth together. "But she knows?" I asked for clarification.

"She is the Queen of Air and Darkness, spirit-caller. There is little she does not."

Which really didn't answer anything. "Will she tell me?"

He touched the tip of his tongue to his lips, and I was momentarily distracted. "You should know us better than that by now. Nothing given by one of ours comes without a price. So does this knowledge."

My foot hurt. I had to hop a little bit on my good leg when my balance wavered. "Great," I muttered. "What is it she wants?"

"You," Raiho said, folding his hands primly in front of him. "Her Majesty's offer of championship yet stands open to you."

"What's wrong with Satsuki," I asked, "that she'd dump her for me?"

"Her Majesty has shown no intention of replacing Lady Kujaku, though there is no covenant that states that the Courts are limited to only one champion," Raiho answered. "The Lady Tenjouin is an example of this."

"Michiru's also a champion?" I asked, stunned.

"I suppose," Raiho commented. "Though between the Queen's lady-in-waiting and Queen's champion, the distinction is... unique."

I felt a little sick to my stomach at the idea of Tenjouin Michiru championing anything. Much less being a lady-of-waiting on anyone.

"If you like, you might consider it an act of practicality," Raiho continued. "Accept my lady Queen's offer, and your debt shall be forgiven and all your questions freely answered, and yet enjoy power as the Lady Tenjouin does."

I shuddered. Shimotsuki's elite minion was an abusive, psychotic Duel-mad bitch. I was never clear on whether she got the job _because_ of those qualities or whether they had been instilled on the job. Either way, the title – and therefore power – of champion was a permanent gig. If I accepted, I'd be doing it for life – though there would, of course, be no promises as to how long that life would be.

"I told her once before," I shot back. "I'm not interested."

"Things have changed, spirit-caller," Raiho murmured in a soft baritone, and I caught myself before I could fall into the Bay leaning closer to Raiho's voice. "You know the kind of power you face. As Winter's champion, you would have strength far outweighing even your own considerable skill and wit. You would have the wherewithal to face your foes, rather than slink through the night gathering whispers to use against them."

"No." I paused and then said, "No means no."

Raiho gave me a disappointed glance, and I noticed how blue his eyes were. "Quite disappointing. We can wait, though. Her Majesty can wait until the sun burns cold."

Thunder rumbled over the lake. Off in the south-west, lightning leapt from cloud to cloud. Raiho turned his head to watch. "Interesting."

"Uh. What is?"

"Powers at work."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"That you have little time?" Raiho suggested as he turned to face me again. "Know this, mortal: should this gambit be concluded, someone will die. Summer is a warmer court, but not a better one. You would do well to remember that."

"What? How?"

"King Summer was-" – Raiho's eyes grew distant, as if in memory – "Brilliant. If carefree. He believes that innocence is the distinction between good and evil. Yet there is more than one facet to innocence, as there is more than one facet to good and evil."

I added two and two and got four. "This is about Ryuusei. You're telling me that Ryuusei is behind this. Well, not in so many words, but you're confirming it."

"Occasionally there may be no distinction between innocence and evil, only that the former does not actively realise the ramifications of their actions," Raiho distantly replied.

I swallowed. "What happens... if this succeeds? Whatever this gambit is?"

"Then it succeeds," Raiho answered. "And someone dies. And the board remains. There is no regrettable change at hand... merely that a few more lives are lost. A few pawns lost does not a game-breaker make."

"Ryuusei doesn't know," I realised, staring down at the black waters of the Bay. "He doesn't _know_."

"Your mortals say it, ignorance is bliss, is it not?" Raiho murmured. "Hindsight is that which guides mortal-kind. The immortal do not require it."

I thought about it some more. In a sense, yeah, a volcano didn't stop to think about the destruction and potential infrastructure damage before erupting, nor did a hurricane stop and swerve out of its way to save people. Both were beautiful, but amoral because they did not need to. "Who is the target?"

"If I could, why would I not tell?" The wind began to stir again, and the Bay began to resume its ebb and flow. "Beware, spirit-caller. You are engaged in a game most deadly. My Queen should be disappointed were she to be deprived of your service."

"Then get used to it," I retorted. "I'm never going to be her pet."

Raiho just shook his head. "We have time," he said. "And you mortals find life to be very sweet. Make no mistake, milady will collect. One day, you will kneel before the high and mighty of Winter, and pledge yourself to us."

The shore suddenly surged, dark waters whirling up in a snake-quick spiral, forming a waterspout that stretched from the lake's surface up out of sight into the darkness above me. The wind howled, driving my balance to one side, so that my wounded leg buckled and I fell to one knee.

As suddenly as it began, the gale was gone. The lake was calm again. The wind sighed mournfully through tree branches sparsely covered in dead leaves. There was no sign of Raiho.

I grimaced and struggled to my feet. I glanced back at Killer, who was sitting on the shore, watching me with worried doggy eyes.

"Bastard," I told him as I limped back towards the Armada. Before the storm hit, I began dialling a number I had long memorised but clicked the speed-dial anyway.

"Youkai?"

"_Chase, I'm eating, stop calling me at dinner to nag-_"

"I wasn't calling about that, though I'm glad that you're taking the initiative," I drawled. "Do you need medicine?"

"_You're a great help, don't think so,_" Youkai's voice drifted, light and playful. "_What's up?_"

"Dr Erik keeps all the infirmary cases on file, right?" I asked.

"_Yeah. In paper._"

"I was hoping for that," I sighed. "I need you to break in and find Vanessa Trent's file."

There was a pause. "_You're asking me to break into the office of Dr Hadrian Erik._" Youkai's voice sounded flat. "_Who may or may not know how to disappear a body. Tell me why?_"

"The alert for Vanessa Trent being moved into the Arcadia Movement itself came from Ryuusei," I explained. "But why didn't the Movement know about it until now? So-"

"_You're searching for prior records, got it,_" Youkai agreed. "_That's suspicious alright. So while I'm combing the system for anomalies, what will you- holy shit._"

My blood would have frozen if I wasn't feeling like bits of me were about to freeze off. "What?"

"_It's... It's Kannazuki-san._" Youkai swallowed. "_And you'd never believe who just came in with her._"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	59. LVI: Strings of Destiny

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LVI: Strings of Destiny**

"My Queen, this is an unwise decision." I heard the voice growl.

"Dewloren, should you have anything constructive to say I will listen. However since you do not, you will kindly not interrupt me."

"Yet it is your own rules that the mortal be allowed her own path."

"My assistance in this matter will not alter her path any, since I am rendering the same aid towards Himemiya Uzuki and Serena Sakumo, thereby precluding any measure of favouritism since this would merely be lending a helping hand."

The strangest thing was that the conversation was being held in the same voice, something deep and basso. I had heard that voice before; Dewloren, the Tiger King.

"An interesting interpretation, that the Queen of Air and Darkness herself lent a helping hand where she does not believe in charity," the voice continued. "May I also add that after the siege of Pegasus Castle, the red-haired mortal girl is rather less inclined to allow us egress, and that further presence within this city would mean running into King Summer."

"Should King Summer attempt that, I will allow that he can take his righteous indignation and take it to someone else who _does_ care about his opinion," Dewloren's voice continued the same conversation. "If not, I will help him guide it to that person, which is mostly likely somewhere around his posterior. Forcefully."

The winds on my face blew, crisp and cold. My leg hurt, my arms smarted with the familiarity of burns, and my ribs hurt.

"This... this is so cool!" I heard Serena's voice, reedy and thin, echo behind me.

"Setsu...-chan...?" I whispered.

"I would advise you not to move," came a familiar brisk tone in Dewloren's voice. "I am in a rather volatile state right now, and hence Dewloren shall be my voice for the time being. We are flying approximately two hundred metres above sea level around the Tops district in the most discreet intra-city flight path from DA Queens to the Castle."

Under me, the ground seemed to tilt and move. I felt something beside me move, and guessed that somehow, I was strapped to a dragon. With some help, I tilted my head to spy a torrent of red curls overhead. Uzuki was going to be upset at her lost hairpin.

"Nee-chan? Are you awake?" I heard Serena say. "We're flying!"

I had suspected that, but I tilted my head up and immediately wished that I hadn't. Uzuki and I were roughly tied to the back of a large, barrel-like body. On either side of us, the membranous wings of the blue-white dragon batted occasionally, stronger than to be expected.

Of course, an ordinary dragon could hardly be expected to carry four people alone. Hence, Serena rode overhead on another, similar blue-white dragon, this one more like ice. Serena was laughing, part hysteric and part joyful.

"How long...?" I groaned.

"A while," Setsu-chan patted my ear, and I realised that my head was pillowed on her lap. It was almost homely, this cold and draughty ride towards the Castle. The two dragons did not seem to overly suffer from carrying double, and the fact that there were two dragons either meant that Setsu-chan had very good control and much power, or that Setsu-chan really summoned two dragons to make the trip to the Daimon Area. Either one was equally likely.

Both dragons flared their wings, landing on all fours on the roof of the west face, the infirmary base. There, I was lowered into a stretcher with Uzuki.

"Missy?" I heard Dr Erik comment in shock. "Why... how?"

"All will be explained in time, Hadrian," Setsu-chan replied. "However, understand that right now I am not the threat at hand. Yamada Yukio, I propose a cessation of hostilities and a truce for until Seika recovers, and twenty-four hours after, effective immediately."

"I accept your truce, and do swear to honour the cessation of hostilities until our leader is well, and for twenty-four hours after," I heard Yamada-san answer immediately.

"Very good. Seika and Himemiya Uzuki were attacked while defending the third girl, Serena Sakumo, from a rogue Psychic, Leo Sterling. Serena Sakumo is the younger sister of Kit Sakumo, who was an accomplice in the theft of the Chaos Emperor Dragon. I suspect potential blackmail at hand. At twenty-hundred hours, I was forced to stage an intervention following the Duel immediately after, at which Seika and Himemiya-san won against Sterling, at this cost, when Sterling did not seem to honour the rules of the Duel. Since I had two injured and one rather under-trained at the moment, I was forced to chase Sterling away rather than make the trip through potentially hostile airspace with a criminal."

"I understand your logic at hand, and comprehend the situation," Yamada-san replied as I was set into a bed. I saw Dr Erik preparing a needle.

"Good night, Seika," I heard Setsu-chan whisper as I was injected.

Dreamland was rather more unusual than I should have deemed possible. I saw that night, the night when the Shimotsuki manor burned down and the Madame died...

_I had awoken due to a bang. In complete darkness, wearing only my nightgown._

_The door opened to reveal Nakamura-san. "Seika-ojou."_

"_Nakamura-san?" I recognised._

"_The manor is under attack. Master has gone to retrieve Missy. Madam is holding them back. Please follow me."_

"_N- Nakamura-san?" I whimpered. "A- Attack?"_

"_Do not worry," Nakamura-san murmured as I got out of bed and followed behind him. "Madam will protect you."_

_I followed, running after Nakamura-san's long though unhurried strides, through the dark hallways of the manor. More than once I dodged and dashed, and Nakamura-san knocked more than one masked intruder out._

_We had made it to the hallway before I saw Madame battling. She was fierce and beautiful, a storm of dark hair and pale skin and flashing eyes, and she wore white. Her white dress made her look ethereal in the gloom._

"_Iemitsu, get her out of here," the Madame instructed without batting an eyelid as she raised a hand. Immediately a wall of silvered mirrors rose, protecting us from the attacks. The Silver Mirror Wall..._

"_But, Madam-!" Nakamura-san protested as the beam struck her._

_The Madame's eyes were comically wide. Blood spattered down her midriff and away from her, to fleck my cheek. It was warm, cooling immediately._

_Then Rafael-jiisan and Setsu-chan ran into the entrance hall. Setsu-chan looked calm, if slightly nervous, and Rafael-jiisan was more put together. Both of them appeared stunned as they saw the Madame's body._

"_W- What happened?" I stuttered._

_Setsu-chan looked down. "Mama is dead."_

"_N- No. No!" I shook my head. "Baa-sama... she can't be dead. She can't! Rafael-jiisan!"_

"_So that's the man who defeated the King of Games once?" a woman laughed nearby. "Pathetic! Venus... kill him. Kill them all."_

_Setsu-chan threw a card out, giving a small scream as it turned the monster, the Splendid Venus, into ice. With another card from Nakamura-san, the statue was shattered. _

_Rafael-jiisan took the chance to take Setsu-chan and vault past the woman towards us._

"_Iemitsu, you will take them away from here." he ordered. "Elysium Circle, dammit. Move!"_

_Nakamura-san bristled. "But, Master-"_

"_You're a Psychic. I'm not. I entrust you with my daughters right now, so help me-" Papa set Setsu-chan down, tackling her towards Nakamura-san as the shots rang out. China shattered around us, and something awful rang through as he staggered._

_Setsu-chan whirled, staring as Rafael-jiisan had started bleeding from the chest. "Papa...? Papa!"_

_Ice formed over his wounds as she hugged him, but the blood... the blood wouldn't stop-_

"_Ma petite fleur, live." his face was twisted, but his blue eyes shone. His spiky blond hair was traced with blood as he pressed the deck-box into her hand. "No matter what... You are my daughter."_

"_Rafael-jiisan!" I screamed before Nakamura-san knocked me out._

_When I awoke, the awful truth had sunk in. They were dead. They are dead... dead... dead!_

_Setsu-chan knocked me out._

_When I awoke next, I was woozy, biting my lip in order not to make any noise. We were in an apartment in the Arcadia Movement. Beside me, Setsu-chan sat on the couch, back leaned against the rest and eyes closed. As I sat up, her eyes merely slid open to consider me with her cold eyes._

"_They're dead." Her statement was devoid of anything._

"_Yes..." I slowly nodded._

"_Are you going to grieve?"_

"_Y- Yes."_

"_Why?"_

"_W- Why... is a reason needed?" I timidly volunteered._

"_As Mama- Mother has died, your obligation as her potential heiress has diminished," Setsu-chan commented. "You are free."_

_Free... free... I gasped. "What will happen to me? What about us?"_

"_Us?" Setsu-chan spoke. "There is no 'us'."_

"_Then... Setsu-chan... you're going to leave me here?"_

"_You have no power. You have no resources. You have none of the resourcefulness or intelligence or skills needed right now to live within the Arcadia Movement. As you are right now, you will be dead weight where I shall go," Setsu-chan listed, as though it were merely a shopping list. She paused, her hand stretched out as if to pat me on the hand, but stopped and withdrew the limb. "I will arrange your particulars with a selected family. But, after the funeral and reading of the will, we shall part ways."_

"_No. Please don't leave. Setsu-chan, please don't leave me. Setsu-chan, I don't want to be alone. Setsu-chan...!_

"I don't want..." I awoke. "I don't want... please don't leave me... Setsu-chan... Nii-chan... Jii-chan... Baa-chan... don't leave me..."

"It's just a dream." I heard the voice of Nii-chan say.

"I'm scared," I murmured. "I was never meant for this. If my work could be reduced just a little, I'm be so glad. But I can't. If I lose the Movement... if I lose this, I lose everything. I don't want to lose anything else. I won. I won. So, so, don't take it away-"

"No one will take it away from you," Nii-chan promised as I hugged him. "You performed well, Seika. Don't worry. Setsuka arrived with Uzuki, Serena and you. She told us. You beat him. You won. So right now you need to rest."

"Uzuki? Serena? Setsu-chan?" I tilted my head around. I was in the infirmary, and with it I saw Uzuki's red curls and Serena's dark hair. There was a dark-haired man sleeping, head slumped next to Serena.

"Who is he?" I realised.

"He's Kit Sakumo, Serena's older brother," Nii-chan told me in a hushed voice, stroking my hair. "He helped to steal the Chaos Emperor Dragon. Now, with his help, the Movement will hunt down the thieves at last. No one will take the Movement away from you. No one will, and no one can."

* * *

He was right.

I didn't believe it when Youkai told me, even when I saw her. Part of me didn't want to. That part of me never got a vote where I was concerned anyway, so I walked in, gritted my teeth and tried to summon up a salvo of snark. It wouldn't come. I was just too scared – and with good reason. Seika, and Uzuki by the other bed, didn't look that hot either, but they were alive and they were breathing. I was distracted by something else.

She sat there beside the beeping heart monitor, one hand graced with a simple charm bracelet covering Seika's hand, the one that was protected by the DuelDisk armband. Shimotsuki wore a dress of black, the sleeves cut at the shoulders to show a glimpse of skin and silk, and matching pumps. Her hair was braided into a scorpion braid and bunched into a bun, onyx beads glimmering amidst her black locks. Even dressed like a school madam, her ice-blue eyes gave every indication that she was armed and willing to kill.

Beside Shimotsuki, was the hugest fucking white tiger I'd ever had the misfortune to meet. How she got it in must have been a combination of death stares and threats. Shimotsuki was the only person I've ever met who could make the Movement dance by sheer willpower and terror.

Shimotsuki was the ruler of fully half of the Duel Spirit realm, those areas of the spirit world closest to our own, and in my circles she was universally respected and feared. I'd seen her, seen her in the merciless clarity of Sight, and I knew – not just suspected, but _knew_ – exactly what kind of creature she was now.

Fucking terrifying, that's what. I couldn't summon up a single wise-ass comment.

I couldn't talk, but I could _move_. I pushed myself to a distance close enough to a shivering Youkai by the other bed. I shook with the cold and the fear, but faced the Queen of Air and Darkness and lifted my chin. Once I'd done that and proved that I knew where my backbone was, I could use it as a reference point to find my larynx.

My voice came out coarse, rough with apprehension. "Why are you here?"

Her mouth quivered at the corners, turning up into the tiniest of smiles. A feline voice, scratchy and deep, spoke as Shimotsuki tilted her head. "I want you to do me a favour."

I frowned at her, and then at Dewloren. "You're... Dewloren, right?"

The tiger's eyes gleamed. "Indeed," it said. "The servitor by me bears that name."

I blinked for a second, confusion stealing some of the thunder from my terror. "The servitor by you? There's no one else by you, Dewloren."

Shimotsuki's expression flickered with annoyance, her lips compressing into a thin line. When Dewloren spoke, his voice bore the same expression. "The servitor is my voice for the time being, spirit-caller. Nothing more."

"Ah," I said. I glanced between the two of them, and my curiosity took the opportunity to sucker punch terror while confusion had it distracted. I felt my hands stop shaking. "Why would Shimotsuki Setsuka need an interpreter?"

She lifted her chin slightly, a gesture of pride, and another small smile graced her mouth. "Should you wish an answer to that question, you would incur an obligation so soon after concluding one. I do not believe in charity," The eerie, surrogate voice said for her.

"There's a shock," I muttered under my breath. "But you missed the point of the question, I think. Why would _you_ need such a thing?"

Shimotsuki opened her mouth as Dewloren said, "Ah. I perceive. You doubt my identity." She let her head drift back a bit, mouth open, and an eerie little laugh drifted up from her majordomo. "If I tell Dewloren to chew your leg off, what do you think?"

Youkai hissed for my sake. At least, I hope so.

I swallowed. "I like all my limbs intact and present, thank you."

"Perhaps you'd care to reminisce over old times," mewled the eerie voice. Shimotsuki winked at me.

She'd done that the last time I'd bumped into her. I'd been indulging in wishful thinking, hoping she was fake. She was the real Shimotsuki Setsuka, wanted fugitive from the Arcadia Movement and Queen of the Winter Court, and yet she was right here. If there was anyone with the balls to blithely enter the Movement, it was her.

"Okay," I shrugged. "I'm curious, and something tells me that if I don't do this you'll screw us all over anyway. Why?"

"Chase!" Youkai snapped, forgetting his fear in the face of stupidity. "Are you _insane_?"

Shimotsuki showed her teeth. "Three favours your family once owed me, Misawa Nowaki." she said – sort of. "One yet remains. I am here to create an opportunity for you to conclude our accounting."

Youkai swallowed as I regarded him.

"You? Really?" I finally said.

"Shut up, Chase," he sounded tired. "It's a long time. Do you have any idea how long she can hold debts over our heads?"

"Uh-huh," I drawled. "On the accounting thing for both of us. How are you going to do that?"

Her smile widened, showing me her delicately pointed canines as she eyed me with cold, dead eyes. "I am going to help you."

Yeah.

This couldn't be good.

I tried to keep my voice steady and calm. "What do you mean?"

Shimotsuki stood. She took one of the nearby vases, flung the flowers out and brought the basin over. As I watched, the chrysanthemums wilted and died before they hit the ground.

"Behold." Shimotsuki gestured with her right hand, and the water within stirred and moved and cracked, until it had risen into a sculpture of a building, about half a metre tall. It was like watching a sand castle melt in reverse.

I thought I recognised the building. "Is that…?"

"The Arcadia Movement," confirmed her surrogate voice. It's amazing what you can get used to if your daily allowance of bizarre is high enough. "As it were on the night of the theft."

Other shapes began to form from the snow. Trees, a fluttering butterfly, and movement within.

Shimotsuki flicked her hand in a slashing gesture, and the top two-thirds of the little snow building disintegrated under a miniature Arctic gale. I was left with a cutaway image of the building's interior. At the top floor, a girl and a boy ran out of the infirmary and sprinted down a flight of stairs. I recognised the girl as a relatively more healthy Vanessa Trent, but the boy reminded me of Rex, though his hairstyle was a dead give-away that he wasn't my friend.

At the bottom, the boy stabbed at some kind of keypad with short, sharp, precise motions and they went into the Oval Office, again disconcertingly detailed. The girl was the one who opened the safe, and then they stole out, locking everything up. They were discovered by a tiny bespectacled figure and one a stoic man in a suit. Nakamura-san and Kaido. Kaido and Nakamura-san threw little puffs of frost at them, and frost blazed out as tracer fire, presumably for fireballs. Vanessa returned fire, little flashes of light that I had no idea how she achieved, and the boy... the boy spun on one foot and disappeared.

Vanessa continued fighting, thought. Glittering frost in the air, and coughing figures meant-

"Yeah, she tried to use poison," Youkai scowled. "Decontamination was a bitch."

Vanessa made it to the roof, and jumped. I wasn't expecting her to grow wings and flutter off while the Knights gave pursuit, but it was shown.

The entire sculpture then collapsed on itself, and was gone.

"I have chosen you to resolve this," Dewloren spoke officiously. "Just today, the other thief, Leo Sterling, he accosted the family of one Kit Sakumo. Kannazuki Seika and Himemiya Uzuki got in his way, and this is what happened to them, though they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. It was a narrow thing."

I drew a breath at the sudden rage I felt, that led to a desire to run the bastard down and break all his bones. "Leo Sterling."

"I was occupied with fending off Sterling's subsequent attacks, as I dared not incur the attention of Sterling's benefactor so far from Lia Fáil," Dewloren related for her. "Between getting the injured to emergency treatment, and allowing Sterling further liberty, or taking Sterling in and risking an ambush, I chose the former. Thereafter, I was preoccupied with ensuring that Seika made it through emergency surgery and bone resetting."

"Tell us where to find the bastard." Youkai looked less apprehensive and more furious.

Shimotsuki turned to us. "The both of you will repay me this. You will find Leo Sterling. You will end his life on this plane, and you will run him and his benefactor out of this city. No mercy. No clemency."

"The hell I will," I said before my brain had time to weigh in on the sentiment. "I'm not going to kill anyone for you."

She, or Dewloren, let out a low, throaty laugh. "You _will_. If you wish to survive, you have no choice."

Anger flared in my chest and shoved my brain aside on its way to my mouth. "I haven't agreed. You don't have power over me. You can't coerce me."

Her lips lifted in a silent snarl. Her eyes flashed with sudden, cold fury and frost literally formed over every surface, including upon my own eyelashes. Youkai's breath rose in little puffs of steam, and he seemed to be thinking of flinging himself out of the window.

"_There are others yet who will pay for what they have done,_" Shimotsuki Setsuka snarled in her own voice. It sounded hideous – not unmelodious, because it was rich and full and musical. Yet, it was filled with such rage, such fury, such pain and such hate that every vowel clawed at my skin, and every consonant felt like someone taking a staple gun to my ears.

Youkai was whimpering beside me, hands closed around eyes from which blood-streaked tears continued to flow.

Bloody hell. If this was what happened when she was mad, I'd rather never cross her.

"_I am what I am,_" she hissed. "_I am the Queen of Air and Darkness. I am Setsuka of the Shimotsuki._" Her chin lifted, her eyes wide and white around the rippling colours of her irises – utterly mad and powerful and terrifying as a blizzard coming in at full speed ahead. The aftermath left me slumped by Youkai's bed, and Youkai bent over my body, whimpering.

"I have not coerced you, nor dispatched any agent of mine to do so," Dewloren continued for her, as if the break in conversation had never happened. "Nonetheless, if you wish to survive, you will serve me. I assure you, that Summer's agents will not rest until you are dead."

I stared at her for a second, still half-dazed from the pain and once again deeply, sincerely, and wisely frightened. "This is another contention between you and Ryuusei. You're confirming that Summer's agents were behind the theft."

"When one Court moves, the other perforce moves with it," she agreed... sort of.

"Sterling has backing from Summer?" I croaked. "M- Marguerite?"

"The witch is not the only one of Summer's high nobility. His emissary will continue to seek your death. Only by concluding the other's plan will you preserve your own life." A pause. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

"Unless you should agree to take up a mantle as Winter's champion," she commented. "I should be forced to choose another if you did, and your involvement in this matter could end."

Her eyelids lowered, sleepily sensual, and her surrogate voice turned liquid, heady, an audible caress. "As my knight you would know power and pleasure that few mortals have tasted."

"No," I automatically shot back. "I don't want to end up like Michiru."

"If you must," she idly whispered in Dewloren's relatively safe voice. "Of course, this is addressed to the both of you. Accept my offer. Preserve your lives. Taste of power like none either has known." Her eyes seemed to grow larger, becoming almost luminous, and her not-voice was a narcotic, a promise. "There is _much_ I can teach."

A decent person would have rejected her offer out of hand.

I'm not always one of those.

I could offer you some excuses, if you like. I could tell you that I was an orphan by the time I was eight. Or maybe I could say that I'd seen too many good people get hurt, or that I'd looked upon a lot of nasty things with my Sight. I could tell you that I'd been caught and nearly abused by the creatures of the night myself, and that I hadn't ever really gotten over it. I could tell you that my greatest worry was that one day, Youkai would leave and never return, and I would drive myself to die in a hole somewhere alone because I was one foot in the spirit world and one in the mortal world. All of those things would be true.

The fact of the matter is, that there's simply a part of me that isn't so nice. There's a part of me that gets off on laying waste to my enemies with my power, that gets tired of taking undeserved abuse. There's this little voice inside my head that sometimes wants to throw the rules away, stop trying to be responsible, and just _take_ what I want.

For a minute, I wondered what it might be like to accept. Life amongst the immortals would be…intense. In every sense. Money I had enough, and time as well, when I bothered to chalk up exactly how much free time I had. I did a spot of travelling, and Youkai and I once went to Mongolia on some insane Arcadia trip that led to travelling with the Mongol nomads somewhere in the Gobi. What was truly attractive, heady and addicting, was _power_. As a Psychic Duelist, Kujaku Satsuki wasn't so bad, but the mantles of the champions gave them that extra punch that ordinary Psychics could only dream of.

I could have…almost anything.

All it would cost me was my soul.

No, I'm not talking about anything magical or metaphysical. I'm talking about the core of my identity, about what makes Chase Princeton who and what he was, is and would be. If I lost those things, the things that define me, then what would be left? Just a heap of bodily processes – and regret. Despite the temptation, it was enough to make me hesitate.

That, and the idea of being colleagues with Michiru.

"No," I said finally. "I don't want the job. _We_ don't want the job." I added for Youkai.

She studied my face with calm, heavy eyes, and then flicked to Youkai's half-terrified expression. "Liar," she said quietly. "You want it. I can see it in you."

I gritted my teeth. "The part of us that wants it doesn't get a vote. We are not going to take the job. Period. What's wrong with Satsuki, anyway?"

She tilted her head to one side and stared at me. "One day, you will kneel at my feet and ask me to bestow the mantle upon you."

"Not today."

"No," she agreed, rather placidly. "Today both of you repay me. Just as I said you would."

I didn't want to think too hard about that, and I didn't want to openly agree with her, either. So instead I nodded at the basin where the sculptures had been. "What's their aim?"

"I do not know. That is one reason I chose you. You have a gift for finding what is lost."

"If you want me to do this for you, I'm going to need to ask you some questions."

Shimotsuki glanced back to Seika, asleep through her bandages. "Will there never be an end to it?" She shook her head. "I have duties upon which to attend – as do you."

"I thought _you_ were the one who owed me," I accused. "Is this even right?"

She opened her mouth.

"Wait, wait, wait-" Youkai flung himself off.

"_Hearts. Good. Evil. Right. They are all contagious._"There was the grating sound.I winced, clapping hands over my eardrums. "_I repay my debts, mortal. _All_ of them._"

There was an enormous _crack_, a sound like thick ice shattering on the surface of a lake, and Shimotsuki plus her translator were gone.

"What was that?" Youkai hissed. His body was curled up, and he was shivering as he directed wide cerise eyes at me. "That was... she was _mad_. Really, really upset."

"Upset? Is an understatement," I groaned.

It took a while before either of us could speak, but I began once my ears didn't feel like the slightest vibration would shatter them. "So, anything on Vanessa Trent?"

Youkai paused. "I'm being used for my connections. Chase, this is outright manipulation."

I leaned over and bopped him on the head. Gently. "Your ribs are affected. Until you're cleared, no."

"Guess we know who wears the pants in this relationship," my boyfriend groaned, waving a hand to the bedside table. "I had to fake a psychosis attack for this, I hope you appreciate it."

"I'll show you my appreciation when this is over." I opened the file to skim through the dates. "All Psychics have access to the infirmary included as membership, right?"

"Yeah, for the minor GP stuff," Youkai shrugged. "More serious treatments are also included in the workload, since the healthcare system means that GP stuff is relatively cheaper, and given all the experimental treatments here it's a given."

"That's strange," I muttered. "It's clean. Why would anyone suddenly beat a girl to near-catatonia?"

"Her guardians got scared and finally retaliated?" Youkai suggested. "Abuse can be verbal until it turns physical."

"Unlikely. They should have known that-" I stopped. "Trent was a private participant of Duelist Kingdom. She was one of the very few in DA Queens who were caught by the eliminators, but escaped and assisted in the siege of Satsuki and Michiru afterwards."

Youkai's eyes met mine as I looked at him. "Do you think...?"

"I think," I realised. "That there are a lot of merits to disappearing in a crowd. And that was why they were killed-"

"Nii-chan?"

My head turned as I spotted Serena slowly waking up. "You?"

Serena's eyes widened. "Nii-chan... are the two Nee-chan alright?"

"Y- Yes," my eyes narrowed. "They protected you from the Leo Sterling guy, is it?"

Serena quickly nodded. "Nii-chan... Nii-chan was always getting into trouble, and they said... that guy said that going to the Movement would mean that I would be taken away. Especially... especially since I tested at Class IV."

"Class IV at _eight_?" Youkai shook his head. "Unbelievable..."

The doors slammed open.

"Let me see my sister!" Kit struggled, but I could have already told him that there was no struggling with Yamada Yukio behind him. Yukio's eyes narrowed, and he tripped Kit, slamming Kit into a hold.

"Nii-chan!" Serena screamed, immediately moving for her DuelDisk.

"Listen to me, Serena Sakumo, or I break both his arms." Yukio snarled, still keeping Kit in an easy lock. Serena immediately froze. "Right now, your older brother is a suspect in grand larceny, attempted terrorism and aiding and abetting. We have enough evidence to declare him as an unfit guardian and to take over your case. You will immediately be entered into the system as under the care of the Movement, and you will never see Kit Sakumo again... not unless the two of you cooperate."

Kit stopped struggling. "What? But..."

"Whoever told you that we separated families, they _lied_," Yukio growled, seemingly pissed off. "The Misawa family, the Himemiya family, I can name many happy families whose members are in the Movement. They _lied_ to you, they prevented you from accepting financial and social help, and they would have set you up in _criminal ventures_ without your ever realising it, Kit Sakumo, Serena Sakumo. You are victims as much as we are. Do you understand what happens now?"

"I... I didn't know." Kit faintly murmured. "They said... it was removing a weapon. They said... he said, and Leo agreed, that it was too dangerous."

"Who said it, Kit?" I pressed.

"Princeton?" he muttered. "That you?"

"It's me," I nodded, walking/limping over. "I'm involved in the case. I give my word, that I will look after Serena. Will that help?"

Kit did not answer.

"As a Duelist," I pressed. "We've exchanged a Duel, Kit. Even if you don't trust the Movement, trust me. Do I need to sign a contract or something?"

Kit sighed. "I've only heard Leo mention him once, and never by name, only as the Lawyer. And our contact, Hayato Ichimonji, I've heard him mention the guy before, once. That's why I didn't trust the Movement."

"Who?" I pressed.

"Yamada."

Yukio stilled. It was like seeing someone petrify himself in a split second. "You lie."

"Honest truth. You can ask your creepy secretary guy."

"Nii-chan..." Serena sniffed. "We... we've hurt a lot of people, haven't we?"

"You'll be punished. By community service. Lots of it," Yukio severely replied as he let go and opened a cellphone. "Hercules? Cold Wolf here. Come over to retrieve the fall guy from our newest member after half an hour. We can leave them for some family bonding right now."

Kit blinked as Yukio hung up, still rubbing his forearms. "You're... not like I expected. Even though your holds are painful."

Yukio deliberately let his eyes trail towards a tearful Serena. "You've done a lot worse to yourself than I can ever do to you. The best I can offer you now is to catch the guy responsible for the whole thing. To that end, I thank you for providing us a name. Rest assured that we will see justice done, and you will also be involved every step of the way. There's nothing I can say to change your mind about the Movement, but there are things I can do. Take this time, I'll come by again after I've finished the lawyer bastard."

"Lawyer... Yamada...? But-" Youkai swallowed as Yukio turned to stare at him. "Are you sure, Yukio? It's your father."

I caught on to what Youkai was implying when Yukio just looked away. "This will not emotionally compromise me. That, I am certain."

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	60. LVII: Battle Simulation

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LVII: Battle Simulation**

Dr Erik must have used the good drugs, was my immediate surmise when I awoke. Now I understood why there were some Knights who lobbied for better medical facilities, and why there were Psychics running away from the Movement. Aside from the terror of needles and Lidocaine, not being able to feel anything else but bliss must have been very good. Setsu-chan and Nii-chan had gone, but yet I was feeling nothing at all.

However, the anaesthetics wore off with breakfast, and beyond the excruciating pain of a splintered left leg and a broken arm, there was hardly any other distraction.

"Seika!" Uzuki complained by the side. She was buried under a mountain of fruits, and by her bedside was Hazuki-nee peeling an apple with the brisk proficiency she used to approach any other task. "Make her stop... the health burns!"

"Uzuki, quit the histrionics." Hazuki-nee sliced the peeled apple and poked a toothpick into a random slice, holding the plate to me. "Your right arm's still movable."

Thankful that I was still relatively independent, I took the offered slice and thanked her. It occurred to me after biting into one that this must have been an often-enough occurrence that Hazuki-nee made no bones about it. "Hazuki-nee... is this common?"

Hazuki-nee waited until Uzuki had started biting into her apple slice, before she turned back to me. "What is?"

"The... injuries."

"Everyone gets hurt sooner or later," Hazuki-nee answered after a long while.

"Not the injuries," I shook my head. "The pain. The treatment. The hate. What did we do?"

"That depends," Hazuki-nee replied. "Do you mean, reveal ourselves as people with powers the average person can only dream of? Or what we did to incur this hate?"

"Both of them."

Hazuki-nee did not answer for a moment as she held up one of the apples. It cracked open slightly, and shoots bloomed in her hand as roots curled over her palm. "We are different, and show ourselves as markedly different. That is all that is needed."

"But to incur this much hate?"

Hazuki-nee did not answer for a few more moments. "Do you remember how we met?"

"I- In Gotham City." I breathed out through my nose. "Like Setsu-chan and I met Reggie and Glen."

"Not on the opposite ends of hostility," Hazuki-nee replied. "The Elysium Circle was... doing what it thought best, you see. Training Psychic Duelists to kill people without question was, in their view, the correct thing to do in retaliation to a society that hated them. It wasn't right, of course. Allowing genocide is akin to declaring that Psychic Duelists are better than humanity, when we're not. Even people with powers are like the programmers or the builders or the lawyers of the world. The existence of the Arcadia Movement, and organisations like it... they can be a marshalling of forces they do not understand. Misunderstanding breeds fear, fear leads to hate, hate leads to a cycle of vengeance. A cycle of vengeance is perpetuated when one side unquestionably believes that their lives are at risk from the opposite party. Of course, that was a more general reason. Individually, I do not know. An individual can have many more reasons to hate the Arcadia Movement."

"I don't understand," I shook my head. "Why?"

"Does it matter?" Hazuki-nee looked sad as she pulled Uzuki's blanket up.

"Just fighting is alright, right?" Uzuki looked mutinous.

"Then who is it that you should fight? Which side should you choose?" Hazuki-nee inquired. "These questions are also important. These questions define what you choose, and in turn who you are. The true monsters are the ones who believe, without question, that what they believe is the absolute truth, and that nothing else will stand up to it."

"Himemiya-san, please don't bore my patients to death," Dr Erik drawled as he strolled in and gave Uzuki a lollipop, to her great happiness. "Well, this is tricky, but the both of you are going to be staying until the evening. Three weeks in a cast, since this is a clean break. I'd also like to volunteer the both of you to see if we could test out the effect of Psychic powers on bones."

"R- Right," I stuttered. "Thank you, Dr Erik."

"So, visiting hours are open!" Dr Erik cheerfully declared, and he must have been waiting outside for the speed in which Kaido marched into the sick-bay.

"Kannazuki-san," Kaido greeted, placing a small bouquet on the bedside table, already fitted out with a vase. "I see that Kraehe and you survived. Though I have questions, you understand?"

"Can't you use your psychometry to answer that?" Uzuki asked.

Kaido sighed. "My psychometry only provides the events in which you experienced, but not the context. I'd rather not assume that the both of you jumped a random rogue Psychic in an alleyway without justification."

I peered at the sunflowers he brought. "Thank you, Kaido. How did you know that I like sunflowers?"

"I didn't," Kaido replied. "My graduate professor liked them."

So I answered his questions. Dr Erik left for his out-bound shift at Puzzle Hospital soon enough, and Baa-chan dropped in with candy and a few kind words with Jii-chan and a container of chicken soup. Kaido yelled at Uzuki for leading a civilian into danger, and the Sakumo siblings dropped in.

Serena looked remarkably contrite, and openly stared at my cast.

"I'm so sorry," her older brother, Kit Sakumo, assured for my sake. "I'm so sorry for... for everything."

"I accept your apology," I replied distantly. Others would have wanted to assure Kit that it was not his fault to begin with, but it was a recipe for more guilt. "Kit-san, about Serena... how would you feel about subscribing to our childcare programme?"

"Childcare?"

Kaido broke off to explain, with some help from Uzuki, how we handled pre-teen members and assisted adult members with understandable paranoia for their children. The childcare floor was not only one of the most well-protected and reinforced parts of the building, but was also the first to be locked down within the dormitories in case of any crisis. By the end of it, Kaido had filled out the paperwork for Serena to be registered under the code-name Clockwork, and the Sakumo siblings had left to discuss their plans in private with Kaido. Uzuki took her medicine and was asleep when I entertained some more visitors.

"Do you need me, Seika?" Hazuki-nee asked as she drew the privacy curtains together around Uzuki's bed.

"I'm fine, Hazuki-nee," I shook my head.

Hazuki-nee left me to entertain my newest visitors after lunch.

"Oh, my god."

I opened one eye to regard Archibald-san post-outburst. "Thank you for the sentiment, Archibald-san."

"I thought... I thought children were..." Rafael-san looked horrified as he regarded my leg and the rest of my bruises. "How... how can they subject a child to such things?"

After acknowledging Archibald-san, I did not want to do any more, but I had to look at Rafael-san's girlfriend. The Mizore Setsuna I had seen at the opening of the KC Grand Prix was cold and brittle, but more expressive. This Mizore Setsuna wore her shape like she was in a new skin, occasionally touching Rafael-san's arm or smiling at the besotted man. All hints of disguise had been carefully smoothed over or entirely edited out, but occasionally I saw flashes of hurt or unrestrained anger over her pale features.

"I do not know," I chose to answer Archibald-san, though my eyes never left this Mizore-san. I knew that she must be Tenjouin Michiru, or Setsu-chan, but...

"Oh, Rafe," this Mizore Setsuna whispered, leaning close to Rafael-san's ear. "Don't say these things. Girls hate it when guys go all alpha-male on them."

...it could not be Setsu-chan, I decided as Rafael-san tenderly touched her hand.

This side of Tenjouin Michiru added a new dimension to her and Rafael-san. I believe that Chase-nii would describe it as being gob-smacked. I felt the sentiment as they exchanged looks.

Archibald-san saw my look. "Well, yes. Rafael is a romantic. Who knew?"

Mizore Setsuna caught my eye, and her gaze was subtly challenging. If I revealed her identity right here, and now, she would retaliate. I held no ideas if everyone else would be fine, and did not dare test it within the Movement itself. And... and it was endearing, in a sense. It was endearing, seeing her get this flustered.

"I hope that the dual-training is fine?" I asked.

"Yes," Archibald-san cheerfully answered. "They also covered how smart Psychics can cover their tracks, plus a lot more courses. Though it doesn't quite change my opinion that this is almost a militia, it's very... refreshing. There's a lack of discipline all around, except amongst the Knights, and it's... a rather unique outlook of combat." He looked around. "Oh, Misawa!"

Youkai stopped with his hand on the doorknob of Dr Erik's office, with the deer-in-headlights look. His other hand was clamped on a thick binder. "Archie? Rafe?"

"Our scouting instructor!" Archibald-san grinned.

"Excellent," Youkai clomped over to my bed, handing the dark-skinned American the binder. "Guard this with your life. No matter what."

"Sir?" Rafael's eyes widened. As I turned my head, I saw Mizore-san do the same thing, but with her lips pursed.

"It's Vanessa Trent's medical records," Youkai explained. "Someone remotely wiped the online records, so I had to get this from Dr Erik's office. It's the only lead we have to anything remotely more than a coincidence, so guard this with your life or we lose a case."

"That bad?" Rafael-san commented as I dropped the binder to hide under my pillow. "Why?"

"The remote wiping of a hard drive could only be done from within," I realised. "And only if-"

"Only if the terminal had jamming software," Youkai answered gravely. "I'm going to fake some sleep. Don't let anyone touch me."

He dived towards the bed, kicking his shoes off and shrugging his jacket away.

I tapped Archibald-san's arm as Youkai got to his under-shirt. "He's taken."

"He?" Archibald-san's eyes were wide as he quickly turned away, the exclamation down with no little amount of horror. "I- I thought- is this hazing? Is this a joke?"

The door opened as Nii-chan came in, his laptop Calcifer tucked under one arm. "Is Youkai-sempai here?"

"He's asleep," Rafael-san answered with a straight face.

Nii-chan walked in, face frowning doubtfully s he approached the mountain of bed-sheets covering Youkai. "Really? Then did you see him holding a thick binder? Because the records need to be updated, and he just took them."

"O- Oh," Archibald-san stuttered. "I- I mean-"

"We didn't see it now," Setsuna volunteered.

Nii-chan and her exchanged thousand-mile stares for a while, before Nii-chan nodded. "R- Right. Of course. I'll just... look around. Rest well, Seika. Do you want anything?"

"I- I'm fine, Nii-chan," I murmured, as Nii-chan left, and left behind a horrible foreboding.

* * *

The next morning, I found out that I had spent the night at the Arcadia Movement beside Youkai, and that Dr Erik had been trying something in his own mad scientist way that I could move. I was too afraid to ask what he'd done, and so after breaking fast with Youkai I went down to the Knights, where I spotted Captain Kaname already there, and facing off with the Wonder Cousins of the Yamada family, plus Orion.

"This is-" Captain Yuuko Kaname paused. "What?"

"An arrest warrant for Hayato Ichimonji, living as Apartment two-four-seven at Number 7 Puzzle Close," Yukio replied. "Come along."

I cadged a ride with Yukio and Yuuki, who seemed on the way to making up. The Wonder Cousins exchanged flat stares until Yuko bopped them over the head and made Yukio drive the rest of the way.

"Both of you, quit it," Yuko groaned as we got out of the Armada with Orion on our tail. "Yukio?"

"I defer to the superior judgement of Captain Kaname," Yukio answered.

Captain Kaname groaned. "Hunter-san, please watch the front. Yuko-kun, Yuuki-kun, take the back. Yamada-kun, Princeton-kun, you're with me to make the arrest. Since I can't see Duel Spirits, nor do I have Psychic powers, you'll have to help out. Princeton-kun, your leg?"

"I'm fine," I answered.

"Yuko, watch the roof," Yukio quickly countered.

"Oh, right," Captain Kaname groaned. "Anyway, is everyone ready?"

Ichimonji's residence was in a large block of flats that had been built by the Senrigan Building Trust in the early part of the pre-Zero Reverse era for Domino City's trendiest set. After a period of fashionable existence pre- and post-Reverse, its popularity had begun to wane in the Momentum boom. Expensive to maintain, the unprepossessing block had changed hands regularly for ever-decreasing amounts as successive landlords took the rent and never bothered to bring the place up to date or even carry out anything other than essential repairs. It had started out as a good address but was now a shabby wreck, its paint long since faded and the stucco rounded and softened by the corrosive action of wind and rain.

We stepped into the musty hall, and were greeted warmly by the ripe odour of decay. Out of two hundred apartments, we understood from the ancient doorman, barely eight were still occupied. The owner was a wealthy financier who was waiting for the last tenants to leave before he flattened the site and built a deluxe car park in its place.

The doorman pointed the way up the stairs. The lift, he explained, had been out of order for a long time.

As Captain Kaname led the way up the creaking circular staircase, I looked over the banisters and up at the skylight, where I could spot leaks crudely repaired with waterproof tape. The banisters were rickety, and the dust of dry rot rose when we touched them. Padlocked doors greeted them on every landing.

"Which was his apartment again?" Captain Kaname asked.

"Number 247," whispered Yukio. "This way."

He led us slowly down the musty hall, through fire doors that were wedged open and past corroded wall lights glowing with bulbs of minuscule wattage. Dust rose from the aged carpet as we approached the front door, from which paint was peeling off. From what I understood, Ichimonji had moved here after completing a course in Central to prove his Duel skills.

Yukio pulled out his penlight to examine the door more closely. Dirt and fluff had drifted against it; the doorknob had a small spider living on it, and everything was veiled with a thin coat of dust except for the knob, which was shining.

"Someone with not many funds live here," Yukio observed.

"That includes all eight people," Captain Kaname added as she gave a crisp knock.

Silence. Silence. Silence. We were all getting nervous as she tried the knob. "It's locked."

Yukio gave us looks, and I nodded to the Captain. We looked away.

"Okay." he said after a moment, and kicked it open. Wow.

We followed Yukio in. The door was pushed open against a mound of junk that had collected in the hall, and then went on to the second door that separated the hall from the rest of the apartment.

"Not very tidy, this Ichimonji," Yukio paused and looked at us. Whatever he saw, it probably included seeing his own foreboding reflected on our faces.

As the Captain grasped the door handle, it came away in her hand, and the door itself fell away into a rotten, soggy heap. The moisture in the air had exacted a terrible toll on the apartment. The carpets and furnishings were thickly mildewed, and the paper had peeled off the walls and lay in heaps next to the mouldy skirting. The books in the bookcase had rotted down to a dark mulch, and everything in the flat was covered with a thin layer of moisture. There was a heavy smell of damp, and I noticed that several varieties of fungi had started to grow on the walls and floors. I felt the floorboards collapse gently under my weight, the patterned carpet keeping me from falling through entirely.

My eyes fell onto the floor, and I swallowed as the vast amount of blood. "Captain, I think you'd better have a look at this."

"What is there-" Captain Kaname caught sight of it and gasped openly.

Hayato Ichimonji lay there, feet pointing to us, his body barely covered in several scraps of carbon paper. Blood streaked from his chest, where the carotid and probably the subclavian arteries had been violently torn eyes were wide open and his face blue; whatever attacked him, he'd seen it coming. His hands lay wide open, bearing very clear rope burns that even a forensic idiot like me could see it. In his right he had a DuelDisk, and in his left a deck. Ichimonji had barely been given the time to put on his DuelDisk for a Duel; he hadn't been given a chance to fight. The brown _dougi, _or what I thought of as karate pyjamas, he wore had its upper shirt torn open, and it hung askew as a grisly frame of what had been done.

Someone had torn his heart out.

Captain Kaname twitched as she heard the sound of rubber snapping. Yukio had donned latex gloves, and was proceeding to check the body.

"Call the NDPD," Yukio harshly groaned. "Now, Captain."

"Y- Yes!" Captain Kaname covered her mouth as she backed away, fishing her belt for her comm with trembling hands. Being a much braver soul than I, Yukio approached the body, and knelt down next to it, checking the face and the pool of blood from the left.

"Blood is sticky, _rigor mortis_ set in, body's cold. Estimated more than twelve hours since time of death," Yukio rattled off before poking Ichimonji. "Lividity on the face, plus torso wounds, suggest that victim died of violent exsanguination following the removal of the heart. There's relatively little blood spray on the lower walls but much more on the upper walls behind you, Princeton, which further supports the suggestion that the heart was torn out while the victim was alive. Captain, I need your camera."

I quickly turned to spot the blood spray Yukio had mentioned behind me as he got the camera. They just above the door. That was creepy beyond belief, and I hadn't lost my breakfast yet.

"There was an argument, and probably Ichimonji was standing here," Yukio murmured, standing to face the back. "The perp was probably facing him. DuelDisk and deck suggest preparing a Duel, but there are no furniture large enough to contain this model of DuelDisk... so it was in his room, and he went back. By that time he stepped out, the perp was ready. The strings could be a trap of some sort, and so while Ichimonji was caught by surprise, the perp swooped over, and probably tore his heart out in a single stroke and pull, resulting in the blood spray. Ichimonji fell back, and then... the perp left as Ichimonji bled to death."

"And no one heard him scream?" Captain Kaname was back.

I knocked the walls, which slapped flat. "Not hollow. Solid concrete."

"Of course, since Ichimonji was alive, he also saw who killed him," Yukio scowled down to the right hand, where Ichimonji's finger was stained with blood. "About fifteen seconds, and he wouldn't have been interested in moving. This is a draughty apartment, there's bound to be a paper that flew off."

"You're standing on it." I spoke out.

Yukio hurriedly backed away, where, amidst the solid shoe print, there was, clear as day except for the single red-brown blot, the pen-printed Kanji of 山田 勇太.

"Very common family name, Yamada," I commented as Yukio shifted through more carbon papers.

"Yamada Yuuta on the other slips... and his signature. This is evidence, make sure it doesn't drop," Yukio snapped as a piece of paper snaked out between my legs. "Captain, please message Lieutenant Hasegawa to begin application for a warrant on Yamada Yuuta immediately."

"R- Right!"

I dashed back for the last receipt as Captain Kaname clicked rather viciously on her phone. I managed to grab it and take it back to Yukio without touching it by more than a corner. Yamada Yuuta, in Kanji, and damned if there wasn't a signature. There were a lot of ways to fake a signature. Not damning evidence, but beyond a reasonable doubt. The only way after this kind of evidence to to make sure there was a case truly beyond reasonable doubt, was if the defendant never got to defend themselves. Never happening with Yukio's father, but it was a start. Justice would be done...

"Okay," Captain Kaname sighed as she hung up. "The forensic team is on their way, and Souichi knows what to do. Aside from the horrific scene that you've managed to concoct just by looking, what else is there to shock us with?"

"I bet he watched," Yukio dispassionately replied. "I bet he held the beating heart and watched as the light left the eyes of Ichimonji."

Captain Kaname shuddered.

"Just as I thought you couldn't be any more terrifying," I muttered.

Yukio walked a round, studying the really small window. "He came in through the window, and Ichimonji was up. They talked. They had an argument. He was tall. Size eleven. He stabbed Ichimonji and tore the heart out, and watched while Ichimonji died. The blood spray must have gotten onto him as well, and walking out with a heart? Why didn't the doorman see him?"

"Old age?" I suggested as I leaned down and I heard the creak of wood. "Different guy?"

"No, the doorman would have raised the alarm," Yukio shook his head. "The murderer, he was tall, size eleven. Acrobatic enough, since this is the second floor and he came in through the window. But there's no way to lock a window from outside, so how did he lock it?"

"Maybe he didn't," Captain Kaname commented. "Maybe Ichimonji locked it."

There was a beat as Yukio processed the thought. "Oh. He didn't. Ichimonji did. Meaning the perp is still right here."

Being grabbed from behind _sucked_. There was a moment of disorientation as my throat was crushed and my head hauled back, and a vicious knee found itself in my sternum and I was stuck in a headlock mid-choke. I could smell the foetid rot and mildew, and the sweat and the heavy smell of moonshine.

"Move and I break his neck," the low voice growled somewhere around my left ear. My head was wrenched to one side to make his point.

"The torque you would produce in that position would be much lower than the actual force needed to break a neck," Yukio calmly informed him, as if there wasn't a hostage in between them. "Of course, your hostage is at risk of losing air and his hair, so I would perhaps deem it advisable to relax the headlock by a few degrees. If he were to be unconscious, the emotional impact of actually holding a hostage would be quite defeated, as would the entire purpose of taking a hostage."

You know all that emotional tension of actual hostage situations? Yukio had just managed to effectively defuse it, until even I felt stupid. And I was the one being choked here.

"You shut your mouth, frosty," the guy choking me hissed. "Or he dies."

"So he will," Yukio coldly observed. "Or the Captain will take you down."

"What?"

After that I was flung forward. Catching myself on my hands was no mean feat, but I was too stunned for a moment. Captain Kaname had lashed a foot out to kick him in the knee, and socked him in the jaw and sternum. As he went down, Yukio just walked forward and stomped his sneaker-clad foot on the blond man's sternum, or where it would have been if the man didn't roll up and get back to his feet.

"Captain Kaname Yuuko, First Investigative Brigade," Captain Kaname ordered, producing her badge. "You're under arrest for suspicion in murder, suspected misdemeanour and assault. Resist and you will be further charged for resisting arrest."

He spat out a tooth. "Dumb cop." His voice was rough but with a low timbre, easy to hear. "I got you now, Emissary."

I blinked.

Then I felt a small, sharp pain in my left neck.

I pried it out immediately and looked down, to see a little wooden dart in my hand. It was carved, perfectly smooth and round, and fletched with a few tiny slivers of scarlet feather. "H- Huh?"

I snapped my gaze around behind me, and caught a single glimpse of the Fairy Archer, balancing his weight with apparent effortless ease along the lights, on a strand of wire that had to have been less than a centimetre wide. It held a short silvery tube in one hand, and as my eyes found it, the deceptively beautiful assassin flashed its wings, and flew out of sight.

A slow burning sensation began to spread from the wound in my neck.

A cold shiver oozed down my spine. I checked the dart. It hadn't done much, but when I touched my neck, I found an inordinately large trickle of blood coming from the tiny wound.

That burning sensation became an almost infinitesimally greater presence with each heartbeat.

"I will have my revenge on the world!" Laughing, the blond ran towards us, and threw himself at the window. Glass shattered and the October chill spread in as the small portal was forcibly opened.

"Go after him!" Yukio snarled at Captain Kaname, while ushering me out. "What was that? Your neck-"

I then recalled that Yukio couldn't see them. "I got nicked," I admitted.

"That's bleeding too much," Yukio shook his head. "Get down to the Armada, unless Goldenrod took it on a chase, then get to the doorman, tell him that the police are on their way and that the entire damn building had better be locked down for the forensic team. We can't have the only seer on call bleeding out."

"_D__ammit_!" I snarled as I hauled ass downstairs. "I just got played _again_! I am so sick and tired of this backstabbing bullshit!"

Though ancient, the doorman was well-prepared, so he was already calling an ambulance and the police the moment I related everything.

Fact one: after so many years of owning it, the Kaiba family was giving the Chaos Emperor Dragon away. To induce Seto Kaiba to such an act would be the next-best thing to impossible. To induce Kisara Kaiba would be highly plausible.

Fact two: Vanessa's records were too clean for the past five months, between Duelist Kingdom and the Grand Prix. Before that she was a participant in the Duelist Kingdom.

Fact three: Kit and Serena were lied to, and made to hide from the Movement. Serena was an incredibly powerful Psychic, if untrained. The exact nature of a Psychic that Aki-sensei was said to have been.

Fact four: Vanessa, Leo Sterling and Kit team up to steal the Chaos Emperor Dragon, where Kit had a Psychic sister hiding from the Movement.

Fact five: Kit was hired by the late Hayato Ichimonji, servitor of Marguerite, therefore Summer by extension.

Fact six: Yamada Yuuta had documents and receipts, indirectly produced by Ichimonji, implicating him in trying to manipulate an untrained Psychic and steal the Chaos Emperor Dragon to gain a weapon against the Arcadia Movement. The blond, presumably Sterling, had killed Ichimonji, therefore there could be some merit to that.

Addendum: Yamada Yuuta could have hired Sterling and Ichimonji, or could have connections to a party of Summer or Winter.

Yet, there was one more troubling fact.

Fact seven: The rulers cannot directly kill anyone unrelated to the Courts or its champions.

Yet Ryuusei circumvented this by delivering virus-death via plague-cocktail.

The pieces fell into place. "Rei," I breathed.

Within my mind, the sleeping entity stirred. _So you have need of my services then? _

"Begin planning within the parameters explained by Shimotsuki," I hissed. "Everything ends... tonight."

_Indeed. So it shall._

I fished out my cellphone, and to my everlasting relief there was a signal within this mildew-soaked hell-hole.

"Yamada residence. Who is this?" the other guy, or woman, picked up.

"Yamada Yukie-san? This is Chase Princeton. I once drove your son to the DA Kings campus."

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	61. LVIII: Heroic Chance

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Okay, as readers may know, Thousand Strings is up already. I've decided to run it something like a kink meme; readers can review or message in for prompts, which I will try my utmost to write! Please review Thousand Strings as well!**_

_**LLS**_

* * *

**LVIII: Heroic Chance**

The storm outside broke around the evening, rain pattering hard against the windows as I was wheeled out of infirmary after dinner. Nakamura-san had very kindly been on hand, and had passed me a call detailing from Chase-nii what was to be done.

"I need you, Seika," Chase-nii had sounded desperate. "I've arranged for Reina to stay with Carly-san, but I need you to be on hand when I confront him with Rex, alright?"

"W- What? Why?" I was confused. "Chase-nii..."

"Believe me, Seika," Chase-nii urged. "I think I've solved the Beckman case. But I need you to be there."

Yamada-san and Yuko-kun had barely said a word all day when they came back, left with reinforcements and an NDPD squad, and came back again without anyone in tow except for a briefcase. The whole Movement was too jumpy for me to even consider confronting them, except that Yuko made the report for the two of them.

"He's done a runner." Yuko confided. "With our mother. Yukio's hopping mad and coordinating the search. He even suggested fielding Misawa to search for that guy, although Youkai is injured. I'd recommend not hanging around him for the next few days."

"I- I'm sorry," I answered sadly. Having never known anything closer to family than Nii-chan, Jii-chan and Baa-chan, I could still find the idea of Yamada-san having to arrest his own father saddening. "I'm so sorry. I- If you want... after t- this, all of you c- can take a few days."

"E- Erm..." Yuko-kun fidgeted. "I- If my mother isn't charged... can she stay here? Just until she find her feet again?"

"O- Of course, Yuko-kun," I nodded quickly. "I'll inform housekeeping straight away. But... will your mother be alright? I mean..."

Yuko-kun shook his head. "My mother's a bit softer in her stance. I think you'll be able to convince her. If he doesn't do anything, that is."

"I- I do not know," I shook my head.

I had only known of the Yamada attorneys through Hart-san and the one time where I received a strongly worded lawyer's letter. Compared to some of the other, more violent anti-Psychic stances, Yamada Yuuta was more powerful, and thus more dangerous. His manifesto argument that the Movement broke up families came up in Setsu-chan's time, and it was said to have been quite a legal battle. Yet his letter was sincere, and hardly filled with vulgarisms and curse words. It was downright polite, if rather cold.

We were all assembled in the Oblong Office. The rain pattered behind me as we chatted.

"I- I realise that I don't know how you entered the Movement," I whispered.

Yuko shook his head. "How do you say it... it's a long story."

"Y- You don't have to-"

"I have to," Yuko took a deep breath. "What do you think of Yukio?"

"O- Of Yamada-san?" I reflected on what I knew. "He's... loyal. And he has a heart."

"Loyal?"

"He could have called revolt," I shook my head. "He didn't. He didn't risk the Movement, though it must have killed him inside to see others deserting it. Even though... there are times, when Yamada-san had reason to take over by force... he never did. As a Knight... as the leader of the Knights of Arcadia, he is... without peer. But... sometimes, he scares me. I know that, as I am... I stand no mightier than the criminals he hunts with you, Yuko-kun. His loyalty is to the Movement and its ideals. I know that if I were to fail the Movement, he would... he _will_ kill me. He is, in that, a lot like Setsu-chan. I'm scared... but I understand."

Yuko-kun nodded. "Yukio and I... we were born when our father was campaigning widely against Madame Shimotsuki. Yukio and I, it was during that time in childhood when our mother was always going on about the benefits of nurturing children, that we saw the Madame for the first time. They said that she could see the future, the Madame. As our father confronted her, she wasn't even looking at them. She was looking at us as she declared what would fix Yukio's life, and mine too._'__One day, you people will die alone and unloved, because your hate of differences has alienated all that you care for.'_

"Then, Yukio gained Psychic powers. And so did I. We... Yukio was thrown out, I walked out with him. We never looked back. The two of us, we haven't been home for over eight year in Satellite later, Yukio ran into Shimotsuki Setsuka, and he dragged me out of running matches in the Underground to the Movement. Yukio became her apprentice, and I... I mastered my power. We had food, clean clothes, a roof over our heads, a warm bed, friends like us, compatriots, and we were doing good. We were improving. We had done it, but... but I don't know what Yukio learned. Sometimes... sometimes, Nii-san wouldn't tell me what he did to secure our places in the Movement. He wouldn't tell me how he paid her back, how I never had a debt. I- I didn't want to, but Yukio... Yukio finally had friends, and so did I. And when he came to me, with the crackpot scheme of taking it to direct policing, I thought this was a chance for a middle ground."

Yuko took a deep breath of relating his tale. "It's... a lot better, really. Yukio was... he was diagnosed with stress disorder last year. Too much work. He's a lot better. But now... I don't know what the news of the Sakumo siblings would do to us, to him. I want my family back, but this time... Yukio's serious. He'd kill our father, his father if it seriously threatened us, me, Yuuki, the 'll kill him inside if Yukio has to arrest him, or I have to. But Yukio would do it, because he's a stubborn son of a gun and he's..." Yuko's voice shook. "He's the older brother. He would take that responsibility, and... and that's why I'm scared for Nii-san. If Yukio had to... Mother, and I, we'll both break."

I patted his hand, unsure on how to offer comfort. "Whether it is true or false... I think we must try to have hope."

"How?" Yuko distantly echoed. He set the briefcase on the table with a distinct _thump_." Search warrant," he spat. "We found the card locked up in his safe. Receipts we found with Ichimonji's corpse links him to the thieves. This are our past decks, since the rest is being processed as evidence. Isn't this proof enough?"

We sat, facing across the desk in that single moment of kindred.

Then, Yuko stood quickly as a knob resounded. Nakamura-san entered the room with Rex-nii, Chase-nii and Serena-chan following. A heartbeat later, Yamada-san, Archibald-san and Rafael-san followed, looking very confused.

"What's going on here?" Yamada-san demanded. "Yuko!"

"I- I don't know, Yukio!" Yuko shook his head.

Youkai came in, and plopped the thick binder there into Chase-nii's arms. "Kept it safe."

Chase-nii opened the binder to a specific entry, his eyes narrowing. "Yeah, you're a great guy."

"Flatterer," Youkai sniped, but limped to flop down on the couch.

"Seika... I'm so sorry for what you're about to hear." Chase-nii whispered.

Nakamura-san hauled the last person in and closed the door.

"Seika?" Nii-chan echoed as he set Calcifer down, his wide blue eyes blinking. "W- Why are you here? I thought-"

"Sit down, Ryuusei," Chase-nii looked angry. Angrier than I had ever seen before. "Think of this as the big reveal scene."

"What?"

"Ahem," All eyes were on Chase-nii right now. "Right, where shall we begin? Ah, right. To clear the air, I am going to relate a series of events."

"About last week, KaibaCorp held its annual KC Grand Prix in the revamped Kaiba Dome. The Chaos Emperor Dragon was offered as a prize, and with it seemingly as bait. As all of you may recall, it was tantalising bait that all participants present would know that they were secretly informed of. Yet, at the last minute, the winner had his ownership of the Chaos Emperor Dragon card revealed to general public. Jimmy Cook realised that he had a target painted upon him now.

So, he left the card locked up here, under heavy guard, and flew back down under, which was his charge and familiar territory. Then, three days later, it was stolen by a trio of thieves; Hayato Ichimonji, Kit Sakumo, and Vanessa Trent. Prior to that, Vanessa Trent had been registered into the Movement as a patient of abuse. Not many questions are asked; such cases are treated with caution and take the patient recovering before investigation can be fulfilled. This is where I came in; not twenty-four hours after Vanessa came in, her adoptive guardians, the Beckman couple, died by a series of freak plagues."

"That is the dumbest cause of death I had ever heard," Rex-nii spoke up for once.

"Yeah. Precisely," Chase-nii admitted. "But back to the time line; the card was stolen, Vanessa threw us off for a decoy. We got photos of Ichimonji. Later, one Leo Sterling who allegedly hired Ichimonji with Kit, was reported to attempt kidnap of Serena Sakumo in the presence of Himemiya Uzuki and Kannazuki Seika. Despite heavy injury to self, the duo managed to win against Sterling and take Serena back, at which we interviewed Kit Sakumo and he readily turned state's evidence. Today, we visited Ichimonji's home to find his cold corpse, a man who fits Sterling's description and rap sheet, and receipts which pointed us to the house of Yamada Yuuta. Thus obtaining reasonable suspicion, a warrant was duly produced. The Yamada house was visited and found to be empty, and the Chaos Emperor Dragon card found locked in his safe. There is enough to prove flight as consciousness of guilt to charge Yamada Yuuta. We have twelve hours before the trail goes cold, boys and girls."

"Why twelve hours?" Yamada-san perked up with suspicion.

"Because that's how long it'll be before Captain Kaname checks his phone records, and find out that I tipped them off."

Complete silence answered his declaration.

"What?" Yuko sounded completely incensed. "That's- That's illegal! You're aiding and abetting!"

"I had to do it to save his life," Chase-nii answered, still sounding completely calm and reasonable. "He's the patsy, the fall guy. And like all fall guys in a frame-up, he won't live twenty-four hours. If I hadn't told them to run, we would have found your parents hanging from the ceiling with a convenient confession close by. Everyone walks away, and the mastermind goes free. More importantly, the _reason_ for the whole thing goes free."

"The reason?" Nii-chan echoed, looking as stunned as everyone else. "That's why you committed a felony?"

"It's a good cause, Ryuusei," Chase-nii held up the binder. "This here is the patient records of Dr Hadrian Erik, who can testify. The old codger writes everything here before entering it into the system. I asked Youkai to help me check the patient records for Vanessa Trent, and find patterns of abuse. The Movement might intervene, but surely there would be some. Youkai, care to share?"

"The electronic records were wiped out, so I had to find the physical binder," Youkai testified, his face solemn. "You were right; the last entry dated about two days ago. I also printed Vanessa Trent's file before it was pulled off of the database by Kaido."

"I- I didn't authorise that today," I whispered. "As the head, I'm supposed to... right?"

"Files are only pulled off the database when the Duelist is suspected of felonious activity," Yamada-san informed me. "But the paperwork needs a week to process, barring actual arrests or accelerated permission. To my knowledge, Trent hasn't been arrested. You think... that the Beckmans were killed to silence them?"

"So, the physical binder listed that Vanessa Trent was involved in a physical check-up five months ago," Chase-nii informed us. "And just before her last case, Vanessa Trent was a private candidate for the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Before that, there was absolutely nothing about Vanessa. For someone who spent about the same time as Yukio and Yuko in the Movement, and a Class III as that, isn't that suspicious? That suddenly a Class III would find herself in dire straits and unable to defend herself from her own guardians' violence, after five years training? That her guardians would act up, if it came to that. Does any of this make sense?"

"Vanessa went somewhere else," Yamada-san spoke up. "And the Beckmans were killed to silence them."

"Right, and wrong. You see, the Beckmans weren't killed for what they knew," Chase-nii answered. "They were killed for what they _didn't_ know."

* * *

I had hated myself, every moment of calling and praying that I wasn't too late.

"A- Ah? Princeton-san... We have exchanged words, yes."

"Listen, I need you guys to go underground. Now. There's been a huge misunderstanding and Yukio's coming in with a search and arrest warrant for your husband. You've been set up."

"W- What? But... but Yukio..."

"Is following regulation. And a third party set you up,. Believe me."

"But... But Yuuta-san is a good man. But-"

"Yes. But right now what you need to do is save your eldest son from ruining the family further." I pressed. The family card was an uncomfortable one to play, but right now I needed to convince Yukio's mother to run with her husband when I couldn't. "Right now you need to save your sons from having to arrest their father. Please. We've met before. I tried to get him to talk to you."

"Duly noted. I will respond accordingly."

I hung up. Whatever it was that caused me to do this, whether or not I could be convincing depended on Yamada Yukie now.

I made preparations. I assembled the evidence, told Youkai to safeguard the bloody binder that was my strongest piece of evidence, and called Kit. I called a sceptical Rex, and a confused Seika, and a few more pieces of evidence. I found Serena waiting, and smiling, and then I had assembled quite a few more people in the Oblong Office.

I opened my entire investigation, right there and then. There was no way to prove this in a court of law, not directly, but this was the only chance I had to prevent Yukio from committing patricide or from ruining his own family.

"Excuse me?" Yukio looked like he'd just swallowed a lemon whole. "What they didn't know?"

"The three months in between the last entry and the one before that," I recommended. "Participated in Duelist Kingdom, eliminated, was in the siege. Months without activity, then this suddenly popped up. I have new evidence I would like to add from Serena Sakumo, who was present with me when we saw the Plague Wolf that infiltrated the Beckman apartment. Seika, Rex, even Youkai can testify that I can let others see spirits upon hand-to-hand contact. Serena saw it, right?"

"It was... horrible," Serena shivered. "All black and dog-like and scary. And it walked on bamboo."

"So she saw a Duel Spirit?" Yukio caught on. Archie and Rafael looked honestly confused.

"Yes," I clasped my hands in front of me. "Most suspiciously, the disappearance of Trent for a few months from the records."

"You think someone messed with the records?" Yukio frowned. "Although she could have just stayed home..."

"Really?" I asked. "You know what happens to abuse cases in the Movement as well, Yukio. Physical abuse means Movement kicks doors in. Otherwise, it's part and parcel of growing up, although Trent could choose. Abuse escalates upon pressure being applied, and I think it was deliberate. The pressure. Most suspicious is this; the one who reported it is Ryuusei Fudo, codename Regulus. First responder on the scene was us, which included Ryuusei Fudo. And the most suspicious is that _I saw you performing that hex sign on the door, Ryuusei._"

Ryuusei's eyes were wide, then, but other than that everything was hidden by his rather handsome profile. "What are you talking about, Chase? I was expressing my displeasure. The Movement holds no truck with abusers."

I was not going to let him charm his way out now. "I challenged Vanessa Trent that night, Ryuusei. You know what she said?"

Surprise. Ryuusei looked... stunned.

"Right there, she thought she could win," I elaborated. "In a Duel, between Duelists, people talk. She was going on about her dreams, dreams dashed when her parents died and she was sent to live with the Beckmans who insulted her every single day, and when she came back from the mess at Duelist Kingdom, so fast after the scandal where people were horribly mistreated... well, someone could have died. I guess the Beckmans struck then. On the verge of death there, you know what she met, Ryuusei? I can guess. She told me, or implied. _She told me, that _he _told her,__that _he _could make her __dance again._That _he_ pulled her out of the darkness and into the light. That she owed everything to him, to _Summer_."

Rex drew a horrified breath. Seika gasped. Yukio and Yuko both sat very still there. Archie and Rafael looked more confused. Nakamura-san's poker face never changed. Ryuusei just faced me with that irritatingly flat poker face. It was charming, I swear, but right not it could have been a plaster cast for all I knew.

"Ever since Duelist Kingdom, I was watching," I confessed quietly. "I knew you were headed down the same path as Shimotsuki, Ryuusei. I didn't realise that you had already followed her."

"Are you accusing me, Chase?" Ryuusei softly asked. "You're accusing me of a murder."

"Oh, no," I scathingly replied. "I'm accusing you of conspiracy, two counts of murder and one of attempted murder, as well as masterminding this whole thing. It's a more serious charge."

"It's not funny."

"Of course not, long-term plans aren't." I crossed my legs. "I asked Kisara."

Rex stiffened. "How is she?"

"Very well. Although she couldn't answer directly, we approached it indirectly. She indirectly told me, that there was another agent of Summer.

"It was a gambit, wasn't it? Kisara was the new Summer champion, and terrified of her fate. For five months, you trained her. Five months where you had already begun your gambit. Kisara provided her family heirloom as a giant target, and arranged the KC Grand Prix. Madas Elvin and the Galaxy-Eyes, they were a distraction for Shimotsuki; she realised that too late to prevent Satsuki from being thrown out. You know that Satsuki couldn't defeat Kisara, but not if Shimotsuki was watching, so you made sure that there was nothing to prevent Satsuki from throwing the Duel. And she did; I saw the Duel with Youkai.

"So everyone except the Winter champion was left. In the end, Jimmy won it, and he was outed. He left it _here_, a fact Yamada Yuuta couldn't have known since it was a secret. Only an Arcadian could have known... one who was also the older brother of the head."

"That proves nothing." Ryuusei conversationally answered.

"Vanessa Trent was a private candidate five months ago, in Duelist Kingdom," I continued. "There were Duel Spirits of Winter all over the island, and the veil between worlds was _really_ thin. Let's say that, instead of a Winter one, she found a spirit of Summer instead. When she went back, and found herself on the verge of death, the spirit came for her. There was only one spirit of Summer on the island, two if you considered the late Ayame. Always the bleeding heart, weren't you? You rescued her, she became an agent of Summer. No one else knew that she defected to Neverland."

The Wonder Twins were already leaning closer.

"For five months Vanessa Trent lived amongst the Spirits," I detailed. "After five months, when the Chaos Emperor Dragon was given away, you sent Vanessa back to her guardians. Knowing her guardians' type, you waited until she was injured enough, and with us as witnesses you got her into the Movement as a patient. The Beckmans were then killed less than twenty-four hours after. Sure, it was partly due to Vanessa's abuse, but that was the excuse you used. The true reason, you see, was to _conceal that Vanessa had been missing for that time. _That time, when they were talking about 'the monster who won't die'? They were referring to the adopted daughter who was knowingly left to die for five months, and came back."

"We should have known," Yukio grated. "Why wasn't her disappearance reported?"

"Why would the Beckmans report her disappearance?" I asked. "It would mean that they'd be investigated, and perhaps they would incur the wrath of the Movement and the Knights. I don't know about them, but Yamada Yukio wouldn't be the first law-person I'd like to be involved with. I'd rather like living, thank you. But back to the case. Vanessa came back, and infiltrated the Movement. If it were any other who held the Chaos Emperor Dragon, you would have used Leo Sterling or Ichimonji or Vanessa to steal it. Maybe even kill them." I eyed a suitably horrified pair of West Academia students who had just realised how close they were to death.

Ryuusei said nothing.

"No, the Movement managed to land it, thanks to Jimmy Cook." I showed my hands. "You knew where Seika locked it. You've already arranged for Vanessa to enter, and then you laid the trail to the door of Yamada Yuuta, a known public enemy of the Movement. Sterling had misled the Sakumo siblings, so that the deception of what Attorney Yamada _might have_ done was clear to us. You were always careful to use Ichimonji as an intermediary should Kit demand to see who was Sterling's boss. If Ichimonji were to lie, you could easily cover your tracks. But no, you made it _more_ convincing. Ichimonji died of violent means, and with him all the evidence needed to trace it to Yamada Yuuta, obviously written by Ichimonji. The word of the dead is such powerful evidence, isn't it?

"One thing you missed. We know that Ichimonji was beholden to Marguerite, and Marguerite to you, Ryuusei. Seika was there to see him being metaphorically screwed over by Marguerite. I was there too, and so was Himemiya Uzuki. The thing was, no other people in the Movement knew that yet.

"So, let me recap. Ichimonji, Kit and Vanessa stole the Dragon, and went apart, Vanessa as the decoy and the other two guys to Leo. Leo takes the Dragon and Ichimonji, Kit returns home, rather guilty if slightly richer. Meanwhile, Leo killed Ichimonji and planted the evidence, and then went to plant the incriminating bullseye at Attorney Yamada's house. The next day, Leo waylaid Serena. Even without Seika and Uzuki, I imagine that Reggie and Glen would have come running once Serena made enough noise and ran enough. Serena would have blabbed, therefore convincing Kit to blab as well. We traced the trail to Ichimonji's corpse and the evidence, and then to Yamada Yuuta. Yamada Yuuta was the patsy, the fall guy. And like all fall guys in a frame-up, you didn't intend for him to live twenty-four hours. Maybe you'd use Sterling. Maybe you'll kill him some other way, with a convenient confession close by. Everyone walks away, and the mastermind goes free. Justice is served, the Movement gets its prize and minus one public enemy, and KaibaCorp's blunder is overshadowed by the so-called abuse of Serena Sakumo and the whole scandal with Yamada Yuuta. Only that Yamada Yuuta wouldn't be there to protest his innocence, and I'd bet neither would Yamada Yukie. Yamada Yuuta would have died, and he would have died alone and unmourned."

"All according to plan." I stepped up, around Ryuusei. "But, I was there. I saw the Plague Wolf. I broke into the Beckman apartment, I found the necrotic tissue and the Ekibyo Drakmord. I met your goddamn hit team of tiny fairies. Yukio saw me being strangled by Sterling. And I bet if we interrogated Vanessa Trent, she'll tell us who she met that night she almost died. I have Dr Erik's binder, in place of the electronic records you've already wiped. There's enough to start an investigation, and you wouldn't want that."

"But all of this is done under the assumption that I told Ichimonji what to do, and that I hired Sterling," Ryuusei reasoned. "Not all Duel Spirits are under my control as well, Chase."

"I can talk to Duel spirits, Ryuusei. I can call witnesses to proved you cursed the Beckmans."

"How is this important?" Ryuusei frowned, crooking one finger under his chin. His blue eyes sparkled with fascination. "So the deaths of two people by freak virus cocktail is my fault. Okay, perhaps somewhere in your head logic works like that. So if I truly did plan this whole thing, then the best way to see it succeed would be to wait the full twelve hours. Captain Kaname and Lieutenant Hasegawa would have questions for you, and then Yamada Yuuta would be arrested and brought to justice. Your side of view and the word of an eight-year-old and an outdated patient record might be enough to start an investigation, but it gets nowhere after that. I win."

"True, the existence of Duel Spirits means that I won't be able to prove it in a court of law," I admitted as I continued walking around, before I planted myself in front of him. "But you _enjoy_ this, don't you? Arguing all of the loopholes with me. I feel bad that I've invited Archie and Rafael into a place where they don't get the inside joke."

"Dammit," Rex swore by the side., grey eyes stunned and hooded with shock.

"Nii-chan..." Seika's eyes were wide with shock.

"No way," Yuko swallowed.

Nakamura-san coughed discreetly. Yukio chose not to look at any of us.

"What?" Ryuusei asked, confused. "What's wrong?"

"You don't get it, do you?" I leaned forward. "The Ryuusei I know, the Regulus of the Arcadia Movement, he wouldn't have _talked_. He would have assumed that I was playing him along, because Ryuusei, he knows that I wouldn't have accused him so openly, not in front of the Cold Wolf and Hercules, not in front of Youkai, and not in front of Rex, Seika, and Nakamura-san. Not in front of two strangers too. He wouldn't have enjoyed this interrogation. He'd have asked to get out, stand, do something beside sit down here. He wouldn't have talked at length."

Now Ryuusei looked appropriately contrite, but it was too late.

"I didn't ask the Professor and Aki-sensei here," I softly whispered. "I didn't want them to see their son get accused of murder. But there's one thing I don't understand, Ryuusei. Why?"

All eyes were on Ryuusei now.

"An innocent man is going to take the fall from the courts and the Movement," I pressed. "Yamada Yuuta didn't do anything to deserve this."

Still no reaction.

"As a lawyer set against the Movement, Yamada Yuuta is practically benign," I continued. "Yukio, Yuko, I know the two of you have daddy issues, but answer me. Has your father done anything against the Movement that wasn't rooted in quasi-legal matters such as child endangerment? Could Yuuki have contacted you otherwise?"

"He has no control over what our uncle does, and therefore the old man doesn't control Yuuki," Yukio admitted. "In a personal context, then yes, Yamada Yuuta has much to answer for. But they are a family matter. Within the context of the Arcadia Movement, perhaps the creation of the Knights of Arcadia could be a personal affront, and other matters are his occupation as the Attorney of Neo Domino. If we are inclined, then whatever distaste I may have for him is purely business. I cannot speak for Yuko, though."

"I got nothing," Yuko spoke. "'cept that our fa- Yamada Yuuta had done nothing to merit being killed and discredited."

"From a certain point of view, then yes," Ryuusei finally spoke. "He didn't do anything to deserve this. His inaction did."

"So you planned for a man whose only crime was inaction to die," Yuko's voice sounded flat. "You could have offed our military contact on the off chance that one of them had won the damn card."

"Ryo-nii and Akio-nii-" Youkai sounded sick.

"Drake Lancaster, Madas Elvin and Jimmy too," I added. "You had to get Satsuki out, because otherwise Winter could have gotten it, and the whole gambit falls apart."

"You didn't grow up with his criticisms ringing through the Movement," Ryuusei shook his head. "You didn't see the multitude of victims created by his refusal to revise the laws of adoption. You never saw the many Psychics turned out on the streets. And, two years ago, so fast into the wake of our disappearances, he would have pressed for the Movement to be forcibly taken over. If it wasn't for Seika, the Movement would have been buried in regulations and restructuring enough to cripple it forever. It's in your hands, Chase. It's up to you. But I'llsay this. This was needed."

I nodded. Strangely enough, I believed all that.

"Yes, that is one side. You're the right person, in the right place. You have sanity, judgement, to do what was needed. Yet, there's the other side. Three human beings who are dead."

"Yes, but think of them! A pair of abusers, who amounted to nothing and took out their jealousies on the daughter of the very people they were jealous of. They would have killed her."

"And Ichimonji?"

"I'm sorry about him. But after all, he was a credulous man who couldn't control his words." Ryuusei's fingers clasped together as he leaned forward. "I saved him from indentured servitude. He owed me that much."

"Yes," I replied. "he owed you. And Yamada Yuuta? You would have let him die, too, without regret?"

"I don't waste any pity on him. There's no point."

"But a human being."

"They're all human beings. What's so special about one?"

"Yes, they are all human beings. _We_ are all human beings. That is what you forgot. You have said that the Beckmans were evil abusers and Ichimonji a credulous man and Yamada Yuuta a man who hated irrationally to the point of throwing his children out from his house. That is where you and I do not see alike. The lives of those four people were just as important as your life, Ryuusei."

"Is that how you feel all along, Chase?" Ryuusei looked at me with heartbreakingly sad eyes. Well, this puppy needed to be kicked hard.

"I'm not wrong. You _are_ someone of great honesty and rectitude. You took one step aside – and outwardly, it has not affected you. You have continued the same – upright, trustworthy, honest. But within you, you have changed. You sacrificed four human lives and thought them of no account."

"He would have taken the Movement away from her, Chase." Ryuusei shook his head, causing wine-coloured bangs to fly. "If Yamada Yuuta was arrested, his side would be discredited."

"I am not concerned with nations, Monsieur. I am concerned with the lives of private individuals who have the right not to have their lives taken from them." I was quoting Poirot at him, but I didn't care. "You killed them, Ryuusei! Do you even realise what you've done?"

"I have protected the Movement."

"You have framed an innocent man whose only crime was to speak."

"One may not seem too different from the other." Ryuusei closed his eyes and leaned back. "That's it, then."

"That's it," I agreed. "Yukio? Seika?"

Seika coughed, as if she was choking back a sob. "Yamada-san... as leader of the Knights of Arcadia, you know what to do."

"Yes, I do. And so do you, Kannazuki-san."

"I give you..." her voice broke. "...the authority to do what is needed."

"Right, then," Yukio stood up. "Fudo Ryuusei, codename Regulus. Under the Arcadia Rights Bill of 20XX, I hereby-"

The lights overhead flickered. All of us stilled, even Ryuusei. By his feet, Calcifer beeped.

"What happened?" I rounded on my friend and his dead eyes. "What did you do?"

The Summer King stared back evenly. "What you thought I did."

The lights went out, plunging us into darkness at the same time that I sank into the void.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	62. LIX: Heroic Revenge Sword

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LIX: Heroic Revenge Sword**

The horror I felt was no way in compared to the jumps everyone did in complete darkness. The lights had gone out, and it took a few seconds before a light was produced.

Nii-chan and Chase-nii were gone.

"Bloody hell," Yamada-san swore as he reached for his communicator. "Yuko, go after him. If Regulus has really gone rogue, then as the sole remaining Class V in the building you're the only one who can hold him."

"Yes!" Yuko dashed out quickly.

Yuko was the last Class V?

"Nii-chan... no," I whispered. "No..."

"It's alright," Rex-nii assured distractedly. "I'll get you out of this whole building, then they can lock it down or whatever. Nakamura-san, I'm getting Seika out."

"But-"

"Go," Nakamura-san shortly replied. "I must follow Hercules right now. Given Regulus's proficiency in Psychic combat amongst his myriad abilities, I may be of assistance in incapacitating him. Mr O'Brien, Mr de Santos, I would appreciate your assistance in getting our leader out."

"No," I shook my head. "Nii-chan... no one else can take him. Either Jii-chan... or Baa-chan... or... Nii-chan is-"

"Yeah, we need you out before he does something we'll all regret," Rex-nii confirmed. "Don't worry. I'll beat him, and drag his ass back to his sensible self. But first we need to get you out-"

Rex-nii cut off as an explosion rocked the building. "That's not good."

"Leaving," Nakamura-san shortly walked out of the office.

"Cold Wolf calling, over," Yamada-san clicked on his earpiece as the five of us left it, only pausing to lock the door. As he spoke, I heard his voice, echoing in my eardrums:

"Attention all Knights of Arcadia, we are under attack. This is assuredly not a drill. Regulus has gone rogue. Battle stations, watch the dorms and the infirmary wing. Apprehension not needed, switch to search and destroy. Guards, come in."

"Flame Beast in. The attack came in from outside, Cold Wolf," a voice clicked in. "Goddamn puppets, quit ruining my style. Regulus? You sure?"

"Quite," Yamada-san affirmed as Rex-nii calibrated my wheelchair. "He just flew the coop from the Oblong Office."

"Oh. Oh. Poor girl. How is Polaris?"

"I'll get back to you on that," Yamada-san answered. "Sit rep."

"Explosives. No biological bombs or shit like that, thank fuck."

"Refrain from expletives over a public frequency, Flame Beast." Yamada-san admonished.

"It's our frequency, I'll swear any way I like. The enemy just managed to pull out one large mother- bitchin', it's an alternate win! Oh, d-"

Then it abruptly clicked off.

"Flame Beast defeated," Yamada-san rolled his eyes. "Anyone else beside Flame Beast?"

"Hercules, coming in," Yuko's voice broke out of the communicator. "Archie and Rafe with you?"

"We're here," Archibald-san answered for the two of them.

"Good. Kaido?"

"Spirit of the Books, overlord of all systems reporting in," Kaido's voice came in. "Regulus managed to jam the electronic controls, which is expected since he's one of our best programmers. Reserve radio frequencies. Bushido and Hercules are giving chase, and our other members are keeping a net outside just in case our newest rogue flies the coop. Trent is still in her cell, and the blond that crashed in has been confirmed via security camera to be Sterling. O'Brien, I'm gonna call you Arcturus. Santos, you're going to be Sirius. Welcome to the Arcadia Movement. Now get your asses to evacuate the kids."

"Spirit," I spoke in as Rex-nii rushed. "Polaris reporting in."

"Jeez, don't pop up like that, Pandora." Kaido coughed. "I mean, Polaris."

"What do you mean, Pandora?" I demanded. "I didn't... I never joined."

"You didn't," Kaido sighed. "Boss made you disappear, but not entirely, so all the remaining information was stored as Pandora."

"You have a file on me?!" I was stunned.

"Not now!" Rex-nii yelled as he pushed me towards Rafael-san. "Get her down, I'm going to hunt Ryuusei down."

"But-" Rafael-san broke out as Yamada-san considered Rex-nii: "You are no-"

"Ryuusei has Stardust and Black Rose. Chase has Hundred Eyes, but it's not enough," Rex-nii shook his head. "Go, go!"

"Goldenrod, don't you-" Kaido swore into the system as Rex-nii ran back and the building trembled. "Intruders in the fifth floor! More puppets!"

"Goldenrod reporting. Regulus sighted approaching the roof with- Oh holy-"

Yamada-san pushed me to one side as the wings tore through cheap plaster and curtain walls. There was a horrible draconian scream of rage, and the wings vanished back into the hole they created. The wings were red and dusted with debris, yet Black Rose did nothing else as its vines climbed through and up at speeds faster than I thought possible.

I stared up at the makeshift skylight constructed by Black Rose's wings and claws, and I swallowed. "Yamada-san?"

"Yes?"

I swallowed. "Can you get me up there?"

"... yes." Yamada-san stared at me. "That would be unwise, though. At your current state, you cannot hope to Duel."

"I wouldn't," I answered. "I just... need to persuade Nii-chan. So... Yamada-san, please help me."

Yamada-san nodded to Rafael-san and Archibald-san. "Go to the first floor, get everyone out, and then hit the silent alarm at the bottom of the reception desk if no one's done it yet. If there's still extra hands, the armoury's in the second floor Knights' office. Get the stun guns."

Archibald-san blinked. "Aren't those illegal?"

"No, just legally questionable," Yamada-san flatly replied. "Go."

They left.

I flushed scarlet as Yamada-san looped an arm under my thighs and one over my shoulders, carrying me like this.

"In your state right now, there is no way to summon a monster that can take off with our combined weight and still fit through the skylight," Yamada-san told me. "I need you to hold onto me, no matter what."

"Y- Yes, Yamada-san."

Yamada-san nodded. "Call me Yukio. Falling with someone gives you that privilege."

"Falling-" I was cut off as Yamada-san, no, Yukio jumped, and dragged me with him.

I clung harder, but I didn't scream as the wind was knocked out of my chest on impact. The dragon's back knocked the wind out of me, and my leg and arm screamed with pain as I scrabbled to cling onto slick scales with only my fingers, Yamada-san's own weight pressing down on my body and spread flat to anchor himself and me with him. I certainly ha never thought of such a method of landing before. Below us, Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls, screamed in affirmation as he batted leathery blue-white wings, and the dragon began to fly up after Black Rose.

"Hush there," Yukio whispered. "Come, Tidal!"

The rush of winds, the spread of adrenaline, Yukio's grip on my hands to prevent me from falling was infectious. "Go!"

Tidal shot like a bullet out, curving its streamlined body to curve and fly around, and in that single moment I saw the Daimon Area and Neo Domino spread out, rain flecked in my view and damp on my skin and making everything more dangerous. Tidal roared, and Yukio made it turn back and around, spreading its wings in a dramatic and jarring landing on the roof's launch pad.

Nii-chan was there, dangling Chase-nii over the side of the ledge. Winds howled and batted at Chase-nii's legs, throwing him at the mercy of the elements this high up should Nii-chan drop him.

"Nii-chan!" I shouted. "Stop this already!"

"Seika?" Chase-nii shouted back. "Get away! Now!"

"No, Chase-nii," I shook my head. "No. After all... he's family. Nii-chan... why? Why kill so many?"

"Because it was the only thing I could do," Nii-chan distantly replied. "No matter what I do, what systems I break, the fact remains that I am someone who does, and not someone who thinks. I did it because it was the only thing I could do for my little sister."

"Don't you dare!" Chase-nii hissed at him. "Don't you dare bring Seika into this. Don't you dare!"

"I love my little sister, enough to kill her enemies," Nii-chan spoke with complete honesty made all the more painful. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"You should have done nothing," Chase-nii fiercely replied. "You should have done nothing, rather than this. You should have acted your part as big brother, not frame an innocent man."

"Fine words for someone who believes a Duel Spirit of Winter," Nii-chan told him. "What did he lie to you with? Or did you believe unquestioningly in everything he said? Up to and including that I was responsible?"

Twin clicks sounded.

"You know," Yuko conversationally commented, levelling a card towards Nii-chan. "I'm just going to skip to the step where I kick your ass. No offence."

"You can try," Nii-chan shot at him. "Go on. You want to impress her, right?"

Yuko looked doubtful.

"Yuko, quit doubting," Yamada-san drew a card, and swiftly unleashed a fireball on Nii-chan.

"Nii-chan!" I screamed.

Nii-chan contemptuously flicked a hand, and the fireball bounced up through the rain to split and shatter at Yamada-san, who dodged but was not in time to save himself from being tripped over by vines. He tried, but the mutating plant life tugged and then Yamada-san was being strangled by vines. I crawled over and tried to tug them off of him, but the vines were strong as they choked the life out of him.

Yuko choked as Nii-chan flung something at him, and a giant flower the size of a dinner plate appeared in mid-air and wrapped roots around him. It stank to high heaven, and Yuko struggled as the vines began to string around his limbs.

"Puppet Plant," Nii-chan said as Yuko was strung up by the string vines and forced to stand.

Yuko's eyes widened. "Don't you dare."

"I dare a lot of things," Nii-chan replied before Yuko was knocked out from behind.

"Sorry, it took a while," the blond with long bangs, Leo, grinned, hefting a baseball bat in one hand. The same bat had knocked Yuko out. "Took a while to shake the Knights. Guess this is a bust?"

"Reasonably speaking, the aim has been achieved," Nii-chan answered. "Thus all of our business has been concluded."

The doors slammed open once more to show Orion-san. "Leo Sterling, Fudo Ryuusei. Hands front and centre."

Nii-chan slowly raised the only available hand, and Yuko hurtled towards Orion-san.

"Hercules-" Orion-san was bowled over.

"Hands front and centre," Nii-chan commented. "Not very detailed."

"Please stop," I cried out. "Stop, Nii-chan."

"Don't plead, Seika," Orion-san got back to his feet. "It's not his fault. I'll get him back for you, but... but he might die."

"We haven't really met, dog of Exodia," Nii-chan spoke in a low voice as the wind and rain whipped around him. "Are you sure? Your master is not here. This night, this close to Samhaine, you risk a lot should you call upon him. Even your life."

"I should beat him, right?" Leo smirked. "Tell me I can wreck him."

Chase-nii, still dangling, tried to struggle.

"My arm's getting tired," Nii-chan tonelessly told Chase-nii. Thunder cracked over head as lightning flashed. "You don't want me to drop you, right?"

"Let's face it, if you wanted to drop me, you'd already have done so," Chase-nii yelled. "Put me down so we can talk face to face, you idiot! I'm going to fall!"

"You sold me out," Nii-chan severely replied. "I find myself disinclined to. In fact, I'd rather see you fall. You're marked for death, I see. I guess I should just accelerate the process."

"Nii-chan!" I screamed as he let go.

* * *

After the office was plunged into darkness, Ryuusei somehow managed to escape, but with me tagging along.

It took reappearing for me to feel the toll taken. My carotid artery felt on fire, my head muddled beyond reason, and I was slowly bleeding out onto my sweater and my coat. We were in the main lobby of the Movement, and steel shutters were rolling down around us.

"Can't even teleport out," Ryuusei muttered to himself.

I kicked out, and Ryuusei fell, but then did a handstand and looped back to his feet. A spin, and it was my turn to kiss the ground. Unrelenting, a card appeared in his hand and he raised it as winds began to howl and spin. "Black Rose Dragon!"

A storm of rose petals threw me further off balance, and I found myself clinging to a thorned vine for dear life as the dragon appeared. Without caring or looking back, Ryuusei climbed onto its back and it started flying up, the wind-storm left in its wake destroying banisters, shredding papers and walls, and causing quite a racket in its wake.

At the same time, explosions shook the building, and I was pretty sure that those explosions weren't the relatively accidental and/or harmless Psychic ones.

Rain spattered my face as I hid my head, and Black Rose crashed through the skylight, and thunder rolled as light flashed amidst the steel-grey clouds that shrouded this battlefield. We were on the roof of the Arcadia Movement.

Black Rose's vines tightened, and the thorns printed their welts into my skin. I screamed, and wrestled with the one around my neck as I was bodily lifted by a single tentacle. _Wrong_ mental image.

"_You sold me out._" Fire and sparks clashed with his words. He sounded completely cheesed off as he laid one hand across my entire throat and lifted me to dangle over the edge of the roof as Black Rose disappeared. "_Your friend, Chase. You sold me out._"

His hand was uncomfortably hot, close to feverish, and I swore that my eardrums were bleeding out. "You... killed them."

"_They deserved it._"

"No. They didn't."

"They... did," his voice was changing back to normal.

I socked him. It had no effect; rather, my own hand smarted as Ryuusei just took it without blinking.

"You're bleeding," his voice sounded soft. "Let me get that for you."

The fire flashed, and I screamed as my neck was char-boiled in a second. The fire didn't do much, though; the bleeding stopped, and no other parts of me were burnt. I was immediately suspicious until he punched me in the solar plexus, and then it hurt.

"I am going to tell you something now," he evenly said to me as I uselessly dangled there, barely prevented from falling by his arm and his steel-cable grip. "No matter what evidence you say, as long as Vanessa is here, she can testify. She can ascribe everything to Yamada Yuuta. The legal version will come out that it was his fault, and therefore, he will go. The Movement will be less one enemy, and one critic. The reign of Kannazuki Seika will have achieved something that Shimotsuki Setsuka has never been able to do. The deaths of the Beckmans will be due to a freak accident, as the coroner's report will testify. Even if the Knights begin their own investigation, black necrotic tissue might well lead them nowhere. Whatever your efforts, I have _won_."

"At what cost?!" I screamed at him. "You're _insane!_"

"I was doing what was right!" he shot back.

"Was it right to kill Ichimonji?" I demanded. "Was it right to write off the deaths of the Beckmans? Was it right to frame a man who has done nothing but speak up for what he saw? Yamada Yuuta might see Psychics as monsters, but what else has he done? He hasn't done anything to merit being framed and killed!"

"What else should I have done, seeing her worry about losing this Movement?" he snarled. "I can do nothing else for her, other than destroy her enemies. I owe her that much!"

"You should have done nothing, so that Seika never has to find out that her brother was a murderer!" I shouted as the thunder rang. "You should have supported her from the back, rather than resort to this! You idiot, Ryuusei!"

"I could do so much more than that!"

"And where would you stop?! Would you destroy Neo Domino itself if it threatened her...?"

My words faltered as I saw the look in his eyes; of course he would. He loved Seika so much that he did this. The fierceness of Izayoi Aki and the intelligence of Fudo Yusei was a dangerous combination.

"It's not the right thing to do, Ryuusei." I said, somewhat calmer as I saw sky-blue in his eyes shift to unearthly blue-green. "You've just declared like this... that you aren't one of us. Not any more."

"I... I don't know," blue-green turned more blue. "I... don't know." The blue was bleached out by green. "I... I..."

"I have always said, that it cannot change who you are," I pleaded.

"I... I just wanted it to stop hurting," Ryuusei's eyes were wide, and they changed to full green, deeper than forests and brighter than emeralds. "I just wanted to help."

"By killing?" I asked. "By changing her opinion of you? It's... it's not too late."

"I know how she felt," Ryuusei sniffed, and it was more heart-rending than it should be. There weren't even any tears. "I'm sorry. It wasn't worth it, I'm sorry."

Apologising wouldn't quite erase that, but at least it meant that Ryuusei held remorse. That he was fully aware of what he had done. "Put me down."

"It's too late," Ryuusei shook his head as a blue-white dragon flew out of the skylight. It did a slow loop around and above us, before landing with a thump and a flare of a breeze.

"Nii-chan!" I heard her yell "Stop this already!"

Oh, no.

"Seika?" I shouted back. "Get away! Now!"

"No, Chase-nii," her dark head bobbed out at us from behind the curtain of rain, black hair plastered to her skull and her dark blue shirt and black skirt wet. She shook her head. "No. After all... he's family. Nii-chan... why? Why?"

"Because it was the only thing I could do," Ryuusei answered, his voice holding a hollow ring to it. "No matter what I do, what systems I break, the fact remains that I am someone who does, and not someone who thinks. I did it because it was the only thing I could do for my little sister."

"Don't you dare!" I growled at him as Seika looked vaguely horrified. "Don't you dare bring Seika into this. Don't you _dare_!"

"I love my little sister, enough to kill her enemies," he spoke with complete honesty that made the whole situation more painful. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"You should have done nothing," I fiercely replied. "You should have done nothing, rather than this. You should have acted your part as big brother, not frame an innocent man."

Ryuusei looked at me, and I stilled at the look in his eyes. "Fine words for someone who believes a Duel Spirit of Winter. What did he lie to you with? Or did you believe unquestioningly in everything he said? Up to and including that I was responsible?"

Ow, ow, _ow_. "I trust Rei."

"You trust a spirit who still waits for the chance to fry your brain out and take over your shell," he corrected.

Twin clicks sounded behind him.

"You know," Yuko conversationally commented, levelling a card towards Ryuusei. "I'm just going to skip to the step where I kick your ass. No offence."

"You can try," Ryuusei answered faintly, as if in a dream. "Go on. You want to impress her, right?"

"Yuko, quit doubting," Beside him, Yukio drew a card, and swiftly unleashed a fireball at us.

"Nii-chan!" I heard her scream.

Ryuusei contemptuously flicked a hand, and the fireball bounced up through the rain to split and shatter at Yukio, who dodged but was not in time to save himself from being tripped over by vines. He tried, but the mutating plant life tugged and then Yukio was being strangled by vines. Seika crawled over and tried to tug them off of him, but the vines were too strong.

Yuko choked as Ryuusei flung something at him, and a giant flower about the size of a tray appeared in mid-air and wrapped roots around him. It stank to high heaven, and Yuko struggled as the vines began to string around his limbs.

"Puppet Plant," Ryuusei commented as Yuko was strung up by the string vines and forced to stand. Oh shit.

Yuko's eyes widened. "Don't you dare."

"I dare a lot of things," Ryuusei answered.

Yuko would have answered some more, but he was knocked out from behind.

"Sorry, it took a while," the blond with long bangs, Leo Sterling, grinned, hefting a baseball bat in one hand. "Took a while to shake the Knights. Guess this is a bust?"

"Reasonably speaking, the aim has been achieved," Ryuusei flatly said. "Thus all of our business has been concluded."

The doors slammed open once more to show Orion. "Leo Sterling, Fudo Ryuusei. Hands front and centre."

Ryuusei slowly raised the only available hand, palm facing up. Yuko, still under the influence of the Puppet Plant, hurtled towards Orion.

"Hercules-" Orion was bowled over.

"Hands front and centre," Ryuusei commented. "Not very detailed."

"Please stop," I heard Seika cry out. "Stop, Nii-chan."

"Don't plead, Seika," Orion got back to his feet. "It's not his fault. I'll get him back for you, but... but he might die."

"We haven't really met, dog of Exodia," Ryuusei spoke in a low voice as the wind and rain whipped around us. I tried to gain some leverage rather than let my own body weight kill me. "Are you sure? Your master is not here. This night, this close to Samhaine, you risk a lot should you call upon him. Even your life."

"I should beat him, right?" Leo smirked. "Tell me I can wreck him."

I tried to struggle, but whatever that dart had done to me was taking effect. I was losing too much blood to the rain than keeping it in my delicate insides.

"My arm's getting tired," Ryuusei tonelessly told me. Thunder cracked over head as lightning flashed. "You don't want me to drop you, right?"

"Let's face it, if you wanted to drop me, you'd already have done so," I challenged. "Put me down so we can talk face to face, you idiot! I'm going to fall!"

"That's just rude," Ryuusei admonished. "I find myself disinclined to. In fact, I'd rather see you fall. You're marked for death, I see. I guess I should just accelerate the process."

"_Nii_-_chan_!" I heard her scream as he let go and I fell off of the Castle's roof.

Free fall was an utterly terrifying process as I turned cartwheels in mid-air. Below, I glimpsed a battalion of tiny faeries approaching me from below, and I was willing to bet that they were carrying weapons. I was going to be sliced and diced in mid-air, assuming that I didn't immediately die on impact. My sight was going out, my mind blacking out, and I could hardly even struggle as death by side-walk pancake awaited me. Cheerful.

Seeing certain death shouldn't mean that I should hear the sound of wings... right?

No. There was a white dot approaching from above. The sound of wings...

…and the cries of faeries as they met their death in mid-air.

I compressed everything into the most elemental of summons, right there and then, since desperation did a lot to people. "Setsuka! Setsuka! Setsuka, I summon you!"

The Winter Queen caught me in the midst of being torn apart by G-force, as she flew on the back of her White Night Dragon.

Oww, my spleen.

By my side, the Blizzed flew about my head. "You look fine," the bird squawked in her voice.

"You're _still_ mad?"

I was dropped onto the roof, right as three people, not counting yours truly, made their entrances in the rain and wind. The most dynamic entrance, of course, went to Shimotsuki Setsuka.

Ryuusei lifted his chin, meeting her eyes as she dismounted. "Aren't you under-dressed?"

It was the only chance I had to look when she dropped me onto the floor.

She wore leather short-shorts, military boots, and a bikini top, all of midnight blue. The top came without straps, and the shorts dug distractingly into bunched thigh muscles. The boots were calf-high, and laced up in light blue in a criss-crossing manner that seemed at once practical and yet drawing the eye. Black hair was plaited to match, coiled around her neck like some dark serpent of a pet against pale skin. She wore no weapons or DuelDisk, but her eyes were wide with the certainty of one who knows that she was armed well beyond the ability of her enemy to withstand. Rain fell around her, but never touched her; maybe the weather knew well enough not to cross this Queen?

"What on earth are you _wearing_?" Orion sounded horrified. "That's... that's... Setsuka, you're dressed like a _hooker_."

Leo had the balls to whistle. He was caught mid-whistle as Shimotsuki glared at him, and he just stayed there with lips pursed and not even moving.

There was silence. The air stilled. There was virtually no sound. I felt like applauding.

"_I am perfectly dressed._" Glass cracked underfoot as Shimotsuki evenly answered, right before she socked him across the jaw.

It was the first time I had seen Ryuusei actually stagger back. There had been an audible _crack_, and with it the ominous _shatter_ of concrete underfoot.

Very slowly, I swallowed. "Bloody hell no-"

Shimotsuki opened her mouth, and whatever words she was talking about were lost as the entire roof gave way underfoot, causing me to fall through a storey of debris – again, I might add – and land flat. Although I managed to land on my feet somewhat, I wasn't lucky enough to escape unscathed as I felt little shards of shrapnel pierce my arm.

Lucky this part was soft-

"Get off me!"

I scrambled up, and stared at Rex's prone figure that I had landed on. He must have been right under the falling debris.

That was going to be a _bitch_ of a bill now.

"Dammit," Rex growled. As I crawled out, I could see the problem; somewhere in the fall shrapnel had ripped his thigh open and trapped his injured left leg between two beams.

Above, Seika whimpered. Somewhere along the way she had been picked up by Shimotsuki, who merely floated down as if her own personal gravity had been reduced to save her the fall. Who knew, I wouldn't put it past her to do that. Shimotsuki taciturnly landed on her feet, and set Seika leaning against one of the larger pieces of steel debris that looked halfway solid, her jaw set closed. Shimotsuki then glared back at the hostile presence opposite her.

Ryuusei stared back at her venomously as he punched his own jaw back into shape. Orion, Yuko and Yukio had managed to land safely as well, standing to face Ryuusei and Sterling.

"Ryuusei?"

Ryuusei turned at the sound of his name, and he actually paled at the sight of Rex. "Rex? What happened?"

"Standing right under, then the ceiling caved in." Rex's jaw set. "I got them."

"Who?"

"Your parents. They're here... right now."

I gave him a thumbs up, because they managed to get the people that were the only ones who had a hope of controlling Ryuusei, next to Seika.

Rain fell mercilessly on them, though the white lab coat one of them wore still made an effort to billow out properly at this altitude, and his crab-hairstyle stuck ramrod straight as he fixed Ryuusei with a disapproving look that added about ten years alone to that poker face.

The King of Riding Duels fixed Ryuusei with a searching look. "Explain."

That one word was enough for Ryuusei to stand straighter and look vulnerable.

"I would like to hear it, too," the woman chipped in. Her red hair was bunched up behind her head, and her own white coat flared at her hips. Her arms were crossed as her amber cat-eyes considered Ryuusei with what could be classed as an authoritative look if I hadn't met it face-to-face. It was the _get off the laptop now, boys _look she used at three am.

He swallowed. "Dad. Mom."

"I heard what you did," the Professor began. "Ryuusei. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and let you explain yourself."

"I intended to take responsibility," Ryuusei answered. "After the conviction."

"That is not an excuse," the Professor protested. "You could have killed someone!"

"They died by freak virus cocktail."

"That was _deliberate_," Aki-sensei chipped in, her entire language disapproving. I read somewhere that women can have five different conversations at the same time, and right now all five channels radiated disapproval.

"From a certain point of view," Ryuusei admitted, now turning his head directly to look at Shimotsuki. "I can admit that at no time was I directly involved in the conspiracy to set up Yamada Yuuta for grand theft and conspiracy to commit terrorism, except where I escaped."

Shimotsuki did not reply, only that she inclined her head, very minutely. "Well played," was definitely not the answer I expected. And nothing had broke. Her anger had faded so quickly?

"To answer your query, take a good look at Leo Sterling," she told me.

I squinted, past the sopping wet curtains of blond hair, and met a pair of colourless eyes, filled with fire...

"You're twins." I gasped. True; other than the freakish height and other indicators, Leo could have passed as a gender-bent version of Vanessa in different clothings. It was scary.

"_What_?" Yuko and Yukio and Orion echoed at once.

"Twins," Leo affirmed, grinning. "Fraternal twins. Nessie was always the more glam of us. My Mom divorced, I was left with dad, and Nessie came to Japan with the sissy and Mom to start a new life."

"The 1980 Hague Convention," Yukio swallowed in realisation. "Vanessa Trent could have been brought over to Japan, where there is no way to return a child unless... there were relatives nearby. And relatives are always preferred over the Arcadia Movement."

"Another crapsack law kept in place by your sleaze of a dad," Leo sneered. "When Nessie nearly died, it was the last straw for me, for us."

"It was remarkable, the execution," Shimotsuki agreed. "Giving instructions out through Sterling. Convincing the Sakumo family not to approach the Movement, feeding them what was essentially lies without them being lies. Manipulating Marguerite to use Hayato Ichimonji to carry out your instructions. You achieved the gambit and framed another for it. It was very well done, plotting every step, and even having to leave an out for Princeton to investigate gives something... improving."

"What do you mean?" the Professor growled defensively.

"What I mean, was that in the end, your son plotted the cold-blooded murder and framing of Yamada Yuuta," Shimotsuki broke the news, nearly smiling at the dawning horror on Ryuusei's face. "From the beginning, since five months ago, he had already intended to frame Yamada Yuuta, and have the Movement destroy the lawyer for him. It had always been so, hasn't it? Leo Sterling and Vanessa Trent both held grudges, making them the perfect cat's paws for Ryuusei. It was the perfect opportunity, and you took it. You won... at what price?"

"That's right," she turned on Aki-sensei and the Professor, smiling. "Your son here masterminded everything. From the isolation of the Sakumo family, to the theft of the Chaos Emperor Dragon, to the murder of Hayato Ichimonji. But he never carried out any of it, he just planned. Isn't that sweet?"

"Ryuusei... please tell me it's a lie," Aki-sensei breathed.

"... it's not," Ryuusei looked away.

His mother let out something like a choked scream.

"We can go to NDPD," the Professor offered. "Kiryu... it happened to Kiryu once, and he's still alive. So, Ryuusei, please don't do anything foolish. Come back."

"Dad...?" Ryuusei echoed.

"You're my son, and I don't want to see you go down like Kiryu did," the Professor whispered. Kiryu-sensei? Was it something to do with Team Satisfaction? Kiryu-sensei never told me anything... "Ryuusei, please. Stop this."

"Surrender, and I'll shoot," the tension was broken as Leo levelled a gun at them. Aki-sensei bristled as the Professor merely stared. "I mean it, Chief."

Ryuusei frowned. "But, Leo-"

Absently, Leo fired up, a single ear-splitting shot, before he levelled it again at them. "I'm serious. Either the Yamada bastard dies before I go, or they die. And I can shoot faster than you can do anything to me."

Overhead, rain spattered, partly shielded by the debris and steel and concrete.

"My parents have nothing to do with this," Ryuusei's eyes narrowed, and I thought they flickered blue-green, then back to blue, fading to green and blue and in a pattern of colours. I surreptitiously compared Shimotsuki's eyes; her were blue-green.

"They have everything to do with it, if it means that we're not getting our revenge," Leo's aim didn't waver. "The damn law kept Nessie in a place she'd rather die than go to. How many more like us have to suffer before you get it that it _isn't_ helping? How many more abusers has Yamada Yuuta supported with his damned stand on Psychics? It must end... and I'll end it."

He raised the gun. Rex stilled. Orion tensed. I fingered the Duel Anchor in my pocket. Yukio cricked his neck. Yuko raised a hand. Fudo Yusei, and Fudo nee Izayoi Aki, raised their DuelDisks.

A shot rang out.

Shimotsuki moved her little finger. Seika screamed.

The gun froze over mid-shot, causing the barrel to shatter and shrapnel to fly. The bullet made it out, though, and Rex abruptly yelled, clutching his calf with a cry of pain. Shrapnel managed to cut my cheek and one of Seika's hands, but otherwise we were unaffected.

"Rex!" I yelled.

"Just a scratch!" Rex hoarsely countered. Seika beat me to him, stripping her sleeve off to press against Rex's wound. Since it was a line, I was going to assume that the bullet never touched him.

At the same time, Duel Anchors played out, securing Leo's DuelDisk between the Wonder Twins. At the same time, the Professor threw something out, trapping Ryuusei's DuelDisk in about ten metres of cable, and tugging onto it.

"Death-Match Duel Rope-" Ryuusei's lips turned bloodless as he stared evenly back at his parents turned opponents.

"It'll be alright," Fudo Yusei affirmed as he fixed the cable. "Your mother and I, versus you, Ryuusei. Looks like Yukio and Yuko are of the same mind."

"I'll bite you to the death," Yukio glared at Leo.

"Not if I bury your first," Yuko growled.

"So you think fate can be killed or buried? Keep dreaming!" Leo cackled, and the storm overhead rumbled in answer.

"I will do so," Ryuusei echoed numbly, his expression sad yet resolved.

"Why...?" Seika whispered. "Why do you have to fight? I would have been happy just living with Nii-chan..."

"I wished for a world where you wouldn't be hunted," Ryuusei tonelessly answered. "If now I must answer for those crimes, Seika, then I have no regrets. It is... destiny."

Shimotsuki just laughed. "Begin, the last rondo you'll ever be in."

"_Duel_!"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	63. LX: Spell Power Grasp

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LX: Spell Power Grasp**

Pressing a bloody sleeve to Rex-nii's wound, I was shaking and terrified as I watched my family for the past few years begin to fall apart.

"Tag-team rules, each side having eight thousand life points," Nii-chan declared as he drew the starting hand of five. "Dad, Mum... you can have the first turn. At least I can offer that courtesy."

"Duel!"

Yusei & Aki: LP 8000

Ryuusei: LP 8000

Baa-chan closed her eyes as Jii-chan looked on, heartsick. "We will return the courtesy by finishing this quickly, then. It will be over very soon, Ryuusei. Yusei..."

Jii-chan nodded. "Take the first turn, Aki. Ryuusei... both of us are here for him."

"I'll begin, draw," Baa-chan's voice was filled with unshed tears. "I draw, and normal summon Koa'ki Meiru Gravirose [1900/1300]."

By my side, Setsu-chan continued watching. Upon the field, the fiery blossoms flared in the rain to form the grinning plant-monster.

"End phase, reveal Plant-Type Lonefire Blossom in hand to keep Gravirose on the field." Baa-chan announced.

"Draw," Nii-chan began. "I summon Mystic Piper [0/0] to the field. Activating its effect, I will tribute it to draw a card. It is the level one Boost Warrior, hence I will draw one more card. Turn end."

"Do not count on stalling with it alone, Ryuusei," Jii-chan looked resolved. "Draw! Standby phase, use the effect of Gravirose to send Spore from the deck to my graveyard. Activate the Spell, Tuning, to search for Junk Synchron and then milling a card. I milled Quillbolt Hedgehog to the graveyard. Normal summon Junk Synchron [1300/500], using its effect to revive Spore [400/800] in defence mode with its effect negated. Due to a special summon from my graveyard, Doppelwarrior [800/800] is special summoned to the field from my hand. Tuning, level two Doppelwarrior to level three Junk Synchron. Gathering stars will call upon a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Junk Warrior!"

In a flash, the blue-armoured warrior in aviator 's attire descended onto the field [2300/1300].

"Since Doppelwarrior is sent to the graveyard for a Synchro summon, two Doppel Tokens [400/400] are special summoned to the field in attack mode," Jii-chan announced. "And Junk Warrior gains the attack power of all level two or lower monsters on the field upon its Synchro summon [2300/1300 → 3500/1300]. Junk Warrior, attack directly with Scrap Fist!"

Ryuusei: LP 8000 → LP 4500

Yusei & Aki: LP 8000

"Gravirose, direct attack! Doppel Tokens, attack directly!" Jii-chan called.

Ryuusei: LP 4500 → LP 1800

Yusei & Aki: LP 8000

"I'll set a card. End phase, reveal Glow-Up Bulb in hand to keep Gravirose on the field." Jii-chan finished.

"My turn, I draw," Nii-chan tonelessly called. "I summon the tuner monster, Witch of the Black Rose [1700/1200]."

"That card..." Baa-chan whispered as the smiling Gothic Lolita witch appeared. "Ryuusei... you still have that card?"

"Since Witch of the Black Rose is summoned when I control no other cards, I can draw a card, and reveal it." He drew the top card from his deck, turning it over with a flourish. "It is the monster card Evil Thorn, so it's added to my hand. I will activate from my hand Double Summon to summon Evil Thorn [100/300], and activate its effect to tribute Evil Thorn, to inflict three hundred damage to your life points, and special summon two more Evil Thorn from the deck. Now, I will activate Super Solar Nutrient, tributing Evil Thorn to special summon from my deck the level four Botanical Lion [1600/2000 → 2200/2000] from the deck. If I control a face-up tuner monster, I can special summon from my hand Boost Warrior [300/200 → 600/200]."

Yusei & Aki: LP 8000 → LP 7700

Ryuusei: LP 8000

"A level four tuner... and three more monsters..." Chase-nii's features creased into a soft frown. We ignored the other Duel going on, though occasionally I saw Rex-nii and Chase-nii sneak looks between this Duel and the other. "Level ten Synchro...?"

"Tuning, level one Evil Thorn and level four Botanical Lion to level four Witch of the Black Rose!" Nii-chan called as around the field, the storm bellowed and curtains of rain fell to be evaporated in an instant. "Great storm! Heel to the lord of the summer, and recall the might of one who calls the tempest! Synchro summon! Descend, Mist Wurm!"

With a loud bellowing noise, a gargantuan creature rose behind him, curling around the field and then growling. It was a giant, monstrous arthropod covered with a deep purple-blue exoskeleton. Three odd vents on its back that looked like chimneys stuck out. From within these vents, mist poured that shrouded the field in black-purple [2500/1500].

"Mist Wurm?" Jii-chan echoed. "That..."

"When Mist Wurm is Synchro summoned, I can return any three cards on the field my opponent controls back to their hand," Nii-chan called as the mist died to show that Gravirose, the set card and Spore had disappeared.

"Eh...? Then, Junk Warrior..." I blinked at the Warrior still hovering on the field. "Why didn't he..."

"Activate the Spell, Galaxy Queen's Light," Nii-chan coldly announced. "Choosing the level nine Mist Wurm, I shall change all monsters on my field to have the same level as Mist Wurm; that is, level nine. Now, I shall construct the overlay network with these two level nine monsters. Exceed summon! Appear, Number 9: Dyson Sphere!"

"What?" Jii-chan stood straight, looking about. "Where is it? Where is your monster?"

"To activate and resolve this effect, my opponent must control a monster with higher attack power than Dyson Sphere itself," Nii-chan shrugged slightly. "During my main phase one, I can detach one Exceed material from this card, and this card can attack my opponent directly this turn. I shall detach Boost Warrior, and therefore, Dyson Sphere, attack directly!"

It could not have been a simple projection; the attack came from above, a meteor of bright yellow-white that blazed and burned at the ground. Incredible heat bloomed, and Rex-nii grabbed me to pull down as the wave swept over us and we hid our faces.

Setsu-chan raised a hand and the heat abated, though not completely. "Fool."

Yusei & Aki: LP 7700 → LP 4900

Ryuusei: LP 1800

"Damage of this level should be nothing to veteran Duelists like the both of you," Nii-chan spoke softly. "I shall set a card, turn end."

"Twenty-eight hundred damage... so that's the monster's power," Jii-chan wheezed as he climbed back to his feet. "Incredible..."

"Now is not the time, Yusei," Baa-chan groaned as she was helped up. "Where is it?"

"...A scientist, Freeman Dyson was his name, once hypothesised that as human civilization progressed, its need for energy will be so great that there is nothing left to do but to capture _all_ ofthe energy of a star," Jii-chan mumbled. "By building a shell around the star, enclosing it with a net of man's creation and block it off from the rest of the universe to absorb every ray. The power of the Sun, in the palm of one hand... up."

"Up?" We looked up.

What looked like the sun hung above the field. The star was dimming rapidly, for enormous machines surrounded the ball of burning gas that was a miniature sun. The machines appeared to be no more than sheets of curved metal, interplayed with lined and sigils and light, like the dark petals that surrounded the core of a flower [2800/3000].

"So that's... Dyson Sphere..." Baa-chan panted. "But... my turn, draw! I summon Lonefire Blossom [500/1400] to the field. By tributing it, I can special summon from my deck Gigaplant [2400/1200]. Equip Supervise to Gigaplant, activating its Gemini effect and special summoning the tuner monster Spore [400/800] from my hand."

"Quick-play Spell, Bright Black Wave," Nii-chan interrupted. "When I control an Exceed monster with material that used to be a Synchro monster, I can target one card on the field, banish it, and then draw one card. I choose to banish Gigaplant. Although, since I chose to chain Bright Black Wave to the special summon of Spore, then Spore remains on the field."

"If that is so..." Baa-chan frowned as her plant disappeared. "Tuning, level one Spore to two level one tokens. Evening shades envelop the world; herald of the night, shine. Take flight, Synchro Tuner, Twilight Rose Dragon!"

In a flash, the monster appeared, framed by billowing purple wings [500/1400].

"Junk Warrior, attack Dyson Sphere with Scrap Fist!" Baa-chan called.

The warrior flew up, towards the star... and was diverted away.

"What?" Baa-chan gasped.

"As long as Dyson Sphere has Exceed material, it can negate an attack that targets it once per battle step," Nii-chan answered. "Attacks cannot reach it."

"I shall set two cards, turn end." Baa-chan called.

"Then it is my turn," Nii-chan announced. "Draw. A tuner monster... and a non-tuner monster. Level eight. Stardust Dragon?"

He considered the field some more, before nodding. "I summon Lonefire Blossom [500/1400] to the field. Then, I shall tribute Lonefire Blossom to special summon from my deck Necro Fleur [0/0]. Activate Fragrance Storm, destroying Necro Fleur and allowing me to draw a card. I have drawn the Plant-Type Dandylion, so I can draw another card. The effect of Necro Fleur activates, in that, upon its destruction by card effect, I can special summon from my hand or deck Sorciere de Fleur [2900/0]."

Her rose-topped staff clanged on the field, and the powerful stench of flowers filled Nii-chan's field as she chuckled and laughed. "You have summoned me, Your Majesty?"

"It talked!" Baa-chan exclaimed.

"A Duel spirit...?" Jii-chan's eyes were wide.

"That monster... Marguerite!" I shouted. "Why are you here?"

From one side, Leo waved to her. "Hi, lady boss!"

"Why? Why?" I screamed, not caring that Jii-chan and Baa-chan were staring at me. "Was it your fault?"

"I follow my ruler in all things, including this," Marguerite answered lightly, as if everything were a joke or a mere laugh.

"Enough, Marguerite," Nii-chan spoke. "Effect activate."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Marguerite's staff bloomed. "_Corps Fleur!_"

"Upon the normal or special summon of Sorciere de Fleur, she can special summon from my opponent's graveyard one monster of choice. That monster cannot attack directly, and is destroyed during the end phase," Nii-chan spoke. "I choose the Lonefire Blossom that lies within your graveyard, Mum."

"Lonefire-" Baa-chan cut off as the orange flower bloomed on his field. "Could it be...?"

"I will tribute Lonefire Blossom to special summon Gigaplant [2400/1200] from my deck," Nii-chan smiled at some unknown joke as Gigaplant appeared on his field. "Activate Mark of the Rose; by banishing from my graveyard one Evil Thorn, I take control of Junk Warrior. Come, Junk Warrior."

The warrior creaked as the mark appeared on its forehead, but flew towards Nii-chan and knelt on bended knee, head bowed.

"Now, Junk Warrior, destroy that Twilight Rose Dragon!" Nii-chan called. "Scrap Fist!"

Both of them cringed at the destruction of both monsters.

"Dyson Sphere, attack directly!" Nii-chan called.

"Trap card, Ground Capture!" Baa-chan called as fiery rain pelted their field once more. "Battle damage from this battle is halved, and we are allowed to draw a card. Yusei!"

"Thanks, Aki!" Jii-chan called as he drew and tried to remain standing.

Yusei & Aki: LP 4900 → LP 3500

Ryuusei: LP 1800

"Sorciere de Fleur, direct attack!" Nii-chan called.

"Trap card, Rose Blizzard!" Baa-chan defended as Marguerite was forced to kneel.

"Gigaplant, attack directly!" Nii-chan cried out.

Thorned vines lashed out without mercy at Jii-chan and Baa-chan both.

Yusei & Aki: LP 3500 → LP 1100

Ryuusei: LP 1800

"They say, that we are curses of the gods on mankind," Nii-chan whispered. "Those who try to do good, and deliver the worst of consequences. Those who are the worst, and whose actions bring joy to those who survive to reap the fruits of labour. Curses who are released from the box of Pandora."

"Ryuusei...?" Jii-chan spoke. "Why..."

"I wish I wasn't born with this fate," Nii-chan continued, utterly serious. "I wish I could go back. I don't want pain, and fear, and war, and death. I don't know how I ended up with this, I don't know why. I wish I didn't cause Ayame-san's death. I wish... why do I feel so much? I just want it to stop... to stop already."

"Numbers are... there is another story about the Numbers cards." Setsu-chan whispered neutrally.

"What about it?" I murmured.

"In the otherworld, Numbers were said to be the spirits who were sealed within the Emperor's Key, and were released upon the world when broken," Setsu-chan murmured. "However, one card remained with the Key and its holder, waiting for the time to recover all the Numbers back into the Emperor's Key. That card, was Hope."

"Hope?" I echoed. "My... my card? Setsu-chan?"

"Who knows," Setsu-chan tilted her head. "It is a legend in the spirit world. But legends mean that at some point in time, it happens. It does. The story continues, just like the story of Summer and Winter, eternally in conflict. The uncertainty of life, and the absolute truth of death."

"I shall set a card, turn end." Nii-chan concluded, seemingly exhausted. "End phase, Junk Warrior returns to your field."

Junk Warrior floated back to them.

"My turn, draw!" Jii-chan called. "Activate, Angel Baton! I draw two cards, and discard one. I will discard Tuningware with Angel Baton's effect. The chance of victory has yet to die!"

"Of course not," Nii-chan agreed. "It is merely very low at the moment."

"Now I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, and take Junk Synchron to my hand. Activate One for One, discarding Glow-Up Bulb to special summon Tuningware [300/100]." A small smile slowly lit up his face, and his blue eyes were shining. "Do you remember, Ryuusei? When we had to search all the shops for Glow-Up Bulb?"

"I do," Nii-chan answered. "Mum gave me her own copy; she said she wanted me to always carry a piece of the history we shared."

"I remember too," Baa-chan whispered. "But why did you do this, Ryuusei? Why?"

"Does it matter?" Nii-chan answered, his eyes a dull green. "It is your turn, Dad."

"Alright," Jii-chan squinted at him, and I saw clarity dawn in his face. "I normal summon Junk Synchron [1300/500]. Now, I activate Machine Duplication and special summon two more Tuningware from my deck. Your Dyson Sphere is incredibly powerful, Ryuusei, that I submit. But, it has a critical weakness."

"A... critical weakness?" Nii-chan echoed.

Jii-chan merely shook his head. "Tuning, two level two Tuningware and one level one Tuningware to level three Junk Synchron. Gathering fighting souls will awaken the raging wicked god! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Obliterate, Junk Destroyer!"

In a flash, the four-armed warrior [2600/2500] burst upon the field.

"I draw three cards due to Tuningware, and by the effect of Junk Destroyer, three cards on your field are destroyed," Jii-chan concluded. "I choose your Dyson Sphere, Gigaplant and Sorciere de Fleur. Tidal Energy!"

We shielded our eyes as in a flash, Nii-chan's field was destroyed.

"Continuous Trap, Xyz Veil!" Nii-chan defended. "Exceed monsters with material cannot be targeted by card effects."

"Still, that's two problems resolved," Baa-chan blew a long breath through her lips.

"I activate De-Synchro on Junk Warrior," Jii-chan panted. "Revive, Junk Warrior and Doppelwarrior. I reduce the level of Junk Destroyer to revive Level Eater [600/0] to the field. Tuning, level one Level Eater and level two Doppelwarrior to level three Junk Synchron. When wishes of steel gather round the messenger of the gale, that wish will become an invincible shield! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Come out, Junk Gardna!"

The green-armoured monster [1400/2600] appeared, hands clasped in defence mode.

"Mystical Space Typhoon that I just drew on Xyz Veil," Jii-chan announced as the rap imploded. "I shall then use the effect of Junk Gardna to change Dyson Sphere to defence mode."

"Defence?" Nii-chan tilted his head.

"With this, if you try to change its attack position, I will change it back," Jii-chan rebutted as the great sphere shifted overhead. "And if Dyson Sphere is in defence mode, then it can't take a pot-shot at our life points. I shall set a card, turn end."

"I thought I was prepared," Nii-chan shook his head. "Just goes to show how good my parents are."

"Even so, you have done extremely well," Jii-chan severely replied. "For Aki and I to be played at the ropes of you... to be left so close to the edge, by you. You, our pride and joy."

"I refuse to believe that you haven't faced closer odds," Nii-chan answered. "I seem to recall a certain match at the WRGP, where you finished with barely a hundred life points."

"True." Jii-chan admitted. "But usually my son isn't the one I am challenging. You don't have the resolve to do this, do you, Ryuusei? To protect, and to destroy has two different meanings. To protect doesn't mean to destroy the lives of others!"

"In order to achieve results, you have to do something. To achieve that result, will mean that you have to deny something," my beloved Nii-chan spoke those words. "My turn, I draw. I tribute Dyson Sphere to summon Salvage Warrior [1900/1600]."

"Salvage Warrior?" Jii-chan echoed as a tiny tomato monster joined it. "When it's tribute summoned it can special summon from hand or graveyard a tuner monster- oh no."

"Cherry Inmato [700/400] is a tuner monster," Nii-chan acknowledged. "Tuning, level five Salvage Warrior to level two Cherry Inmato. Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set in bloom! Synchro summon!"

Red petals swarmed the field, and Jii-chan's eyes widened in alarm.

"Bloom, Black Rose Dragon!" Nii-chan cried out as the dragon appeared in a tempest of rose petals and gale winds [2400/1800].

Outside, the storm raged even wilder.

"Black Rose Gale!" Nii-chan yelled out, and Black Rose Dragon echoed his voice as every other card on the field imploded.

"Yusei..." Baa-chan whispered in horror as the dragon's dark fire burned in rain, baking the field in its heat. "I... I'm scared."

"Don't be," Jii-chan confided. "He is still our son."

"Activate Spellbook Inside the Pot, allowing all of us to draw three cards," Nii-chan announced as he drew. "I shall activate One for One, discarding Dandylion from my hand to special summon from my deck my own copy of Spore. Two Fluff Tokens [0/0] join my field. Tuning, two level one Tokens to level one Spore. Evening shades envelop the world; herald of the night, shine. Take flight, Synchro Tuner, Twilight Rose Dragon!"

In a flash, the monster appeared, framed by billowing purple wings [500/1400].

"Banish Gigaplant to special summon Spore as a level seven monster," Nii-chan announced as the bloated spore reappeared. "Tribute it for the effect of Twilight Rose to revive Black Rose Dragon."

"Black Rose..." Baa-chan gave a hushed whisper as the dragon reappeared, groaning and screaming. "Do you remember me...? Do you remember the pain we shared, the troubles we've gone through together? Black Rose, please... respond."

In answer, a black thorny tail thrashed on the ground.

"Ryuusei?" Baa-chan approached next. "My boy, my dear, dear boy... do you remember? The day when I gifted Black Rose to you?"

"I... I do," Nii-chan distantly answered. "And that is why this will hurt me more than it hurts you."

He raised a single hand. "Black Rose Dragon... direct attack."

"You can't, Ryuusei," Baa-chan tearfully murmured. "You can't leave."

"Black. Rose. _Flare_!"

In a single scream of hate, Black Rose Dragon's dark fire covered the field, and my adoptive parents with it.

Yusei & Aki: LP 1100 → LP 0

Ryuusei: LP 1800

The rain spattered, a sheen of steam beginning to rise above in a greyish cloak.

"That's hot," Chase-nii mumbled. Seeing as Rex-nii was wiping his brow, I decided that it must have been a statement of fact rather than Chase-nii's wit at work.

"Our son, the one who inherited the best and worst of us..." Jii-chan pronounced slowly, the wrinkles about his cobalt blue eyes even more pronounced as he crawled up to a sitting position. "Who had never made a mistake until now... who had never troubled his parents until now. Ryuusei, it's not too late. Please don't continue like this. So, please... come back to your family."

As Nii-chan continued staring at Jii-chan and a tearful Baa-chan, Rex-nii was momentarily distracted as his coat caught fire from a heat flare. "Well, dammit."

* * *

Even facing two of the foremost Knights of Arcadia, Leo Sterling still kept a smirk on his face. "I think I'll enjoy this, beating up the kids of that man."

"The identity of our father has nothing to do with this," Yuko defended, gritting his teeth.

"There is no need to answer him, Yuko." Yukio glared at Sterling.

Sterling chuckled. "By the rules of Battle Royale, the player with the most disadvantage would be the one to go first. We share a field, and a common pool of life points. So, you two will share the common string of destiny this Duel. That of loss!"

"As you say, then," Yukio decided. "Then I'll just tear you to shreds all the more."

"Duel!"

Leo: LP 8000

Yukio & Yuko: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Sterling declared, blond hair waving as his head swayed with something resembling a scorpion poised to strike. "I'll activate Trade-In, discarding the level eight Gimmick Puppet – Nightmare from my hand to draw two cards. Then, I'll summon Gimmick Puppet – Bomb Egg [1600/1200] to the field."

What looked like an egg-shaped Mr Potato Head, just more creepy, appeared on the field, its spindly arms and legs dancing a jig before its heels snapped together and it bowed.

"Creepy," Yuko noted. "And strangely lively..."

"The question is, what's inside?" Yukio finished.

"Once per turn, by discarding a Gimmick Puppet monster from my hand, I can activate one of two effects," Sterling leered. "I'll discard Gimmick Puppet – Dreary Doll, and choose the effect that lets me inflict eight hundred damage to you!"

The egg opened and several beams of light rained down on the twins.

Yukio & Yuko: LP 8000 → LP 7200

Leo: LP 8000

"Not bad..." Yuko glanced down at the burns on the concrete.

"No power economy," Yukio rebutted. Russian judge, really.

"Turn end with a set card." Sterling called.

"In a tag Duel, no player can attack on the first round," Yuko observed. "Yuko, that Bomb Egg is annoying."

"When we control no monsters, I can special summon from my hand Steelswarm Cell [0/0]," Yuko called as a tiny beetle-like monster appeared. "Then, I'll tribute Cell for Steelswarm Girastag [2600/0], which has the effect of being able to be tribute summoned with one Steelswarm monster. The effect of Girastag activates; upon tribute summon, I can send any card my opponent controls to the graveyard, and then we gain one thousand life points. Therefore, your effect damage is cancelled out. Girastag, bury that Gimmick Puppet!"

"Trap card, Interdimensional Matter Transporter." Sterling called, and the card disappeared in a flash before Girastag could crush it. By the side, I was temporarily distracted by the giant star monster Ryuusei had summoned.

"I'll set two cards, turn end," Yuko called. "End phase, Bomb Egg returns to the field... but what a guy."

"Be careful..." Seika whispered, massaging her injured leg. "That guy... is strong..."

"That good?" Rex and I exclaimed as one. If Seika, who saw The World King, the King of Riding Duels, and nearly every Duelist in the Arcadia Movement and admitted that he was good, there was some serious wicked skill there.

"My turn, draw!" Sterling called. "I'll normal summon Gimmick Puppet – Scissor Arm [1200/600]."

_Snip, snip,_ the monster that appeared had a pair of scissor blades on its head, perched atop an otherwise normal female body shrouded in shadow, or a puppet wielding a giant pair of scissors. It was rather hard to tell exactly what it was.

"With the effect of Scissor Arm, I shall mill Gimmick Puppet – Gear Changer to the graveyard," Sterling called. "And then, I banish Gear Changer to revive Gimmick Puppet – Dreary Doll!"

The ground pulled back in front of him, allowing a small black rotted coffin to rise up to the field., Slowly, the coffin creaked open, and a small doll sat up, its lace-edged dress ripped and torn, messy blonde hair clumped and fraying, and its cracked and broken body covered with several bandages. The doll lifted its head up and screeched in a curious mix of clicking resin and wood creaks and clashing porcelain [0/0].

"Spell, Galaxy Queen's Light," Sterling called. "By choosing the level eight Dreary Doll, all other monsters I control become the same level as Dreary Doll. So, all my monsters become level eight. Using the level eight Bomb Egg, Scissor Arm and Dreary Doll, I construct the overlay network!"

"What?" Seika sat up. "But... during that Duel..."

"What I was doing with you and the candy princess, little missy, was just playing," Sterling chuckled. "This monster is the mark of my contract! Exceed summon! Number 88: Gimmick Puppet – Destiny Leo!"

From the glittering remnants of the overlay network arose the shining throne. It was topped with a simple sigil, that of a circular disk, and its arms bore the signs of the lion's heads. The figure seated on it held a sword in one hand, though the blade was pointed down and used more as a cane or staff. It wore a Roman-style toga, and its head was that of a lion. More than that, it carried with it a majesty that could only be felt, a power like one would face in the midst of wide open spaces and large predators [3200/2300].

"Three thousand two hundred attack power...?" Yuko shouted.

"Big..." was Yukio's sole observation, and with a straight face at that.

"Once per turn, at the cost of not conducting my battle phase, I can detach one Exceed material to place a Destiny Counter on this monster," Sterling called, grinning as the lion head on the left glowed a soft gold and one material disappeared. "Also, when Destiny Leo gains three Destiny Counters, I win the Duel."

"What?" Yuko exclaimed. "That's broken!"

"No. That's perfect for a cheap power-hungry man like him," Yukio crossed his arms.

"You make me sick..." a vein popped in Sterling's temple. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Yukio called. "No matter what I see, the outcome still hasn't changed... But..."

"Only two more turns before Destiny Leo...!" Rex hissed.

"Why the worry?" Shimotsuki casually asked. "I might not care about Hercules, but I know that my student won't let himself down."

Back on the field, it was Yukio's turn. The Wonder Twins were still staring at Destiny Leo with an oddly calculating look that I wasn't sure that Yuko was capable of.

"I'll play the Spell, Double Summon." Yukio called. "Then, I summon Gishki Avance [1500/800]. Once per turn, Gishki Avance can place a Gishki monster of my choice on top of my deck, and I choose Gishki Beast. Now, I'll use the effect of Double Summon to summon Spear Shark [1600/1400]. I create the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon! Appear, Bahamut Shark!"

The shark bared its teeth. It did not resemble a shark or a fish as its name implied, and rather more like a dinosaur. Leathery wings of blue and white sprouted from its back, and it gave a roar as it bared teeth and claws at everyone [2600/2100].

"I'll activate the effect of Bahamut Shark here," Yukio announced. "I detach an Exceed material from Bahamut Shark to special summon Number 47: Nightmare Shark from my extra deck. In exchange, for the rest of this turn Bahamut Shark cannot attack."

Another blue and white shark shimmered into existence. Unlike Bahamut Shark, this one put me to consider the legendary beings called mermaids. It had no legs, but instead a tail. It bore wings on its back, large ones like a stingray's. Its fin protruded between the shoulder blades. Its snout was the shark's one, awkwardly positioned with gills where the cheeks should be. Its arms, which were anatomically incorrect of a shark, and protruding out of a human torso, bore sharp implements [2000/2000].

"By the effect of Nightmare Shark, I attach Friller Rabca from my hand to Nightmare Shark as Exceed material," Yukio called. "I activate the Spell, Aqua Jet. By this effect, I choose Nightmare Shark to gain a permanent increase of one thousand attack power [2000/2000 → 3000/2000]."

"But, that Nightmare Shark still falls short of my Destiny Leo," Sterling observed.

"I just have a hypothesis," Yukio coldly replied. "And, who said I was aiming for your cowardly lion?"

"You..." Sterling growled.

"I use the effect of Nightmare Shark: by detaching one Exceed material from it, I can choose a Water Attribute monster I control, and that monster can attack directly, but only that monster can attack this turn," Yukio declared. "Of course, I choose Nightmare Shark himself, since Bahamut Shark cannot attack this turn. Nightmare Shark, attack directly with Jaws from the Deep!"

"Quick-play Spell, Forbidden Lance!" Sterling quickly countered, as Nightmare Shark lost both the boost from Aqua Jet and part of its own power [3000/2000 → 1200/2000]

Leo: LP 8000 → LP 6800, DC: 1

Yuko & Yukio: LP 7200

"Activate Spell, Xyz Treasure," Yamada-san dismissively finished. "Since there are three Exceed monsters on the field, I can draw three cards. I will set a card, turn end, and Nightmare Shark recovers its attack power [1200/2000 → 2000/2000]. By the way, this is rather dangerous."

"What?" the opponent of both the Yamada twins sneered. "Your field? Or my Destiny Leo?"

"The activation conditions of your Destiny Leo," Yukio pointed out. "The fact that so far you've been sticking to Magic cards and monster effects. And that you chose cards with effects that are easy to activate indicate that there is a further condition to Destiny Leo's effect. I suppose that to activate it, you must have no cards in your Spell and Trap card zone, hence the lack of traps so far. But, the insight I've received from your actions just now is much more than that. The insight I have, is straight into your nature."

Leo's face had turned the colour of curdled milk somewhere during his interlude.

"Am I correct?" Yukio pressed. "If Nightmare Shark's attack had landed, it doesn't matter to you. Even if somehow next turn, we've managed to accumulate another Exceed material, it doesn't matter if you take one or two direct attacks to affect your full life points. In short, your aberration indicates caution, an unwillingness to commit, and also fear of pain."

"D- Draw!" Leo called. "I summon Machina Gearframe [1800/0]! He allows me to take a Machina monster such as Machina Fortress and add it to my hand, and he can also equip to Destiny Leo as a union monster. But, first I'll activate the effect of Destiny Leo to add another Destiny Counter to him. Destiny Countdown!"

The right lion head glowed gold.

"Machina Gearframe, combine with Destiny Leo!" Sterling called. "Now Destiny Leo can't be destroyed by battle or card effect! Now if you can't get rid of Destiny Leo before the next turn... you're finished. Turn end."

At the same time, another meteor shower landed as Ryuusei battled both his parents across of us, but none of us wanted to see it. The sad sight of our little sister crying, the sight of the foremost family amongst us breaking down... Rex and I didn't see it. Somehow, we chose not to despite every desire to.

"Yukio... we've got to destroy that." Yuko affirmed.

"Either get rid of its counters, or remove it from the field." Yukio nodded.

"My turn, draw!" Yuko called. "I activate the Continuous Trap, Infestation Infection! By returning Steelswarm Girastag to the deck and the shuffling, I can choose a card of my choice, and I choose Steelswarm Hercules!"

"Yuko, you're banned from that card!" Yukio retorted.

"There's no other choice, Yukio!" Yuko answered. "This is our only chance!"

"You... Continuous Trap card, Call of the Haunted, revive Steelswarm Cell!" Yukio called. "Yuko, you little... don't you dare destroy the roof."

"I summon Steelswarm Caller [1700/0]," Yuko called. "Continuous Trap, Ultimate Offering. By paying five hundred life points, I'll summon from my hand Steelswarm Scout [200/0]. Now, I shall pay another five hundred life points to tribute all three Steelswarm monsters to summon the strongest of the Steelswarm! Appear, Steelswarm Hercules [3200/0]!"

All three of the vaguely insectoid monsters disappeared. In their place arose an enormous demon covered in spikes, horns, and blades resembling a Hercules beetle with four arms, two of which were crossed over its chest. The Mark of the Steelswarm was located on its body just below its neck.

Yukio & Yuko: LP 7200 → LP 6200

Leo: LP 6800, DC: 2

"What about it?" Leo slowly echoed. "Self-destruction? Is this all that the strongest of the Steelswarm can do? Is this the standard of the Knights of Arcadia? If this is your strongest, then you stand no chance against we of Summer, or Winter, or any of us!"

"True, the Steelswarm can't match up to Regulus or Polaris," Yuko fiercely replied. "Compared to truly powerful Duelists like Fudo Ryuusei, or Shimotsuki Setsuka, I can't match up as a Class V. True, as a hunter, or as an assassin, I can't match up to my older twin brother. True, as a victim as well, my pain can't compare to that of seeing my sibling injured beyond mortal help, and having to reach out to a power higher than oneself to resolve it. True, as a Psychic Duelist, I can't say that I've ever been powerless."

"So," Sterling nodded. "You understand the depth of our hatred, Nessie's and mine. You understand this need for revenge. So why fight, when you know that you'll lose."

It was spoken as a statement, not as a question, but Yuko stared straight and unwavering at the blond man. "Even so, I am a Duelist of the Arcadia Movement, code-name Hercules and second-in-command of the Knights of Arcadia, Central chapter. I have crawled out of the depths of Hell with my brother, and on the way out I've seen it, numerous times. People struggling against misfortune. People searching for a future. All have longed for happiness, and all have continued searching for it. You, and your twin sister, and Ryuusei, what you have done is to drag the ghost of our past back onto us. What you have done is carry a vague grudge from your own past onto us, into the way of our future."

Rex whistled, and I continued to stare as Yuko continued to chew Sterling out.

"That is why, even if I understand, I disagree with your philosophy. I disagree with everything you stand for. And, no matter what, I disagree that you have to kill my father for it." Yuko glared back. "The effect of Steelswarm Hercules; by paying half our life points, once per turn we can destroy every other card on the field."

"In short, the union monster Machina Gearframe would be unable to protect Destiny Leo..." Rex muttered.

"Coda: Plague of Locusts," Yuko called as a swarm of giant beetles swallowed every single other card on the field except the giant beetle. Groaning in pain, even the magnificent lion-head monster couldn't get away.

Yukio & Yuko: LP 6200 → LP 3100

Leo: LP 6800

"This turn, during my main phase one, since I control no Spells or Traps, I can special summon from my graveyard Steelswarm Scout [200/0]," Yuko called. "I equip Hercules with Megamorph [3200/0 → 6400/0] and United We Stand [6400/0 → 8000/1600]. Steelswarm Hercules, direct attack with Burying Swarm!"

Sterling cowered as the giant beetle descended upon him and whacked, hard.

Leo: LP 6800 → LP 0

Yukio & Yuko: LP 3100

"They won!" We crowed at the same time as the sounds of a draw over at the Fudo family.

Rex's coat then caught fire. "Well, dammit."

"It's that Dyson Sphere," Shimotsuki distantly observed.

"What do you mean, Shimotsuki?" I shouted.

"This close to Samhaine, the veils between the two worlds are weak," Shimotsuki elegantly replied. "In short, Dyson Sphere has been summoned as a real star, held at bay only by a single net of high-tensile steel. Right now, the power of Summer has not left the field, so all of you are protected from the intense supernova that would set fire to all oxygen in the atmosphere and kill all life on earth."

"W- What?" Seika squeaked.

"Say these things earlier!" Rex yelled at her. "Ryuusei?! Is there any way to stop it?"

"Dyson Sphere... is hungry," Ryuusei distantly replied, looking between the Professor, Aki-sensei, Shimotsuki, and his expression resolved as he looked at Seika. "I started this... it's all my fault."

"That's right," Shimotsuki cheerfully chipped in. "If you hadn't come back, Ayame might not have had the chance to run from her duties. If you hadn't come back, I wouldn't have had to use a different way to heal Kisara. If you hadn't come back, you would never have had to set up Yamada Yuuta, or kill the Beckman family. If you hadn't come back, your family and friends would have still been able to keep all their good memories and impressions of you, instead of seeing the monster you've become who kills humans without regard."

"Shimotsuki, you-!" Rex snarled as Ryuusei looked down.

"The sole reason I never stopped your return into the human world, was to see your face in despair when you realise all of these truths for yourself," Shimotsuki continued with relish.

"You said..." Ryuusei stared at her with something akin to fear and anger. "You said... that I could come back."

"I did," Shimotsuki answered. "There is certainly nothing stopping us from coming back. There is only the consequences of our return. Mortal-kind was never meant to mess amongst the politics of the spirit worlds. Everyone who ever knew you in life would have been happier should you have never returned.I give you hope, and now I take it back. That's the moment when you make the most beautiful face, as you see your life shatter all around you. Will you continue this farce of a joke, and truly become the Summer King? Or live with one foot in between worlds, and see everyone in your previous life die as a pawn and toy of this titanic game?"

Ryuusei looked up, at the star throbbing orange and bright. "The only thing that could beat it in sheer power now is either you or me. If me, then I will have to give up this life, and live... like _you_. If you, then I will still lose everything sooner or later, whether by old age or time."

"Precisely." Her voice had turned softer.

"I'm scared."

"I know."

"I..." Ryuusei walked over to the Professor and Aki-sensei, both of whom carried panicked expressions. What he said or did, I had no idea, but soon they fainted. He turned, moving over to Yukio and Yuko, and tapped them on the head. They too, fainted.

"What are you doing?" Rex stared wide-eyed as Ryuusei slowly walked to him. "Ryuusei, stop. Whatever hair-brained scheme you're thinking, stop! Stop, please!"

"Shh, Rex. Good night." Ever gentle, Ryuusei's fingers glowed as they tapped Rex on the forehead, and he too fell over.

"Nii-chan... don't," Seika whispered. "Nii-chan... don't..."

"What are you doing?" I watched in horror as Ryuusei approached, holding his fingers out. "Stop... that's your sister! Ryuusei, whatever you're doing, stop!"

"It's just a topical anaesthetic," Ryuusei rolled his eyes. "It's going to be sweltering here, and I need you guys unconscious while I drag a star going supernova back into the other world."

"Are you sure?" I echoed dumbly as I crawled over to Rex and checked his pulse and head.

_Affirmative, _Rei confirmed. _This is a temporary sleep, and information._

"I'd rather stay and look," I answered.

"So would I," Seika looked fierce. "I never asked for this. Nii-chan... I never asked for it."

"You Nii-chan is an idiot," Ryuusei nodded, smiling ever so slightly as he tapped our heads.

My jaw locked, and my limbs went numb. By my side, I could hear Seika's drawing breath as she too, was stunned.

"But, your Nii-chan loves you, Seika." Blue eyes twinkled, and Ryuusei gave a vaguely pretty smile that was leavened with sadness and regret. "Your Nii-chan always... always wanted to protect you. But, in the end... your Nii-chan just makes everything worse, doesn't he? In the end... your Setsu-chan has to fix everything. In the end, the only thing I can do now... is fix the mistakes I made myself, and repent. Goodbye, Seika."

As strange and horrible as what Ryuusei had done, the thought that haunted me the most, was the image of the King of Summer facing the star, knowing that the only way he could prevent it was to trade the lives of those he loved for his own.

Ryuusei raised both hands, speaking in a tongue of liquid syllables and words thrumming with power that was overwhelming and warm and yet excitably, unceasingly powerful, and the star melted away into nothing with just that.

It seemed simple, but following the star, he picked Leo up in a fireman carry, and the Summer King disappeared in a shower of light. With him went the Winter Queen in a gust of cold wind, out of this world and our lives.

I don't know why, but it gave me chills.

* * *

_**Twilight Rose Dragon**__**  
DARK LV3 500/1400  
1 tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters  
Synchro/Tuner/Plant  
Once per turn, you can tribute 1 level 5 or higher Plant-Type monster to Special Summon one Plant-Type monster or 'Black Rose Dragon' from your Graveyard.**_

_**This card was created by ****The Otherworlder**** in the fanfic Born of Another World.**_

_**Please review!**_


	64. LXI: Skull Invitation&Interlude

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXI: Skull Invitation**

The aftermath of the two Duels was underwhelming and painful over the next week. Both addressing the rogue status of Nii-chan and Setsu-chan, and the concerns of the Academia through Archibald-san and Rafael-san, and the repairs to the roof of the Movement. With, of course, those of the entire Council that oversaw the Arcadia Movement. The ten main powers of the Kaiba, Misawa, Himemiya, Fudo, Izayoi, Jounochi, Hinamori, and Manjoume were gathered here today to be informed.

"While the fugitives were dealing with the Yamada twins, Mr Princeton and Kannazuki-san, we had a small squad come in on the heels of Attorney Yamada," Yuuko-chan's silver hair was in disarray as she fed a verbally delivered report to the entire Board. Yuuko-chan was in formal office wear, pencil skirt and dark blouse under a suit jacket and black pumps. "With assistance from the West Academia teams, the Knights of Arcadia managed to beat back both the team and hold a few prisoner. Unfortunately, the defeated escaped, leaving no other trace as to the cause of Yamada-san's ordeal."

We had two other guests here, and neither seemed satisfied by her assessment. Yamada-san's father harrumphed. "This is why I've opposed them for so long. They've taken over our system of government and soon they'll be killing us in droves-"

"You will kindly keep your suppositions to yourself, lest you be sued for libel, Attorney Yamada," Nakamura-san barked upon my signal.

"Precisely," Jii-chan, looking much older than he should be. "What of the structural damage?"

"Kaido has given us an assessment that due to the box construction of the structure, the rest of the Castle remains structurally sound, and that repairs will commence upon the conclusion of the tender," I told him. "There have been no deaths, and hardly any casualties. Given that there were at least two Class V Duelists present, that is actually a very positive sign that the situation was kept under control."

"Still, I do agree that from a legal standpoint, the charges of grand theft against Yamada-san is questionable," Senator Izayoi Hideo, my adopted grandfather I barely ever saw, demurred. "Does the Arcadia Movement plan to investigate further?"

"Due to the possibility of evidence tampering by the Movement, we shall defer to NDPD's judgement," I replied. "Captain?"

"Due to the lack of concrete evidence, and the recent escape of Vanessa Trent, it would be inadvisable to pursue charges," Yuuko-chan stated. "However, in order to keep a semblance of control, Attorney Yamada has agreed to an out-of-court settlement of five hundred thousand yen to be made out to the Arcadia Movement as repayment for shielding him from the assassins and for the forewarning that he could have been set up. The Neo Domino Police will indeed investigate these charges of conspiracy very closely, without the aid of the Movement."

"Duly noted, Captain," Hazuki-nee spoke up. "Yet what of the missing people?"

"Fudo Ryuusei disappeared during the interim," Kaido broke the news. "Despite strong evidence of coercion being present in the reports submitted by our agents present, we will declare a state of emergency apprehension on Fudo Ryuusei, codename Regulus. Therefore, Fudo Ryuusei will be entered as the same state as the wanted fugitive Shimotsuki Setsuka."

Jii-chan looked down to his hands as the news was declared. I did not meet anyone's eyes, not even Misawa-san's glances. Chase-nii, sitting in for his uncle, did not say anything, as he had not for the entire meeting.

"The case of Attorney Yamada's ordeal is therefore settled to be executed by the relevant parties." I stated. "I will therefore move to the last item on the agenda. Due to the overwhelming success of the West Academia team here in the Central Movement, I have informed Larson-san and Aquila-san in the North American Movements to begin construction, and I shall be flying with Kaido to New Orleans next week to begin the implementation process. During the two weeks, I will also be taking the head of the Knights of Arcadia, Yamada Yukio, with me."

"What?" Attorney Yamada stood up to glare at me. It was moderately powerful, but his glare, unfortunately, fell short of Yamada-san's usual. "You're going to militarise the Movements in America after finishing with the Movement here? I won't stand for that!" This was accompanied with a slap of his hand on the dark chrome surface.

"You have no say in the running of the Arcadia Movement, no matter which branch is geographically proximate to you," Kisara-san severely answered him for my sake.

Hinamori Seiran-san just shrugged. "NDPD is getting positive recommendations of Glen and Reggie. I think it's a good idea."

"I have statistical data to support that motion," Kaido spoke up, seated at Jii-chan's right hand."

"I support the little missy," Jounochi Katsuya spoke up. "I believe that the Arcadia Movement is on the right path of going forward with its goals."

"That's wonderful," Jii-chan agreed.

Faced with so many agreements, Attorney Yamada had no choice but to capitulate, sending the occasional glare around through the remaining minutes.

"With that said, the motion is passed, and therefore this meeting is concluded. Thank you for your time." Everyone stood, preparing to leave.

Yuuko-chan approached me. "Are you really alright, Seika?"

"I am alive. I am fine."

"Not about that," Yuuko-chan eyed me, concern in her eyes. "These two weeks... try to recover, alright?"

She left me after a hug and an absent pat that did not do anything for my pain. Nakamura-san rumbled questioningly.

"I'm fine," I automatically replied, walking towards Jii-chan.

"Ah, Seika..." Jii-chan smiled tiredly. "Looks like... looks like it's final."

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "Yamada-san... and Yuko... I didn't want to, but-"

"I know," Jii-chan smiled tiredly. "But Ryuusei left with a goodbye this time. Although... I think I'll be taking Aki away to recover from this. In Germany. You'll be alright in New Orleans, right?"

"Yes, Jii-chan," I nodded, remembering Baa-chan's ashen-faced look when she found out what we were going to declare Nii-chan as. "Please take as long as you need. After this..."

"After this..." Jii-chan shook his head. "Be safe, alright?"

"I will," I nodded fervently. "Jii-chan... can I ask you a question?"

"Ask."

"Why did you give me Stardust Dragon?"

Jii-chan paused. "When you came... and then, during the first year, Ryuusei proved himself. I wanted to give him Stardust, but... he chose to let me leave it to you. He took Aki's Black Rose Dragon. If things were different, then yes, maybe he would've still been here. But, I gave you Stardust because you are a part of our family. That's all there was."

I nodded as Jii-chan gave me a nod and left. Misawa-san nodded to all of us as he began leaving, and in a procession everyone, Attorney Yamada and Hart-san first, began leaving.

Before I left, I overheard Chase-nii and Kisara.

"So," Chase-nii began. "You're stepping down and Seto Kaiba is taking over again."

Kisara-san nodded.

"Ryuusei made sure you couldn't help me because then he could cover up his accomplices," Chase-nii said. "So that I would never have considered if you willingly gave him the Chaos Emperor Dragon. Well, the Movement gave it back, right?"

"After its recovery, Ariyashi-san decided that it was far too much trouble and publicly returned it to the Kaiba family," Kisara-san agreed. "Of course, I was blamed for being too headstrong to consider the ramifications, and therefore Jii-sama has seen fit to return for the interim."

Chase-nii stared at her, which she evenly returned. "What will you do now?"

"I will find a way," she shrugged. "My employer mentioned something in America to handle. I set out tonight. This is where our ways part, Princeton-san."

Chase-nii shook his head. "You people and your ways."

"What will you do, then, Princeton-san?"

"I'm going to stay for the week. Then I'm heading to Satisfaction Town. Damn Kiryu-sensei always complains I don't visit enough. I'm going to take Rex along with me, recover from what just happened. Update Kiryu-sensei, Nico, West," Chase-nii answered. "The locals, Seika... there's a bit to be done. Maybe I'll hit a club with Youkai, get drunk. Kisara... was it worth it?"

Kisara-san tilted her head.

"When Satsuki was Dueling you... when she told you, 'please don't die'... you were planning a different outcome, right?"

"The stakes would have been much higher," Kisara-san agreed. "But love is worth it. At least, I believe so. But... I would not have wanted such a fate for the one I love, to serve under another King. Did you know, Princeton-san? During the five months of training with Ryuusei-san, he always talked about all of you, his family. Rex-san, Kannazuki-san, and you. To see all of you safe... I understand what he did, and the sacrifice he made. It was selfish, I admit, and I helped him both willingly and unwillingly. But... I cannot find it in myself to see regret in either him, or I. It is what he is."

"Yeah," a snort. "Yeah, it is."

Kisara-san bowed her head in an elegant nod as she stood. "Fare thee well."

She gave me a wave as she walked past me. There was a sudden bloom of heat, gone as she disappeared behind me.

I left the conference room and a brooding Chase-nii, and found Nakamura-san waiting outside. We were some distance away from the room and by the busy Dueling fields. As I watched Uzuki take a nervous Serena-chan through how to throw a fireball, I spoke. "Nakamura-san... will you lie to me?"

"Not unless it were warranted, Seika-ojou."

"How did Setsu-chan know that I would be at the KC Grand Prix? And how does she keep tabs on me? And how did she know that I was in danger?"

"I do not know." An honest answer. "I imagine that she has her own unseen network."

"I see," I decided. "Then... how did my father die?"

"An aneurysm."

"Really?"

"Yes."

I had nothing more to say, so I excused myself and left for the elevator. I found Yamada-san and Yuko in the lobby, talking to a woman with blue hair.

"Dinner? Mother, are you serious?" Yamada-san echoed.

"We... after your friend tipped us off, we managed to survive thanks to him," the woman, presumably their mother, said. "It's probably time for us to settle our family affairs. Your father needs to be less paranoid, you know. And I need to make it up to my sons for not being able to help them before."

I kept my distance from them, even as I felt Yamada-san's stare directed at me. As the lift dinged, I entered and quickly jabbed a button.

Ten minutes later I found myself in the archives, desperate for information about my past and for information, any information, about my family... my family that was missing its big brother now.

I tried not to cry as I came face-to-face with the man I wanted answers from.

"Tell me about my father, Kaido."

* * *

I was there to hold onto Rex as we saw Kisara off. She had no message from Ryuusei, nor did we give her any words to gift to him.

Rex looked not only like he hadn't slept for a week, but that he was also trying not to cry. "Why?"

"She's... busy," I shrugged. "It'll pass."

"Not that," Rex shook his head. "Why does life have to screw us over? Kisara... Ryuusei... even you."

That, I couldn't quite answer. "You know... Kiryu-sensei once talked about Team Satisfaction."

"Willingly."

"Hell, no. He was drunk. He told me, that friends like them weren't made in a day, or that it was an easy process. But his friends stayed with him, because they've been through so much shit together it just made sense to stick it out."

"I miss him," Rex whispered.

"Yeah, I know," I mumbled. "So do I."

"Do you regret it? Blowing the plan apart?"

"No. No, I don't." I shook my head. "I think, on some level, Ryuusei wanted to be exposed. He wanted someone to stop his plan. That's why he made sure that I could lead it back to him."

"He tried to kill you."

"He could have set me on fire. He just chose to drop me, and then there were fairies coming up with Shimotsuki. I would have been safe. Besides, I just did the equivalent of selling him out."

"It's not your fault." Rex bit his lip as I pushed him into the waiting Armada, still slightly battered. "Where to?"

"There's a nice little watering hole I know," I said as I drove. We arrived in complete silence at the Magic Formula, and I had another surprise waiting for me.

"Chase?!" Youkai exclaimed, stunned. He wore an off-white apron over his black slacks and shirt. It covered his entire front, and also read 'Kiss the Cook' in a gesture of complete irony. He wasn't alone; the entire Misawa family was there, with lunch around the table.

I growled at him. "You _work_ here? And you never told me?"

"Er-" Youkai swallowed, before automatically turning to Hibiki-san. "I'll get some of that, then?"

"Oh no," I said, keeping my face completely straight. "Waiter, I'll have some of that too."

Youkai blinked both cerise eyes at me, before he caught my meaningful look at his apron, then he flushed and beat a hasty retreat.

"Wait, I haven't got an order yet!" I made a catcall. By my side, Rex made a suspicious choking sound.

"You're not going to if you don't lay off the jokes!" came the loud shout.

By the counter, Jarvis just gave a harsh bray of laughter.

"You knew," I accused him.

"Christ, laddie, m' finally getting why he never dragged his man's arse over," Jarvis's words were even more garbled than normal. "One more and it's like having a box of my own."

"We live to entertain," Hibiki-san answered with a completely deadpan expression. "And Ryokai lives to please."

"To whom, that is the question," Ryokai played along, batting his eyelashes for comic effect.

"All of you are hiding deadpan snarkers," Youkai exited with a tray laden full of filled cups, which emptied just as quickly. "I get no love."

"You, minion, are too saucy," Jarvis shot right back. "That's why yer arse is grounded here for the time being."

"I'm the minion holding the coffee hostage."

"Woe is us," Hibiki-san simply replied, holding up his empty cup. "Serve, minion."

The straight delivery drew another bout of laughter from around the shop, and Rex and I joined the Misawa table.

"Is the ale good?" Rex asked Jarvis.

"The best," Jarvis assured, studying Rex's off-white jacket, grey shirt and slacks with a practised eye. "Not that anyone in their right mind's coming for it in the afternoon, if yer catch my drift."

"I'd love to see if it stands, anyway," Rex flatly answered.

Jarvis eyed him, and then me, and then back. "Well, yer looking rather put together."

"Jarvis, you know what happened last week. I ain't the only one who knows the last brouhaha between cold and hot," I carefully answered. I wasn't sure if the Misawa family knew of Jarvis's Changeling heritage, or even if Changelings existed. Even Ryuusuke's existence was rather doubtful for the Arcadia Movement.

"Oh- Oh! He's the other guy," Jarvis nodded, all smiles. Duly seated, settled, and then the apron made itself known.

"Coffee," Youkai sullenly distributed as he stood beside me, smacking away an errant hand. "Keep your hands to yourself."

I rubbed my hand. "This is even more entertaining than that time Shimotsuki made you cross-dress in DA Queens. I still have pictures."

"You do?" Ryokai shouted in gleeful horror as Youkai paled as much as his colouring would allow.

"Right now."

"Gimme!"

"Quit trying to bribe my family with blackmail material," Youkai groaned by the side.

"My dear," I sincerely replied. "The apron with a completely non-ironic motto aside, you don't _need_ blackmail material. You _are_ it."

Rex had taken a swig of his bottle, and just as quickly the swig was re-introduced. "That sucks," Rex groaned. "Why is it so bitter?"

"Not worth pissing off one of the Big Two by letting his friend get himself wasted." Jarvis elegantly shrugged. "I hope you know what I'm talking about."

Rex's eyes turned wide. "You're... one of them. Too."

"I knew the kid," Jarvis's smile turned grim. "I knew the man he turned into as well. And believe me, when I say that no friend of his is going to the dogs on my watch. Take the coffee, that's a good sport."

Duly silenced and potential crisis averted, Rex just stared at the offered cup until he took it and drunk straight, despite that it must have burnt his tongue. A long moment passed, before Rex's muffled voice came: "Another."

I joined him in the sad laughter that was the coffee-fuelled dirge of Team Black Knights.

* * *

_**Interlude: An Unfortunate Report**_

_**An LLS Production**_

* * *

_Project Psychic Gen-X, 20XX-20XX  
Final Written Report  
as Complied after Forced Takeover by: Diana Hunter and Rafael Shimotsuki_

_Or: The Billet-doux Report  
Written from the past to the future_

_Introduction:  
In accordance with the theories proposed by Charles Francis Xavier Ph. D., concerning the rise of the meta-human in the twenty-first century, the Arcadia Movement had many forays into the biological fields. Mostly, its concerns were concentrated with tracing the phenomenon of Psychic Duelists along biological or genetic lines in the _H. sapiens_ population as well as exploring genetic relations to the fabled _H. superior_._

_The first head of the Arcadia Movement, Mr Sayer Divine, therefore commissioned a think-tank called the Damon Institute in New York, New York, to begin the research that would be the purpose of this entire report._

_The research material is the final composite of sifting through the remains of the Damon Institute after the subsequent demolishing of the Institute building and the appropriate procedures implemented upon the scientists in question. The actual material itself is placed within the stashed vault that all leaders of the newly re-established Arcadia Movement has sole access. This report is therefore an attempt to condense the sterile research material into a simplified form for future leaders of the Movement who would require this._

_Project Psychic Gen-X began with the following aim(s):_

_-Identify the approximate seven genes in human DNA that allows for the expression of the unique phenomenon known as Psychic Duelists.  
-Compile a full profile of the conditions necessary in Psychic Duelists, as well as the method of inheritance, if any  
-Denote a common pattern in the appearance of Psychic Duelists by a pattern of familial, environmental and/or combination of other factors thereof that leads to the appearance of Psychic Duelists beginning from the 21st century.  
-Address the ethical, legal and social issue(s) that may arise from this project, hopefully in a context satisfactory to accord every Psychic Duelist their rights as human beings and Duelists entitled by any temporal and/or spiritual power._

_Needless to say, since the demise of Sayer Divine and the destruction of the Arcadia Movement, the current Arcadia Movement has taken over any and all present research material to Project Gen-X. Any and all information quoted may be biased to the point of the writers in question, though all statistics and experimental data is locked in the vault. This report is merely an overall summation of the trends present within the data, without quoting facts or figures. Indeed, this is a billet-doux from a past head of the Arcadia Movement, to the next generations of leaders down the road._

_Without further ado, let us therefore begin on the dangers of Project Gen-X, the history behind its conception, implementation, dissimulation and eventual failure._

_Signed,  
Seiran Shimotsuki, or Diana Hunter  
2nd Head of the Arcadia Movement..._

…

..

.

* * *

My name is Ariyashi Kaido, or Kaido Ariyashi. I have been working in the Arcadia Movement for over six years already, since I was twenty-three. Although, I must admit that the Arcadia Movement has been around for far longer than the time I have spent with them. Two years ago, the appearance of a specific will had placed Kannazuki Seika upon the throne of the Arcadia Movement, after the woman I had referred to as Boss for so long had disappeared.

My story, however, goes on for far before that. For you see, I have known the Madame Shimotsuki Seiran four years beforehand, and Professor Kannazuki Shiwasu and his daughter I have seen in passing. Professor Kannazuki was an expert in folklore by trade, although he had a passing interest in psychology as well. It was he who had served as my mentor for the time where Shinamori and I had been researching for our book. The Professor had been a mentor to me, which made his death all the more suspicious.

The Madame had a passing relation with Professor Kannazuki, due to the relevance of the various mythologies in the game of Duel Monsters and the appearance of... shall we call it 'magicians' or 'legends' or 'wizards'... either way, the history of legends of the world in relation to Duel Monsters was extensive, to say the least. Later research found out that the Professor had called her a witch, actually tracing her bloodline back to the ancient priestesses of Hecate- but that was neither here nor there. What was fact, was that female Psychic Duelists had a tendency to be referred to as witches after the Black Rose Witch, and the Professor had very publicly proclaimed that the Madame was a Psychic.

This had been before the White Witch Massacre. This had been when being a Psychic could be like painting a target upon her family. The day that he had died... Something had been very wrong.

I walked into the Madame and Kannazuki Seika alone in a room. Seika's eyes were hooded and tired, which I was suspicious of. This had been before the curse of my eyes, before I was a member of the Arcadia Movement and before I had awoken the cursed power within the game.

The Madame winked, and laughing, guided Seika out of the room and to the approaching professor.

"Your daughter is so sweet, Professor," the Madame laughed. "I would love to take her in as my own."

"Diana, please don't joke," the professor had given a harsh whisper as he all but dragged the young girl of about five years old to hide behind him. Usually, I would have commented on something like the emotional state of the girl, but the Madame was a very strong personality.

"Professor, a child can't grow up in a two-person family," the Madame answered, crossing her arms. "Setsuka would love to have a younger sister, and you know that Rafael and I can provide for Seika better. Her mother-"

"That person has nothing to do with this!" Professor Kannazuki yelled back, and I would have jumped at the fierce protectiveness in his voice. "Seika is all I have left! I told you, I'm sorry for calling you a witch, but you know how the Daily Duel gets. I may not be a good father, but... but I won't let Seika fall to that... that kind of life. I want her... to be normal."

The Madame's face seemed to me as carefully blank then. Although at the time it was hardly public knowledge that she was a Psychic Duelist, but Shimotsuki Seiran was the kind of woman you could sense the predator off of. Even I, who had yet to be trained in any sort of combat then, could tell that there was a woman who had killed before. "You waste her potential, Shiwasu. You know just as well as I do whose blood runs in her veins, and only half of it is yours. She is born for great things."

"That would be her choice," The professor swallowed, meeting cerulean eyes whose cold miniature I would later spend six years reporting to in various satisfying work-related projects. "You wouldn't force your daughter into that, right?"

"Setsuka has the aptitude of my powers and Rafael's ability," Madame Shimotsuki answered. "However, she is incapable of taking the post. On the other hand, Seika..."

"I saw how Setsuka was like," Professor Kannazuki hotly replied. "I'm not going to let you turn my daughter into that psychopathic child who drowned her entire class in a so-called 'accident' on a field trip."

"I resent your words," the Madame gave a chilly answer. "Setsuka, by definition, is not a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviour. Setsuka is a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behaviour and a lack of conscience."

"You just called your own daughter a sociopath, Diana. This is not endearing me to whatever you're proposing for Seika if this is how you treat Setsuka." The Professor shook his head. "I could have you up on child abuse, Diana. I think Rafael would agree with me if I had to take your daughter in when he deals with you. And I'm starting to think that Rafael might have a point when he said to keep Seika away from you. Seika is not a blood horse or a Psychic, and even with her mother... she's my daughter. She's a kid, like the orphans your Arcadia Movement takes in all the time. Don't think I don't know what being your successor entails. You can't ask me to let my child into that life of pain and death."

At the time, I thought he had been exaggerating. The truth became quite clear after the White Witch Massacre. He was right, of course, and later Boss was right; there was no way that the little girl could have matched up to the ruthless pint-sized menace that had been Shimotsuki Setsuka.

"I don't think you have a choice," the Madame's voice sounded chilly. "Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have it thrust upon them. My daughter was born great, I achieved greatness, and Seika has had it thrust upon her at her moment of birth."

"Over my dead body will she go to you," the Professor answered.

Of the variety of reactions, I had not expected the White Witch to smile, and then nod to a gently smiling girl before leaving.

It was the last time I saw the two-person Kannazuki family together.

* * *

I got my Ph. D. Barely a year later, the Professor Kannazuki died of an aneurysm, and Seika was taken in by the Shimotsuki family. I thought nothing much of it, my travelling keeping me out of the loop until I came across the circumstances of Professor Kannazuki's death. I would hardly be surprised if the Madame had hastened his demise; her involvement had seemed quite clear behind the mysterious murder of Divine in the Neo Domino Facility to me. At the time, there had been no proof, and even if I had suspected the Madame of actually having magic powers, there was no rational way of reporting it.

Three years passed, between which the Madame died and a new leader took over. Things were quiet. I awoke my Psychic powers and my eyes, and Shinamori left permanently. I turned to the Underground, but barely into my first illegal Duel there _she_ came.

There are almost no words to describe the impact of Shimotsuki Setsuka's foray into that hell-hole of a Duel ring. _Procession_ comes to mind, and so had _fiasco_, but a logomachy would have resulted just over vocabulary. She came, she saw, and she conquered. Barely an hour of the eleven-year-old stepping into the ring, every Duelist had been felled by the sheer cold.

I was the only one standing. "Who the hell are you?"

I really should not have been afraid of the pint-sized menace, but shrouded in shadows, at that time Shimotsuki Setsuka reminded me of the Morrighan. She wore black. Her black hair was left in a scorpion plait down her back. Her shoes shone with the kind of spit-shine that followed really good leather care. Where she walked, complete silence followed her. Her eyes were ice-blue; not the fiery cerulean, nor the sky-blue, but truly Arctic ice blue-white. They were cold, and old, and they terrified me even though she was much younger and shorter than me.

"I am Shimotsuki Setsuka. And you will answer me."

I was forcibly dragged back to the Arcadia Movement. I was given a nice refreshing drink – which I refused to drink, because even if it had been a sincere offer, the multicoloured stack of Pratchett on her shelves told me that she was really into Vetinari and his policies – and there I confessed. Inexorably, almost oddly, she gave me a job as head of the archives and then my first assignment.

"You knew Professor Kannazuki," she said. It was not a question.

"Y- Yes," I swallowed. Madame Shimotsuki had inspired some awe and not a little fear by her presence. Her daughter inspired just fear. And the bodyguard had barely reacted yet.

"Very good," she nodded to the bodyguard, who gave me a file. The first thing that greeted me was the photograph of the would-be second daughter of the Shimotsuki family.

"K- the Professor's daughter," I hissed.

"Yes," Shimotsuki Setsuka, soon-to-be Boss, did not meet my eyes. "Your first job will be to erase every mention of Kannazuki Seika from the archives of the Arcadia Movement. Using your eyes, it should not be difficult to find all traces of my mother. Find all the hidden records of Seika. Destroy them. Leave no trace behind, no stone unturned."

"Destroy them all-" I cut off. "Why the secrecy? Isn't she part of the Shimotsuki family...?"

"Mama and Papa... Father and Mother," Shimotsuki Setsuka absently corrected herself, "died before the adoption could be finalised. It was too late to stop the mental implants and suggestions for Seika, but the adoption was delayed. I... we, Nakamura-san and I, have left Seika with a family who will keep her away from the Movement until she has reached her age of reason. By official accounts, Kannazuki Seika is an orphan who would be adopted by another family only distantly related to the Movement. I am therefore the sole living member of the Shimotsuki family."

"Right..." I nodded. "Why, then?"

"Seika... is not, and will never be, a Psychic Duelist," she told me. "Seika does not have the malice or the understanding of what Mother has done to reshape her life. She left leadership of the Arcadia Movement to 'her daughter', as I put it, intending for Seika and I to share the Movement."

There are moments where Shinamori had commented that I was positively callous – or, in his words, a Spock – but even I would have balked at putting a child in the same position formerly safeguarded by a mass-murdering witch. It would be practically dragging the child to death row. I thought it might have been an exaggeration, but the female Vetinari had stated it flatly, as a distasteful fact without bias.

"But..." I frowned. "How does that work?"

"She said 'her daughter'," was the answer in a droll voice. "At the time, there was only one daughter of Diana Hunter. I suppressed all evidence of Seika's potential adoption and covered her relation to the Movement."

I figured it out. "You took over with no one the wiser, and Seika has no claim on the Movement or the Shimotsuki fortune. You're the one going to take on the pain and horror and death that comes with this kind of organisation, the Central Arcadia Movement. You're only eleven, and you're in the position of your mother now. I don't understand."

"I don't expect you to," The Cold Queen of the Movement quietly told me. "I want to carry out the meaning of the Arcadia Movement, its purpose. Not by Divine's way, not by Mother's way, but by its own path. I know what is coming. I know what I must do. I am prepared for the consequences of my actions. Seika does not know. I cannot shield Seika, but I can hide her. I can give her time. I can let Seika, who never knew what was family, have the experience of having one."

Shimotsuki Setsuka had been, was and still is the dichotomy of my course of study. She had the ability of an adult and the viciousness and jaded cynicism of one, but there were the ideals of a child placed into practice in everything she did. Her cruelty was kind – to those who survived them, that is. Of course, I can attest that Shimotsuki Setsuka was also vicious, but I think I had seen the human core of the Cold Queen. She took me in when she had no reason to. She gave me, who was to all intents and purposes working against her mother, a sanctuary, and suppressed my powers until I could control them.

Now, now I knew what was the throne of the Arcadia Movement painted with. I knew now, that the glamour of power covered the blood, despair and pain like the utter curb-stomp delivered that dragged me into the soon-to-be Oblong Office. It would kill any childhood faster than puberty, it would break ideals yet to be fully fleshed out, it would crush dreams and drown fantasies in necessity to remain alive. A powerless child had no place in a world where a single card could bring down a building.

Professor Kannazuki's daughter would be alive, and if I could keep an eye out...

"I will not tell you where is she." Shimotsuki Setsuka, or Boss, told me. "There are enemies who would be after you now, since you are part of the Movement. So erase her existence from here. Hide all trace of her, destroy all written records of her. You will not acknowledge your past with Professor Kannazuki; it is not safe. While I am here, Kannazuki Seika will not have a place with the Arcadia Movement. Until I am gone, I will make sure that Kannazuki Seika's remaining time will not be touched by the Movement."

So the young girl, soon to be the Cold Queen of the Arcadia Movement decreed.

"Why?" I asked.

Boss did not meet my eyes. "Even if she hates me later... I want her to have a family."

I had analysed this for a while, and I am one of the few who _knew_. From what I could tell, there had been no way for Rafael Shimotsuki to control the Madame's actions, and a daughter could hardly control her mother. What the Madame had done to Seika I did not know, and the Boss had only hinted that it was more mental than physical. The respect for the Madame was clear in her speech and actions, but any love, meagre as it were, was all for her father and Kannazuki Seika.

I guess the Madame knew about her daughter and the Winter Queen, and so she was searching for another heiress for when her own daughter was spirited away. Madame Shimotsuki Seiran got an otherwise innocent girl embroiled into the tentacles of the Arcadia Movement, and insidiously began to reshape the girl's life, removing all obstacles to having Kannazuki Seika in her care. Whether or not the Madame had done it with the best intentions now, it did not matter now that she was dead and her influence gone.

Despite having lost her parents and her support, with only her own power and a middle-aged butler, Boss had managed to squirrel away her sibling in spirit, and defy her mother's words in the end to hide her away.

Nearly ten years later, maybe people would argue that Shimotsuki Setsuka had changed. I still knew her as the one who froze her heart so that her emotions would not get into the way of her actions and aims. The Cold Queen who, in no way could continue to manipulate she whose life had been deliberately, methodically and secretly reshaped by her own family.

Whatever the secrets of her family or her mother, Kannazuki Seika's current life was here, with the Movement. Sure, maybe sometimes I compare her fumbles with the smooth mechanical efficiency of Boss. Maybe Yamada Yukio seems confused and angry at Boss's successor. Maybe now she has a hard time accepting the truth of the Movement, that we were an organisation of powerful people who needed a firm hand to be guided.

However... she was adopted by the Fudo family. I saw Professor Kannazuki's daughter laughing and smiling with friends, where I had seen Boss wistfully stare out alone towards the Duel rings of the Daimon Area. I saw Kannazuki Seika trying her best to match standards and openly show her self-hate and disappointment, where Boss choked down on her own pain and fear so that the Movement would continue soldiering on with the mask she presented. I saw her cooking and sharing a time with the more innocent Psychics – for hardly any one of us were innocent – while seemingly unaware of the numerous attempts on her life intercepted by Nakamura-san and I and the Knights of Arcadia.

I was there when a battered Misawa Nowaki, or Youkai, had been dragged back to the Movement. I was there when Fudo Ryuusei began distancing himself to take over. I saw the Yamada twins enter, work their way up the Movement and through DA Sanctuary on their own terms, and then set up the Knights of Arcadia.

It could have been completely different.

I could imagine it; there was only one other person who had been spending time with the Shimotsuki matriarch. Who had a relationship with her, that was deeper and more significant than a casual or formal acquaintance. Who had been extensively prepared for the throne.

Ten years before, Kannazuki Seika could have taken the throne of the Arcadia Movement. She could have been prematurely thrown into a world where she had to stand forever with her backs to the wall and fight harshly just for the sake of survival. She would have had to deal with the harsh politics that governed Neo Domino, and maybe more. Our world tended to pop cherries quickly and dash the meek and lonely against the unforgiving ground. Especially for a girl without a family... who had no _notion_ of family, who would trust anyone easily and attach to anyone who treated her nicely... it would have broken her from the beginning. Kannazuki Seika would have never truly experienced what she was protecting the Movement for.

I know the truth. It is my business to know, no matter how horrific the facts. The fallacy of being human is to dwell on the what-may-be, and some nights I could dream of the broken doll seated on the bloody throne, desperately shedding more blood in an effort to keep on a vague mission, or a doll broken into pieces, abandoned and lost, awaiting the great equaliser.

Now... she was happy and loved.

Kannazuki Seika might have been cheated of any recognition from the Shimotsuki family, but she was alive, and happy. She had a family with Professor Fudo and Dr Izayoi, and a brother who loved her – a silent, dark queen of the winter, alone in a dark, craggy castle, had been the only one who made a difference to her fate.

* * *

.

..

…

_Conclusion:_

_Four of the recessive genes are present within the X chromosome of the human genome, and the other three heterozygous dominant genes are present in some form or variant in approximately ninety percent of the human population currently. _

_It can therefore be said that there is a strong Salic inheritance trend amongst Psychic Duelists. Female Psychics are more likely (90%) to produce offspring which may exhibit some form of Psychic power. Male Psychics are equal opportunity, though we do note that the Damon Institute was shut down with extreme prejudice before such an intense study could be made upon the reproductive capabilities of Psychic Duelists. Of the year 20XX, the authors know of only three families which has exhibited the Salic trend._

_The potential danger of this information need not be emphasised more. With the Billet-doux Report, the head of the Arcadia Movement not only has a clue as to the families with the arising Psychic trend, but anyone with the information could bend the lives of these young Psychics to their benefits to gain loyal soldiers. This information should be highly restricted until such a time where the concealment of such is rendered superfluous by the equality between Psychics and humans where Psychic Duelists may be assured of being able to live without being prejudiced against by any majority in power. The Report also serves as a note towards the medical and psychological history of such Psychics; it is noted that such families may be branded with the appellations of 'cursed', 'witches' or 'demonic'. All members have a right to sanctuary, and yet it cannot be denied that there are focus groups that require the Movement's assistance more. _

_With this warning, successor of ours, keep in mind what is necessary for the Movement's benefit, for the Movement's benefit is for our members' benefit._

_Let the storm come. Our will shall shine when the storm has died._

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	65. LXII: Scramble! Scramble!

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Okay, I got more than a few comments about the fourth Interlude, An Unfortunate Report, which basically details Kaido's life. More than a few readers commented that it should have been put in Thousand Strings instead. Thousand Strings was created to supplement the backgrounds of other characters that appear - and for some, don't appear - in the Call of Darkness line itself. The interludes are sort of foreshadowing and trailers for the upcoming arcs. Kaido's arc may seem extra, but all interludes serve the purpose of relation, insight and foreshadowing for the original storyline. Thousand Strings can be completely unrelated to the story itself, because it's meant as an anthology of one-shots for the heroes of other stories, e.g. members of the Movement that don't get their time in the spotlight.**_

_**Also, explanation for the starting; while the Season 0 YGO states that Domino City had direct America-to-Japan flight, I treated the conditions slightly differently compared to Neo Domino City. That is, Japanese travelling to the United States probably had to do the usual three-leg journey mentioned here - which is tough.**_

* * *

**LXII: Scramble! Scramble!**

It was snowing the day I left Neo Domino.

"Despite snow capping the top of our iconic Mt Fuji, the Japanese islands itself was fairly temperate, such that it was mostly in Hokkaido that snow would even form in October." Kaido supplied, grumbling as we watched the snow falling amidst the planes taxied on the airfield grounds of Haneda Airport.

"It's snowing..." I gingerly touched the frozen ground. "It barely ever snows in Neo Domino... I wonder if everyone is alright... Kaido, Yamada-san, it's snowing!"

"Indeed." Kaido pointed at a certain windowpane, where frost patterns had glazed over. They glittered, much like rhinestones in the light.

"I wonder if everyone will be fine..." I mumbled. "Kaido, I... I haven't been in America for a while. Will there be snow where we're going?"

"No," Kaido smirked. "We're going to stop at New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, which is in the southern United normal daily temperature in New Orleans is twenty degrees, ranging from eleven degrees in January to twenty-eight degrees in July. New Orleans has sunshine sixty percent of the time, and the average annual rainfall was 163 cm. Snow falls occasionally in the north, but rarely in the south. In short, it'll be a lot like Neo Domino in the summer, except probably cooler."

"So it's peaceful," I commented in the face of all of Kaido's information.

"Not to say that it's completely harmless," Kaido said. "The city of New Orleans itself is vulnerable to storms and hurricanes around the summer and fall. Not to mention the situation in the South itself..."

"The situation?" I echoed.

"Well, we're going there to figure out what's wrong with the whole area, so we'll know in time!" Kaido grinned as the boarding sign flashed up. "For now... wanna join me in scribbling on his face?"

"S- Scribbling?" I repeated.

"Yo," Ryuusuke came over to us. The last member of the quartet handed Kaido his coffee and gave me a bottle of water. "What's this about scribbling?"

"I'm trying to scribble on Yukio's face," Kaido answered. "Want to help?"

"But, Kaido, it's Yamada-san..." I tried to dissuade them.

"It'll be good-" Kaido froze as Yamada-san's eyelids flicked up.

Even where his bleached bangs fell to hide the right side of his face, the one cold sapphire eye that froze Kaido in his tracks was intimidating. Wearing a dark blue sleeveless shirt with a small v-neck and long, black bands that covered his upper arms, with a pair of black jeans and knee-high boots, Yamada-san should have looked like a prince with the glamour he carried. He just looked intimidating.

Right before Yamada-san could beat them up, the boarding signal came on for our rows. Ryuusuke and Kaido heaved a sigh of relief as they took their luggage and quickly dashed to get away from him. I slowly followed them, with Yamada-san in tow.

Even dragging his luggage case, he still looked intimidating.

The air steward was visibly pale as Yamada-san homed on him. "Erm, would you please-"

Yamada-san brusquely handed him the plane ticket.

"That- seems all in order," the steward was visibly relieved once Yamada-san had left. "Miss?"

Kaido and I got in and put away our luggage before belting ourselves in. The interior of the plane was wide and airy, hardly boxy as some I knew. It certainly seemed spacious.

"Business class," Kaido observed. "Nakamura-san really doesn't stint when it comes to the heads. We'd have been flying coach if this was a solo mission."

"I'd feel lucky just to fly coach," Ryuusuke sighed. "Even my trip to Neo Domino was done by train, so this is the first time I've been on a plane, much less business class."

Yamada-san glared at us. "This is as much a security concern as it is convenience. You're our head archivist and accountant, Kaido, and Kannazuki-san is the head of the Arcadia Movement. Plus, this is a thirteen-hour flight with a stopover in Hawaii, it makes sense to be comfortable. Still..."

"Y- Yes?" I stuttered.

"Why don't you have any... girls to accompany you?" Yamada-san seemed at a loss.

"Eh?"

"Well, three guys flying with an eighteen-year-old girl is suspicious no matter when..." Kaido agreed. "He's right, chibi-Boss."

"Well..." I mumbled. "Uzuki doesn't have an excuse to miss school. Hazuki-nee and Yuko-kun is busy making up Yamada-san's workload. And... Nikki-chan... Nikki-chan wouldn't talk to me after her meeting Leo Sterling..."

"In short, you have no female friends in the Movement to spare," Yamada-san cruelly stated with his characteristic blunt honesty.

"Yes..."

"That's kinda cruel, Yamada-san..." Ryuusuke muttered.

"Well, your virtue is pretty safe between us and Nakamura-san's threat," Kaido nodded. "Louisiana probably wouldn't risk anything to bring down the terrifying samurai down on them."

"Is Nakamura-san so strong?" Ryuusuke asked. "Nakamura-san never talks about his past. Some say that he's a robot."

"Don't believe everything Himemiya Uzuki tells you. Ah, Nakamura-san grew up in a time before Divine," Kaido commented. "Before the Arcadia Movement was even thought of, Psychics were scattered and alone, hated and feared even more. To survive, Psychics, including Nakamura-san, must have done some horrible things to survive. It's not in us to know."

"I see..." I nodded as the safety presentation was conducted and then the plane prepared for take-off. "But... this gives me a bad feeling."

"Don't jinx it," Kaido murmured. "In an action movie, this plane might have been set to be hijacked or something like that. Right now, we're going to sleep."

"So... air-plane hijackers aren't scary?" I muttered.

"If there's an idiot capable of jacking this plane while the chief Knight of Arcadia is on board, I credit him for dying horribly, if bravely," Ryuusuke mumbled.

Even from the sky, the tiny pinpricks of land were hardly entertaining to watch, and hence I found myself catching snatches of naps more often than not, from the airport to Honolulu, and then from there to Texas, and then finally to New Orleans. Eighteen hours passed in weariness and travel-silence.

Aside from the occasional break and movie, Yamada-san had not said a single word to either of us. Even Kaido had remained silent. The cabin fever was almost at its peak amongst us, the completely silent quartet, until-

"I ordered chicken, not pork!" I heard a man complain as the midday meal was being distributed.

"We are so sorry, sir, but right now we are out..."

I looked down to my unopened meal. "Erm, miss. I could switch?"

"Well..."

"Mine is chicken, but I have no dietary restrictions," I offered to the businessman. "Please."

"Well... I suppose..."

"Thanks," the man grudgingly offered as the trays were switched.

Perhaps he was about to offer another complaint, but then Yamada-san awoke and fixed his best stare on him. The businessman quickly focused on the airline meal on hand after that.

"Yamada-san is very intimidating," I offered as he just stared at his own tray. "How do you and Setsu-chan ever mastered it? I can't intimidate anyone in my life."

"That is... ability," Yamada-san mumbled.

"Eh?"

"This guy's Psychic ability," Kaido joked. "This guy isn't called Cold Wolf just on a lark. Like, with these eyes, I can read someone's past and present and maybe their future, right? Yukio has the hunting instinct. In terms of tracking, catching and taking down, he's top-class."

"You shut up, peeping tom," Yamada-san growled.

"You're totally not cute. Even this _sempai_ of yours says so."

"The point is not to be cute."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you grew old alone and surrounded by cats."

"At least I won't die buried in a mountain of books and papers."

Both of them growled, and then sighed together.

"This is why usually we should bring Yuko along," Yamada-san grumbled. "Why just a three-man team?"

"This is a business meeting. Bringing any more would mean that we can't trust the New York or Louisiana Movements to supply able protectors," Kaido irritably answered. "Usually even the lowest-level politician needs a four-man team, but the custom of the Arcadia Movement is to send pairs. This is probably the first time so many have been sent together."

"Why?" I asked in between bites of pork stroganoff.

"Divine chose to set up shop in Neo Domino last, so before that there were no such thing as diplomatic policy to be concerned of," Kaido recalled. "Madame and Mr Rafael travelled as a pair because couples are given more diplomatic leeway. Boss went with Nakamura-san and no one else because she needed a legal guardian, and because she was already skilled enough to win against any assassin she could meet. But, there was that Louisiana problem... Yukio, you know the security issues better than I do."

"Eh?" I blinked. "I thought... I thought this was approving the training with West Academia..."

"And also to consult a specialist concerning..." Kaido trailed off. "You. You know what I mean, Kannazuki-san."

I nodded, knowing that the recurring dreams I had had were hardly normal.

"And for Diamondblade, it's to get you to that guy, Rafael de Santos, in New Orleans," Kaido added. "Before that, there's one crippling problem. You see, although the other Movements all take direction from the Central Movement, actual policy implementation is left up to the individual posts themselves. So the operations of one Movement can differ a lot from that of another Movement. In short, there are places where policy is much more lax than at back home."

"Merci Sophia, codename Virgo, the vice-head of the Louisiana Movement," Yukio corrected. "She, and another organisation that the Movement has ignored until now, have their own private feud going on that we haven't done anything about. Ms Sophia hasn't dragged the Movement into her own feuds. Until now, that is. So we might be walking straight into a crossfire."

"In the south United States, there are two predominant Psychic organisations," Kaido explained. "There's the Louisiana Arcadia Movement, with outposts in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Arcadia Movement usually operates in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas, and the rest are covered by the other. But, there are... issues. Because we are... because we are the Arcadia Movement, it gets... difficult."

"That makes no sense." I shook my head.

"We don't have a religious stance." Yamada-san stated. "People don't get that."

"T- That's politically incorrect!" Kaido spluttered.

"The idiots in the Deep South didn't get that, and its Boss is not about to spare any mercy after seven years ago. Isn't it better to tell her?" Yamada-san asked. "I hate dealing with them."

"What, what?" I froze as I heard the businessman from earlier coughing hard behind me.

"The mortal enemy of Merci Sophia..." Yamada-san echoed eerily as a commotion began behind him. "Seven years ago, the Heaven Movement..."

* * *

Winter didn't spare anything when it came.

Due to recent events screwing with the weather, it was also abnormal. Winter and summer had turned to extremes in Neo Domino City, despite the relatively temperate climate of the Japanese islands itself. Weather dissonance notwithstanding of climates, Satisfaction Town therefore greeted a light dusting of snow one morning, on the week leading up to Halloween.

Nico, bless her everything, plonked two plates of eggs and sausages, what passed for the start of a Continental in her inn, before the two of us before she crossed her arms. "Well?"

I debated making a smartass remark, but it was _Nico_. She'd seen through more bullshit than anything I'd dealt out, and short of Kiryu-sensei Nico was one of the few people on earth who could guilt-trip me just with a look.

I elbowed Rex. "You explain."

"You're the one who can bullshit your way through," Rex shot back, cradling a snivelling Reina. The toddler was as blonde as any of the Atlas children came, and already she was glaring with aplomb at a zombified Kiryu-sensei. Absently, Rex fed her that sludge that passed for porridge here.

"I want Nii-chan!" she wailed. "Aniki, I want Nii-chan!"

"Okay, let's start with why you're here," Nico pointed her wooden spoon at me when it was clear that Rex had his hands full with a toddler. "Then we can get to why we got a call in the middle of the night saying that Reina was coming along."

I groaned, sinking my head into my hands. "Ryuusei went off."

"Again?" Nico mumbled, stunned into silence. "Oh... where to now?"

"We don't know."

"He disappeared?"

"N- Not really," I mumbled. "The Professor took Aki-sensei to Germany to recover from... the shock. But then... Reina nearly got kidnapped..."

"_What_?" Nico yelped, attracting a few stares that were quickly diverted with a wave and a challenging stare.

"It didn't take," Rex confirmed, still with a tight hold on Reina. "But it happened because Mother shoved Reina into the arms of some unsuspecting man-"

"_Nii_-_chan_!" Reina wailed.

"-so Uncle Jack was persuaded to take Carly-san with him on his tour," I finished. "This happened on short notice, so I'm really sorry about turning up looking like death warmed over on the doorstep."

"Ah," Nico sympathetically nodded, now making cooing noises at the gurgling Reina. "Well, it was ridiculously stressful, so it can't be helped. Kiryu-san, please watch the till, I need to go to the kitchens."

"Mmm," Kiryu-sensei grumbled.

All of us waited until Nico had left and was out of earshot before Kiryu-sensei straightened his spine, eyes glimmering as he regarded the two of us. "What really happened?"

"The 'Ryuusei disappeared' part was actually true," I explained. "And the part about Reina getting kidnapped is also technically true. Except that Reina was kidnapped by people looking for the blood of a Dark Signer. Kiryu-sensei?"

Kiryu-sensei glanced down at his mug, and then set it down. "You already knew what I... the people I hung out with once. I told you that when I told you the history of the Infernity."

"I know," I answered. "Carly-san being a Dark Signer-"

"She doesn't remember," Kiryu-sensei shook his head. "It changes nothing, and shouldn't now."

"It changes nothing," Rex admitted, cradling Reina like his life depended on it. "It shouldn't. But now, Reina... Reina has done nothing to be pulled into this. That goddamned hobgoblin-"

"We defeated him, and skipped town before people got a good look at what's inside," I shook my head. "Carly-san... the reason why the kidnapper was able to get so close was because Carly-san actually wished that Reina would be taken away. It... became literal."

"I want Nii-chan!" Reina complained.

"Okay," Kiryu-sensei replied after a pause. Being one of the Dark Signers apparently included a sense of when to shut up.

There was an awkward silence as I paused for breakfast, punctuated by Rex feeding Reina.

"Where's West?" Rex asked.

"He's probably chatting up that girlfriend he's met," Kiryu-sensei made a noise that sounded like a grunt. "I haven't heard anything nice about the newcomer. She'll probably leave him hanging or something. Rex, care to do your Uncle Kiryu a favour?"

"You're my Uncle Kyosuke," Rex snorted. "You want me to play bait for this... girlfriend of West? The man's got a life of his own, you know."

"He entered Neo Domino University on the mechanic scholarship, and..." Kiryu-sensei shook his head. "Just see if she's serious, or if she's just stringing him along. Please. I don't want West to drop his studies, not when it means that he'll get something more than running an inn. Nico already made that sacrifice."

"Fine, fine," Rex nodded, frowning in a way that meant that he was already planning.

I set down the half-empty plate, appetite suddenly waning. There was so much that I knew, and I couldn't tell Kiryu-sensei or Nico or even West, because much as Kiryu-sensei was once a Dark Signer, I doubted he'd like the memory of it. He already didn't seem receptive to the idea of Carly-san remembering anything, and we hadn't even known about her past.

I mean, how often does Rex find out that his mother was once the mortal enemy of his father, had once died and was reborn, and on top of that was one of a few who knowingly nearly consigned part of Satellite to their deaths twenty-odd years ago?

He found out when the King Goblin appeared as she uttered the words and took Rex's baby sister away. There began a _Labyrinth_-esque quest into Old Domino, where Rex lay his opinion of baby-napping onto the imp and we ran with a squalling Reina as that part of Old Domino conveniently caved in behind us. Rex might have thought it an illusion, but he saw as well as I did.

I turned right and spotted the police station- no, the sheriff's office. The snow was melting around it, promising water damage to be repaired at some later date, but there was West in tights, cowboy boots and Stetson. Of course, he wasn't alone. There was a leggy blonde with him, her head tilted such that I couldn't see her features from here.

"Oi, West," I called. "Are you flirting-"

The words died before I could string it together, because then the blonde turned her head, and I could make out fiery eyes, a pouty mouth and something resembling vengeance in that face.

"Oh, Chase!" West stood up. Being about twenty-eight or -nine, he was tanned, with a wiry body and a wide smile. His brown eyes glittered as he turned back to the traitorous Psychic Duelist. "Chase, let me introduce Nessie. We're... good friends."

"Is that code for you haven't tapped that?" I cheerfully put up a façade meant to make things awkward as hell for later romances. "You know, West, what happened to the last leggy- ow!"

She had been standing beside the gun display, and one of the air-soft specials had been fired down to hit my leg. "O- Oh!" her voice was carefully modulated. "I'm so sorry, let me take you to the doctor, there's blood!"

I was too stunned to protest as she shunted me out of the sheriff's office amidst exclamations and protests, leaving a stunned and confused West inside.

Of course, once she got a safe distance away, her entire body language changed. Her stride became larger, and the sway of her hips more pronounced. She flipped up one of the new _Ojou_ ringlets she had as she turned on one foot to glare at me. "I didn't expect you."

"Vanessa Trent," I acknowledged. "Or was it Vanessa Sterling?"

"Call me whatever you like," Vanessa shrugged. "Mostly Vanessa Trent. I'm here..."

My hand found the nearest wall, since I couldn't actually hit someone for such a nebulous reason. "Satisfaction Town is not for the agents of Summer or Winter to play in," I growled. "Are you even serious with West?"

Her eyes narrowed. "What's it to you, then?"

"West is family," I answered. "And frankly, if you wanted to lay low you shouldn't date the sheriff's adopted son."

"Yes, the former Dark Signer," she sneered. "Bet you didn't know he was a mass-murderer."

"They came back, and frankly that's hypocritical, coming from the one who played bait to get yourself in a position to steal the Chaos Emperor Dragon," I retorted. "Wait, never mind. Just stay away from West. I don't want him to be a part of the mess between the Courts."

"You assume a lot," Vanessa shifted her legs, and I briefly noted that her cybernetic leg seemed almost real. "First, that I care about your opinion. And second, that you can do anything to stop me. I could dally West into the otherworld right now, and you would never be able to reach me."

_You overstep your abilities, _Rei warned.

I was worried, scared and angry. Worried for West, scared for the very danger that represented the forces Vanessa Trent was working for, and angry, because Ryuusei should have kept his agents away from Satisfaction Town. "Or we have a Duel. And remember the last time I kicked your ass?"

"I remember it was a close match," Vanessa gloated.

"Well, let me refresh your memory," I grinned, and it was not meant to be nice. "I win, you leave town."

"And if I win?" Vanessa simpered, her features crinkled as her butterfly-wing shaped DuelDisk fanned out. "If I win... just to spite you, I'm going to keep at it. Maybe I'll show him to the family."

I gritted my teeth as we walked apart, either end of Satisfaction Town's main road our Duel Field.

"Duel!"

Vanessa: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"I'll begin, I draw!" Vanessa announced. "First, I'll activate the Field Spell, Jungle Field."

"What?" I gaped as the entire field turned into the inside of a tropical jungle.

"At the end of the turn the turn player did not normal summon, set or special summon a monster, they shall take one thousand damage," Vanessa confirmed. "Next, I summon Buckeye Butterspy [500/500]."

I blinked as the new Butterspy monster appeared, knives clashing. "Okay..."

"Buckeye Butterspy can be tributed to special summon two Butterspy monsters from my deck in face-up attack mode," Vanessa declared. "However, they will be destroyed during the end phase. I special summon Morpho Butterspy [1200/1600] and Swallowtail Butterspy [1800/1200]. Now, I create the overlay network with Morpho and Swallowtail. Exceed summon! Arise, Photon Papilloperative!"

Amethyst wings shrouded in black fanned out. The figure was dressed in an orange bodice and a blue skirt, the whole affair more imposing than any ball gown. Even the black mask that hid her features could not detract from the imposing figure the Photon Papilloperative threw [2100/1800] as it stood.

Now, though, it carried a sense of intense warmth, a fire that could not be quenched with it. At the same time, Vanessa's arm lit up with the four-pointed wings of a monarch butterfly, the orange discordantly against the dark dignity of her clothing.

My mouth went dry.

"I'll now activate three Continuous Spells," Vanessa declared. "The first, Butterfly Charm, will force all monsters to attack were they capable, and destroy those incapable of attacking. The second, Assassin Gate, will negate the attacks of all non-Assassin monsters and destroy them. The third and last, Butterfly Swarm, costs two thousand life points to pay, and every one of my standby phases I must pay two thousand life points as maintenance cost. You know what it does."

Vanessa: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Chase: LP 8000

"If a monster is destroyed, inflict fifteen hundred damage," I grumbled.

"Turn end." she called.

"My turn, draw!" I scowled down. That Heavy Storm... "I'll set a monster and two cards, turn end!"

"Draw!" Vanessa called. "Standby phase, I pay two thousand life points to maintain Butterfly Swarm."

Vanessa: LP 6000 → LP 4000

Chase: LP 8000

"Now, main phase one, I activate the effect of Photon Papilloperative to detach one material and turn your set card into attack mode," Vanessa called, and I groaned as the tiny monster appeared. "Infernity Knight [1400/400 → 800/200]? Well, even a bluff with Necromancer isn't that good. Photon Papilloperative, attack Infernity Knight with Butterfly Distortion!"

Groaning, I was sent skidding back as my knight met its end, and then I was swarmed with butterflies.

Chase: LP 8000 → LP 6700 → LP 5200

Vanessa: LP 4000

"The effect of my Knight, I can revive him by discarding two cards from my hand!" I called as my monster arose.

"I set a monster and a card, so this turn I don't get taken by the effect of Jungle Field." Vanessa nodded, pleased. "Your turn."

"Draw!" I called, angry. "I summon Infernity Necromancer, who moves to defence mode [0/2000] on normal summon. Then, I activate the Spell, Transturn, to tribute Infernity Knight to special summon from my deck Infernity Demon [1800/1200]!"

As usual, Infernity Demon made a bow and spread its arms wide. I gave it a wave before I continued. "Upon special summon when my hand is at zero, Infernity Demon lets me search for an Infernity card and add it to my hand, and I choose Infernity Launcher. I activate Infernity Launcher. With that, when my hand is at zero, Infernity Necromancer can special summon the tuner, Infernity Beetle [1200/0], which I tribute to special summon two more Infernity Beetles from my deck."

"I see," Vanessa observed. "Synchro summon, then?"

"Tuning, level three Infernity Necromancer to level two Infernity Beetle," I called. "When the dead and the living meet at zero, they create an impenetrable illusion that lasts till victory! Synchro Summon! Come, Armades, Keeper of Illusions!"

The white-armoured Fiend smirked as it entered the field [2300/1500].

"Tuning, level four Infernity Demon with level two Infernity Beetle," I continued. "Synchro summon, Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth!"

The Synchro version of Gaia the Fierce Knight [2600/800] appeared on the field.

"Trap card, Infernity Break," I called. "I banish from my graveyard Infernity Demon, and in return I destroy Assassin Gate."

"My Gate!" Vanessa cried. "Trap card, open! Butterspy Protection!"

"What?" I yelled as Gaia shifted to defence mode. "But, Armades, attack Photon Papilloperative! Imagine Breaker!"

Armades cried out as he charged forth, and destroyed the screaming assassin.

Vanessa: LP 4000 → LP 3150

Chase: LP 5200

"What the hell?" I shouted.

"The effect of Butterspy Protection also protects me... by halving all damage taken for the rest of the turn after activation," Vanessa panted. "The total damage was seventeen hundred, fifteen hundred from Butterfly Swarm and two hundred in battle damage, so the halved number is eight hundred fifty. And due to Butterfly Charm, after your battle phase, any face-up monster that did not declare an attack is destroyed, so Gaia Knight is destroyed, triggering Butterfly Swarm. Take it!"

The swarm of killer butterflies descended once more.

Chase: LP 5200 → LP 3700

Vanessa: LP 3150

"Turn end," I scowled.

"My turn, draw!" Vanessa called, glancing down. "I pay two thousand life points for the cost of Butterfly Swarm. Activate the Spell, Aurora Draw. I shall draw two cards since I have only this Spell in hand. Now, I activate the Spell, Moon Dust Pollen! With this, for this turn I can revive Morpho and Swallowtail Butterspy. Flip summon, Lacewing Butterspy [1500/1000] appears on the field."

Vanessa bit her lip, staring at the field with something akin to determination. "Photon Papilloperative... was not my only monster."

"What?" I blinked.

She raised her glowing arm, the aura about her suddenly more intense. Having faced enough Duelists, I knew what this was. She was serious.

"I construct the overlay network with Morpho Butterspy, Swallowtail Butterspy and Lacewing Butterspy." Vanessa called. "Exceed summon! Dance in the darkness, beautiful incarnation of death, Night Papilloperative!"

The new assassin wore purple armour, her wings spread wide like the wheel of summer stars. Other than black, purple and red at the edges of wide wings, there was no other colours than the glittering dust on her wings. Compared to the other assassins, this one was more understated, and all the more beautiful for it [2600/2000].

"The effect of Night Papilloperative," Vanessa announced. "I can detach one Exceed material, and then for all other Exceed material on the field my Night Papilloperative gains a permanent increase of three hundred. Since after paying the cost there are two materials, therefore my incarnation of death gains six hundred attack power [2600/2000 → 3200/2000]."

There was an eerie laugh, a tinkle of glass, and then even my white fiend growled with promised vengeance.

"Night Papilloperative!" she called. "Attack Armades with Backstab Wing!"

The assassin monster flashed, and my fiend blinked for only a brief moment before he was stabbed in the back. I only saw him fall before the swarm of killer butterflies came for me.

Chase: LP 3700 → LP 2800 → LP 1300

Vanessa: LP 3150 → LP 1150

"Incredible..." I hissed. It took some mad skills to pull something like this assassination off, this elegance of dance with economy of movement. Vanessa had it in her to go pro if she wanted... but she wanted to dance. That misplaced ambition... was what she was left with in the end.

"You... only have one turn," she panted. "Before... I place the knife into your heart myself."

"Right," I growled in answer. "You... of all people, why West?"

"Why?" she gave a bitter laugh. "Does it matter? I don't have a life here, not anymore."

My head felt muddled from the influence of her field and her poisonous butterflies, and I growled as I drew. "It's not revenge, is it?"

"God, she was right," Vanessa muttered. "Humans, always think you're the centre of your world. Get on with it."

"I activate the Trap, Infernity Inferno," I called. "By discarding Infernity General from my hand, I can also mill Infernity Avenger from my deck. I banish Infernity General from the graveyard to special summon Infernity Necromancer and Infernity Knight from my graveyard with their effects negated. I construct the overlay network with them both. Exceed summon, Leviair the Sea Dragon!"

The blue-green monster appeared in a flash of light [1800/1600].

"Detaching one unit to special summon Infernity Demon, I shall then search for Infernity Force and set it," I called. "I send Infernity Launcher to the graveyard to revive Infernity Avenger and Infernity Necromancer. Tuning, level four Infernity Demon and level three Necromancer to level one Avenger! "When the dead and the living meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro summon! Come forth, Infernity Death Dragon!"

My ace card, my first dragon, appeared on the field, pincers clicking and ratty leather wings beating fiercely [3000/2400].

"Infernity Death Dragon's effect!" I called. "When my hand is at zero, I can destroy one face-up monster on the field and inflict damage to you equal to half of the destroyed monster's attack power. So, go, my dragon! Death Fire Blast!"

The assassin screamed as she was incinerated in black flames, and Vanessa screamed with her.

Vanessa: LP 1150 → LP 0

Chase: LP 1300

"So... with this, I lost," Vanessa did not seem too perturbed or hurt at her loss, which was painful for me and various parts of me.

"What are you doing here?" I growled. "You're not out to murder West, are you?"

"Murder?" Vanessa echoed, her eyes flaring up at me.

"Er..."

"You... boorish, insensitive idiot," Vanessa breathed. "Do you really think that he'll die just from hanging out with me?"

"Erm..." I shrugged. "A lot more casualties I know of come from your end. Especially from Marguerite."

"_Marguerite_," Vanessa sneered, as if the very word was anathema. "Oh, yes, Marguerite. Compare me to a psychotic Duel spirit."

"I... guess you guys don't get along?" I hazarded.

"Look," she heaved a sigh. "I don't know about you other than that you're West's family and that you're a pretty good Duelist yourself on top of being able to call Duel spirits. You don't know about me except that I used to be with the Movement and I was a double agent and I'm now aligned with the Summer Court. So did you think that I was going to what, seduce West into the otherworld and then return him after a century or so?"

"You did threaten to introduce him to Leo Sterling," I pointed out.

"It's a fact that may or may not happen," Vanessa pointed out. "Did you even recall what I was saying?"

Rei helpfully provided me with a replay. _You assume a lot. First, that I care about your opinion. And second, that you can do anything to stop me. I could dally West into the otherworld right now, and you would never be able to reach me._I remember it was a close match_. And if I win? If I win... just to spite you, I'm going to keep at it. Maybe I'll show him to the family._

Something fell into place. "West and... you? Dating?"

"What's wrong?" she defended.

"What's wrong? What's-" I cut off. "I don't want to know. West is robbing the cradle as it is."

"Do you have something against handicapped people?" Vanessa crossed her arms, glaring at me.

"You nearly kicked my ass, and I know it," I dismissed. "It's just... you're an agent of Summer. Heck, technically you'd be a wanted fugitive if your records weren't wiped. And... frankly, it's not everyday I find something from the other world coming in that doesn't want to kill people and feast on their flesh or something. I don't really care if you're here on a day off or not in the same town we're in, but I care... about West."

Her expression remained the same flat look. "It doesn't matter," Vanessa shook her head at last. "I only followed West down here to dissuade him from taking the New Orleans exchange trip. I have to leave soon."

"That's nice-" I agreed before I did a double-take. "New Orleans?"

"Well..." Vanessa shrugged. "That wasn't the only reason. I had to stop by Neo Domino first. I needed to send them back to the nearest place they ever called home, to the nearest people who are home."

"What?" I echoed.

Blonde ringlets fluttered out as Vanessa flicked a lock of ringed hair. "It doesn't matter. Summer kept their promises. To Ancient Fairy Dragon... and to them."

"What happened?" I whispered. My body went still, and my heart went cold. Ancient Fairy Dragon was a rare, rare card, and there were only a few copies of it in the world after Industrial Illusions' sudden reprint of some of the Signer Dragons. To my knowledge, only Black Rose, Stardust and Red Demon's Dragon had been reprinted.

"Vengeance... will be done," Vanessa murmured, shaking her head as she turned on one foot, and like all of Summer and Winter, disappeared from that spot.

I saw a butterfly fluttering by, and for once, I found myself stunned without a comeback.

* * *

_**Buckeye Butterspy (Genchō no Shikyaku Tochinoki)**__**  
DARK/ Warrior/ LV 3  
500/500  
Effect: **__**This card cannot be Special Summoned. You can send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon 2 "Butterspy" monsters from your deck in face-up ATK position. Those monsters are destroyed during the End Phase.**_

_**Lacewing Butterspy (Genchō no Shikyaku Kusakagerō)  
**__**DARK/ Warrior/ LV 4  
1500/1000  
Effect: Once per turn, you can change the Battle Position of 1 monster your opponent controls. This card is treated as Level 4 if it is used for an Xyz Summon for a Warrior-Type Xyz Monster. (I think this was meant to be a level three monster...)**_

_**Moon Dust Pollen (Tsuki Hokori Kafun)**__**  
Type: Normal Spell  
Effect: Target 2 Level 4 or lower "Butterspy" monsters in your Graveyard; Special Summon them in Attack position. During the End Phase, send them to the Graveyard.**_

_**Note: the Butterspy cards mentioned above can be looked up in YuGiOh! Card Maker (brackets stand for author's interpretation of the effect). All credit goes to **__**Rockmanmegaman**__** and other fellow Duelists who contributed to that wiki page on the YGO Card Maker wiki.**_

_**Please review!**_


	66. LXIII: Vertical Landing

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXIII: Vertical Landing**

Excitement greeted us as we entered the airfield of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The body of the expired businessman had been taken away by two burly paramedics, and then the entire passenger cabins were left intact.

Whispers followed them out: "_He just keeled over?" _"_Wait till the kids here about this..._"

One of the air stewards approached us from the aisles. "Erm, Miss, could you please come with me?"

"P- Pardon?" I squeaked.

"The air stewardess has been kind enough to inform us that Mr Jones died of..." and here the steward looked nervous. "...unnatural means. Our agents have questions for you. Please, follow me."

"But what about my guardians?" I asked. I may have widened my eyes to add to the effect. It has a very soothing effect, I have been told.

"Well..." the steward looked honestly terrified as Yamada-san looked at him. "They can come along. We shall send your luggage right behind you, please, follow me, Miss."

"No need," Yamada-san shortly answered as he began dragging down our bags from the overhead compartment. "We brought everything in the hand-carry."

Cue the stunned blinks. "Erm... very good then."

"Why did we carry all of our luggage along?" Ryuusuke asked Kaido as we tugged on our bags.

"Because it's troublesome to do otherwise, and the rest of our luggage is being sent over by another way," Kaido answered quietly as he tugged on his bag.

The terrified steward led us out of the 747 and out on the sheltered gangway amidst several complaints from other passengers, past thinly carpeted ground and through chilly hallways to reach a closed off room. He beat a retreat as the suit-wearing man waiting inside the room stood up.

"Pleased to meet you," the man shortly began. "Well, I wasn't expecting such a crowd."

"I'm still a minor, sir," I answered, feeling trepidation bubble in my stomach.

He looked blank. "A minor, huh? Look, miss... what's your name?"

Kaido blocked me off before I could answer. "May we know exactly why have we been called aside? What happened to the man?"

"He died." our suit-wearing nemesis answered, tapping the enamel-covered table. "We'd just like to know what happened. The stewardess told us that you were the one who had his plate before the two of you switched. God bless you, you just narrowly escaped poisoning."

"It was closed," I answered. "I hadn't opened it."

"Yes, you were lucky then," the man persuaded. "You see, we just need to know what would merit your switching plates with him, miss."

"That's suspicious," Yamada-san interjected. "Why focus on the plates switching? And...?"

The man blinked, and I saw his hands drift to his belt. He drew a gun to level it at us, but even armed he stood no chance against Yamada-san. Yamada-san had come in close and held onto his wrist.

There was a _crack_, and the man screamed as he dropped the gun and it went off.

"Someone, anyone!" Ryuusuke headed for the door shouting.

Yamada-san had slammed the man's head down upon the table, and was now pulling open the man's jaw with vicious brutality as he reached in and tugged, ignoring any attempts at biting until the capsule had been forcibly extracted. Kaido then socked the assassin as Yamada-san let go. Still stunned, I found myself leaning against the wall in the certainty that I had just escaped an assassination.

The door then slammed open.

"I told you, Tilly, one of your cops were crooked," the brown-haired woman that sauntered in sneered at one of the horde of besuited men behind her. "And it's Scott, joy. _Now_ you believe us. Now you take action when four people could have died, Tilly."

"The Arcadia Movement needs to keep out of federal crimes when it's not being asked, Ms Sophia-" the blond man referred to as Tilly stopped as he considered us. "Erm... name, rank and... please release former Agent Scott into our care, sir?"

Yukio looked at the brown-haired woman, ignoring the man. "I take it that the Arcadia Rights Bill isn't implemented here."

"We got something close called the Sanctuary Act, but the benevolent overlord ain't here and I'm acting head until we can find Justin. Let's face it, admin material I am _not,_" she shrugged, holding up the red crystal hung on a braided silver chain around her neck. "You might want to butter up to Tilly, I mean, Supervisory Senior Special Agent William Tell. He's the liaison between the Arcadia Movement, Louisiana chapter and the rest of the alphabet soup in the land of freedom. Welcome to Crescent City, anyway. Codename?"

Yamada-san slammed Agent Scott into the wall one more time before wiping a saliva-slicked hand on the man's jacket and hauling him to the horde of agents. He reached for his own limiter with the other hand, holding up the star sapphire. "Cold Wolf, Class IV."

"Spirit of the Books, Class IV," Kaido held up his own limiter, an opal set in steel.

"No code-name. Ryuusuke Diamondblade... no class," Ryuusuke admitted. "Auxiliary member."

I looked towards all of them, before I realised what name and rank meant. "Erm, Polaris."

"And rank?" Agent Tell prompted, in English that took a while for me to comprehend.

"I don't have one," I admitted at the same time Yamada-san spoke up: "She's the head of the Arcadia Movement, Central chapter."

A brief silence followed.

"You're kidding me," Merci Sophia broke the silence. "Right?"

* * *

Last year, I went with Rex to the alumni gathering at DA Kings. It was boring as fuck-all, only made more interesting when Hinamori Seiran dragged her police D-Wheel in and did stunts in the hall, which prompted Rex to pull up his D-Wheel, The Throne. They had a stunt-off right there, and then a Riding Duel with the new format without Speed World. Rex won, though it had been close. Say whatever you like about the _La Belle Dame sans Merci_, she was vicious.

Either way, surrounding us then had been an aura of awkwardness and pain and a lot of other stuff, because then Chancellor Fujiwara stepped up and they started the memorial for Ryuusei. Even though Rex and I knew that Ryuusei was alive, to the rest of DA Kings... he was dead. There is hardly anything compared to the horror of realising that your friends are considered dead, and if you don't join the rest you're considered delusional. For that time, I thought I _had_ been delusional. I hadn't; Ryuusei came back the next year, but some part of me still remembered that horror.

Being told over a phone call that the two bodies had been flown over for identification reawakened that impression. There had been the mental litany of _no, no, no_ and then...

We left Reina in Satisfaction Town on a quick overnight jaunt to Neo Domino. The Central Administration Building was open, so we headed for the forensic offices. The head of department led us into the chilly morgue, where the bodies lay in body bags of pure white.

Dr Yukina, the examiner in charge, swallowed. "Are you ready?"

Rex and I exchanged looks of guilt, before we nodded as one.

The zippers were pulled down.

Vanessa Trent had stopped by Neo Domino on cover. She had been the one to place the bodies there. Before us, the teal-haired twins of Rua and Ruka lay, their eyes open even in their final moments. Blank, empty... and with it the smell of ammonia.

Rex choked.

All of the horror and sadness came crashing down. "What happened...?"

"So this is Rua and Ruka Morisawa?" the medical examiner prompted by the side.

"Y- Yes," Rex murmured. "T- Their parents? Weren't their families called?"

"There was no family contact listed," the coroner answered. "Instead listed were the households of Fudo and Atlas. We tried to contact the Fudo family, but no one was in, and-"

"I know," I muttered. "We know."

"The Fudo family left for Germany to recover," Rex told the coroner. "And my mother's struck with depression, so Father took her to America with him on doctor's orders. I was in Satisfaction Town with a distant friend of the family with my younger sister and friend. Why... why weren't we called in sooner? Why weren't we called to oversee the... the flyover?"

"According to the report, they were found in the Louisiana Bay, and then flown back within a week per the last will and testament left behind with their personal effects," Dr Yukina replied. "It's been ruled as a drowning, which is expected, but... We don't know how they got here so fast, but it could be bureaucratic wrangling. She said it was a special favour."

Drowning. Yeah, right.

"Drowning?" Rex looked about as lost as I felt. "But they could _swim_."

"Either way, both of them were sent back here with identifications and effects with the Louisiana Arcadia Movement," Dr Yukina blithely continued.

A thought occurred to me. "Personal effects?"

Dr Yukina nodded. "Evidence locker. I'll get it out after we lock up the morgue."

Neither of us protested, and instead I followed Rex numbly as Dr Yukina opened the lockers to pull out their personal effects. Clothes, luggage bags, and decks.

I headed for the decks, snapping on a pair of latex gloves. "Can we take them out?"

"Sure, we're supposed to release them to family, but... you're the closest to family they have, yes?" Dr Yukina directed to Rex.

"Right now, I'm the only one who could get them," Rex agreed as he signed a few more documents.

I had no idea how he was going to get through this, but if it was pulled up to Superintendent Mikage it'd probably blow over. Right now, though, I rifled through the decks of two people who'd been present to the better half of my childhood, and pulled out three cards, sighing in relief.

"Ancient Fairy, Power Tool and Life Stream are all here," I reported to Rex. "Looks like it was true."

I spoke wrong. A single, sharp cry answered, sorrow and pain personified. And rage, of course. It had an impact on my head, like something was playing percussion on it.

I shouldn't have kept prolonged contact with it. The Signer Dragons were powers and servants of the legendary Crimson Dragon. Even the weakest of them, Ancient Fairy, had its own power. Right now, Ancient Fairy Dragon was angry and mourning.

"Bloody hell," I gasped at the card's power, the card's rage. By her side, another dragon mourned, its own sorrow and rage strong and fierce.

_Mourning and rage, _Rei's cold flame dampened the rage and hatred directed mistakenly.

_Milady is... mourning, _another voice said.

Rex was occupying the medical examiner, and there was hardly anyone else about. I turned my head to consider the ghostly armoured lion.

I recognised him. "R- Regulus, right?"

_Indeed, the mortal world does call me that, _he affirmed._ My mistress, the mistress of the Ancient Forest, is angry. The only reason that they... their bodies managed it here after their untimely demise, was because of Summer interference._

I kept silent. "Untimely demise?"

_There was no accident. They were slain._

"They were _what_?!"

My outburst drew stares from Dr Yukina, so I quieted down and waited until Rex checked out all personal effects. We left the Central Administration Building in a haze of confusion that didn't quite stop when we hit the highway, which was where the implications of his words sank in.

For the uninitiated, this usually means that rather than whatever cause of death is written on the coroner's report, there's another, more outlandish reason for why John or Jane Doe ended up on the table. I've seen a body with the heart plucked out, and heard of two struck down by freak virus plague – hello, inappropriately timed surge of illness and nausea – plus one, very outlandish case of death by sex.

You'd better read that right. The NDPD Duel Crimes Unit and the Movement meets some very interesting cases.

Either way, it meant that other than the extremely convenient death by accidents, there was also the enforced accidents. Plainly speaking, murder.

The realisation that it might not be so innocent was, quite frankly, disheartening. And as to why _he_ sent Vanessa to bring the bodies along...

We parked by the Spiritual Forest Park, which was quite frankly, a joke. It was one of those places that looked more like a grove and was completely surrounded by trees in the middle of the Cubic Area. There were hardly any witnesses about; rumours had it that it was haunted by the ghosts of Old Domino. Well, they were right, it was haunted. Not by ghosts, but close.

I slapped Rex's hand, therefore giving the skin contact needed to manifest a moment of Sight.

"What the hell-" Rex's jaw promptly loosened once he saw the multitude of Duel Spirits hidden amidst the trees of the Spiritual Forest Park.

"Locals," I answered. "Be nice, they helped you scout parts of the Labyrinth."

"R- Right," Rex nodded towards some of the tittering fairies.

I glared at one Fairy Archer, who promptly blew a raspberry back at me. Being shot at had not endeared any of the tiny winged menaces. "The prices I make for investigation," I commented as I pulled Regulus's card.

The armoured horned lion was there in barely a blink. If you squinted, tilted your head and tried not to think about the horn or armour, Regulus could pass for the Cowardly Lion, which would give quite a new dimension towards that time when Aunt Ruka was talking about her adventures with Ancient Fairy Dragon. At least the Scarecrow wasn't involved.

"Regulus," Rex nodded to the lion, who bowed its head after a brief moment.

"Right," I shook my head. "Time to begin."

The issues I have with Duel Spirits always started from the investigation. Putting aside the fact acknowledged by House that people lie, for their own reasons, Duel Spirits are particularly troublesome for me to question or even ask. It's like police officers interviewing a hill-billy or a man of the Wild West. Civilisation had done a lot to standardise police procedure, but the format of who-what-when-where-why-how of any story could vary across all lines of culture. Duel Spirits, in particular, have no concept of human values or morality codes or shit like infrastructure, or even something like a system for measuring time. I've learned the hard way from Rei that _a while_ can be something like a few months or a few years or maybe longer or shorter, depending on the Spirit.

The special hell that is asking Duel Spirits questions was not only the lack of infrastructure or basis by which a human mind could comprehend it, but also the nuances of the words, with the contextual and subtextual meanings and a whole lot of shit only linguists or lawyers could appreciate. I think that they must get a special kick out of mincing their words so thoroughly that it becomes something like attic wit. I'd lucked out with my first few; the Summer King and the Winter Queen could phrase something in human context, and could also play fairly level. Of course, usually it meant that I was an unlucky pawn, if things were hopeful.

"This... event," I phrased to the talking lion. "It was in New Orleans, right? New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America?"

_I do not know of the place of New Orleans, nor of Louisiana. Though Rua hath mentioned that they were, indeed, in the country of the America._

"Good enough." I bit my lip, debating my sources, my clues and options before something occurred to me. "Rex, as a reporter, what would you ask? Which would you consider the most important?"

"Who, what, where, when, why," Rex answered. "Before you ask, I... enquired about the coroner's report. It's confirmed to be drowning in freshwater. No missing bits, which they thought was odd considering the history of wildlife in the bayou, but a bonus for them."

I turned back to Regulus after nodding to Rex. "What was the weather like? And, when they were killed... was there a location? Were they moved after... after being killed?"

_The murders took place neither at ritual ground, nor land of any consecrated value, _Regulus slowly answered. _They were moved after being killed. The weather was relatively clement, excellent for hunting._

"Are those important?" Rex asked.

"Maybe, don't know," I distantly replied. "Death by drowning isn't very... symbolic."

"It's not," Rex agreed. "But we do know that it was a clear night, for one."

_Should the spirit-caller request, I could identify the place. I do indeed offer my services would they be of any assistance._

"Thanks, Regulus." I waved. "Any... else? Anything else you'd care to share?"

_They were left to die, in a dark container of cold iron_._ I do not know how they died. I only know that their deaths were masterminded, and then afterwards we were placed with the husks of their selves and left to drift off. It is fortunate that neither were lost. Before that, they were... invited to some soiree. I am ashamed that I did not identify the other until it was too late, and then Ancient Fairy Dragon was... too overcome with rage. What I do know, is the involvement of another spirit, of powers magnitudes great._

My fists were tightening with rage, and by my side I could see Rex adopt a cold, merciless look of banked fury as well.

"Is there any more you can tell us?" I bit the question out. It wasn't Regulus's fault that he couldn't save them. It wasn't anyone's fault that they died except for the killer.

A pause. _There are others amongst of my kind who may convey the information you yet seek. You know of two, and have called upon one or the other in some time past._

I closed my eyes. I knew who he was referring to.

"No."

I looked away from the talking lion. When you call things up for information, you've got to pay their price. It's always different. It's never been pleasant.

And the thought frightened me.

This would be the time those beings had been waiting for. When my need was so dire that I might agree to almost anything if it meant finding out who killed part of the family. I might make a deal I would never consider otherwise.

I might even call upon –

I stopped myself from so much as _thinking _the name of the Queen of Air and Darkness, for fear that she might somehow detect it and take action. She had been offering me temptation passively and patiently. I had wondered, sometimes, why she didn't make more of an effort to sell me on her offer. She certainly could have done so, had she wished.

Now I understood. She had known that in time, sooner or later, there would come a day when I would be more needful than cautious. There was no reason for her to dance about crafting sweet temptations and promises of power to ensnare. Not when all she had to do was wait awhile. It was a cold, logical approach – and that was very much in her style.

"If you can carry a message to the one Ancient Fairy Dragon knows of, and bid him to seek us, Regulus." I decided. "I have questions. Amongst others."

Rex looked from Regulus to me. "Who? Who are we talking about?"

"An old friend," I bit out. "One we both share."

Rex just looked blank before comprehension dawned. "But how-"

"Spirit caller," I answered, bowing to Regulus, who immediately disappeared. "I just sent Regulus with a message. One way or another, he'll contact us."

"And how?" Rex echoed. "He left his phone here, and Calcifer as well as-"

"Rex," I patiently explained. "There's no sensible way that that guy will deal with this in any way other than face-to-face."

"But... what if he can't find us?" Rex protested. "We're in Satisfaction Town, and he's... he's going to come here."

"No, he won't," I shook my head. "You know Ryuusei as well as I do. Even if he's a big softie, he's a Duelist. He's going to choose the time, if nothing else. And frankly, if I were a concerned friend I'd at least keep tabs on my friends."

"Right," Rex crossed his arms. "I don't... like it."

I paused at his tone, turning to consider Rex's slightly stooped form. Unlike his father, Rex gave off something more understated and hidden. He'd probably learned it from Carly-san, how to hide his presence and not be noticed, but the fact remained that he could make himself felt if he wanted. Right now, he was... small, if the term could be applied to someone standing at one-eight-flat, and considering.

"I'm sure Ryuusei had his own reasons for doing what he did," Rex began. "And... and I don't know if I want to know those reasons yet."

"You mean that if it was petty revenge for making the lives of Psychics a legal hell for a really long time, or that Ryuusei had a bone to pick with the attorney and we didn't know about it?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure that Yukio and Yuko would have something to say."

"Yuko maybe," Rex agreed distantly. "I don't know about the ice-face, but he's out of town with Seika, so at least there won't be a repeat assassination. I just... It's... it's like seeing Mother fall into that depression all over again, except... except this can't be cured with pills or medicine or anything. This is... something else. The spirits have taken those precious to me."

"I know," I leaned over to pat his shoulder. "I know."

Rex and I headed for the parked D-Wheels after clearing through all of the spirits, and after a few select stops in the Rex Goodwin Cemetery, the Magic Formula, and other places. It took a while, but we were soon on the way out of Neo Domino proper and on the way to Satisfaction Town.

As we got out, I heard behind me a screech and a lonely howl.

"What the hell?" Rex's sudden yell made me turn my head to look at him.

At the same time, my on-board console flashed. _D-Wheel detected. Name: Morrighan. Registered to-_

The strange D-Wheel itself came into view. It was a Blackbird II model, complete with winged mode and tail fins. Someone had had it painted purple flames on glossy black background. Its rider wore a full-body suit and purple helmet, her blonde curls flying behind her as she caught up to us. To any other, she would have been ordinary, but the general feeling of cold hung about her like a cloud, crisp and chilly.

"Satsuki?!" Rex yelled in recognition.

Kujaku Satsuki's helmeted head barely reacted. A moment later, the Multi-Voice System on Carpe Jugulum started up, and judging from Rex's expression, so had Rex's console.

"What business did you poke your nose into now, Chase?" Satsuki's voice grumbled over the airwaves. "One day you're not gonna get it back, you know."

"Nice to see you too," I answered, my voice muffled by the helmet. "I mean, we haven't exactly met after you defeated your grandfather and Uncle Crow, and defected to Winter to become their champion."

"There were extenuating circumstances," Satsuki replied. "Baa-chan was sick, and Her Majesty was the only one who could cure her."

"Of course, a dying relative changes everything," I diplomatically replied. "Even virtual slavery. Did you know that Shimotsuki offered me your gig about three times already?"

"I know that she offered you a gig, but certainly not mine," Satsuki corrected. "I don't think you'd even like my job. You aren't the type to practice diplomacy."

"Ouch," I muttered.

"This isn't you dropping in, right?" Rex asked. "I know we haven't had much contact since middle school and you went on your way, but I don't mind you, you know. Either Kisara or you."

"We were always fighting over Kisara's attention," Satsuki agreed. "Rex... do you still love her?"

"W- What?" Rex sputtered.

"Just answer the question," Satsuki's voice had an edge. "Despite having taken the mantle of Summer, despite her power as a Psychic Duelist and the heiress of KaibaCorp, do you love her?"

"I don't have to tell you," Rex scowled. "All I care is that Summer has taken our friend and my girlfriend from me. If I knew where to start I'd already be there."

Satsuki's snort was audible. "Good answer. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For having to deliver this message," Satsuki distantly answered. "Quit this investigation."

"I didn't know that we were involved in a case for NDPD," I volunteered. "I mean, right now we're in Satisfaction Town on holiday."

"The deaths of Rua-san and Ruka-san were regrettable. The Courts are already planning as we speak. Do not do anything foolish."

"So you _do_ know who's behind it," Rex's animalistic growl sounded barely human.

"Rua-san and Ruka-san were killed because of their relationship with the Duel Spirits," Satsuki answered. "If you go there, Chase, you'll die. My queen will be very upset if she were to lose your potential services."

"Tell her to get used to it," I snarled back. "Who killed them, Satsuki?"

_She would not tell us, _Rei pointed out. _Being irrationally angry is not the best way to go about it._

"Who killed them?" Rex snarled. "We Duel. If I win, then tell me!"

"... obviously you are beyond reason," Satsuki declared. "Very well. We Duel. But this Swift Wing does not have the Speed World software set up yet, so it shall have to be a regular Duel."

"Got it," Rex pressed a few buttons. "Begin, then."

_Duel mode, set, on.  
Lane Selection, searching for optimum, usable lane.  
Submitting Duel lane to Central.  
Authorisation!_

"Riding Duel, Acceleration!"

* * *

_**According to the American Airlines Route Map, there are 13 ways to get to New Orleans from Japan. I chose to start from Tokyo because I figured that Neo Domino was approximately around the capital. Anyway, their flight path takes them from Tokyo to Honolulu, where they transfer from Honolulu to Fort Worth, then from Forth Worth make the jump to New Orleans.**_

_**Please review!**_


	67. XLIV: Stygian Security

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**OC applications are open once more! Please include:  
Name:  
Occupation:  
Appearance:  
Personality:  
History:  
Deck:  
Trivia:**_

* * *

**LXIV: Stygian Security**

My first impression of Merci Sophia was, I admit, not very positive.

She had short brown hair with her bangs covering her dark blue eyes. She wore a navy blue sleeveless top up to the half portion of her stomach and white shorts above her knees to reveal her abdomen. Over that whole ensemble she had a navy blue sleeveless military jacket with a spider mark on the back, and a navy blue military hat topped her head. Black boots covered her feet and ankles, laced with navy-blue laces.

That... wasn't all.

Blue wires draped her neck from blue-winged headphones, attached to a blue iPod in her pocket. Besides the red crystal limiter, she wore a black choker, straps on her arms and legs, and had two heart-shaped tattoos on each of the corner of her eyes, hidden barely by black square-frame glasses.

Overall, she was... a very blue person.

Beside the vice-head of the Movement, Supervisory Senior Special Agent William Tell, or Tilly as she insisted on calling him, was staring at me as we rode the Louisiana Movement car along the roads of Louisiana towards Canal Street. "You're... the head?"

"Seika Kannazuki, fourth head of the Arcadia Movement," I affirmed.

"I thought..." Agent Tell just shook his buzz-cut blond head. "It's fine. I just... didn't expect that- well, we all know what happened to the last wunderkind."

"Pardon?" I blinked.

"Boss," Kaido clarified.

"Ah," I said. "Agent Tell, you might want to... restrain yourself."

"Why?" he blinked.

"Setsu-chan isn't here, but her student is," I kindly answered his query. "And I doubt he would appreciate your comments about his teacher."

He bristled. "Is that a threat?"

"An observation," I assured.

Agent Tell looked like he would have said something but for the thousand-mile stare of Yamada-san. "I keep getting all of them..."

I turned to consider Ms Sophia, slumped beside Agent Tell and occupied with her iPhone. An Apple fan, and a Psychic Duelist...

Her head stilled, and I realised that she was asleep.

Agent Tell seemed to regard her slumber as normal, for he turned to us with an assuring smile. "Please, she does this all the time."

"Lovely," I answered. Which was ambiguous enough to be taken several different ways.

"Well, as FBI liaison to the Louisiana Movement, I'd just like to cover a few... ground rules," Agent Tell hesitated. "I don't know what kind of conventions you're allowed here in Japan, but we're talking about an organisation where literally every member has played Batman in their lives one time or another. So the main rules are to keep civilians out of it, the police always take precedence, and at no point is the Movement to barge into a criminal or federal case without express permission from the Department of Justice or one of its offshoots, that is for now, me. I know it must be very different rules from any place where Setsuka Shimotsuki makes the rules, but you're going to have to get used to is here in N' Awlins."

"It sounds like every other criminal case in the Central Movement," I noted, glancing at Agent Tell's shoulder holster. "Although I can't imagine guns being used."

"When the Arcadia Movement has to go out armed with guns and DuelDisks, is the day I know there's going to be trouble," Agent Tell agreed. "Although it's just the Louisiana Movement that's having trouble right now, I know the folks in New York have it... peaceful. Unusual, but peaceful."

"We're going to go there next week," Ryuusuke spoke up, earning him glares from the two senior members.

Yamada-san gave him an ineffectual glare. "Agent Tell. What about your former subordinate?"

"Ah, right, Scott." Agent Tell looked uncomfortable. "He'll face trial, thanks to the cyanide capsules you... dug out of his mouth. He's... alive."

"For now," Yamada-san corrected.

Brief, awkward silence.

"You think someone would kill him?" Agent Tell cautiously asked.

"Either that, or Mr Scott would have to get... creative," Yamada-san answered. "After all, he tried to kill us in a Class B airport. Forgive me if that doesn't seem suspicious. If I were of a mind, I'd check the air stewardess as well. Food poisoning being awfully specific could only be deliberate."

"I'll get to it," Agent Tell wearily grumbled. "It's like having a gangland war all over again. Arcadia Movement versus Heaven Movement."

"We've heard of it-" Kaido's words were swallowed as the car rocked and explosions began. We were under attack.

* * *

On the highway from Neo Domino City to Satisfaction Town, normally surrounding us would have been dry sand, deserted plains with occasional hills, and a hot sun beating overhead despite that we were in Japan rather than, say, Texas or Mexico. Today, though, the highway was deserted as mist descended over the field, and the Duel between Rex and Satsuki started.

Satsuki: LP 8000

Rex: LP 8000

"With this Dragon Ravine, your fate is sealed," Satsuki growled.

"Until another field takes over," Rex rebutted. "Dragon Ravine, really?"

"I discard a card to mill a Dragon Type monster from my deck to the graveyard, such as Debris Dragon," Satsuki began. "With that, I activate Monster Reincarnation to discard a card and add Debris Dragon from my graveyard to my hand. I summon the tuner monster, Debris Dragon [1000/2000]. Its effect allows me to revive a monster with five hundred or less attack power, so I revive the monster I discarded for Dragon Ravine: Black Feather – Fane the Steel Chain [500/800]."

"B- Black Feather?" Rex sputtered as the chain-wielding monster appeared.

"What is so surprising?" Satsuki asked. "I apprenticed under Crow-shishou. Isn't it obvious that I have Black Feather cards? Tuning, level two Fane to level four Debris Dragon. Red spear, may all enchantments fall beneath you. Gather the force to strike through into the heart. Synchro summon! Come, Dragunity Knight – Gae Dearg!"

The red-armoured dragon arise, its claws and talons covered in blue scales and its head topped with a wickedly sharp spike [2400/800].

"I'll set a card, turn end. At the end phase, the Hysteric Sign I discarded with the help of Monster Reincarnation activates, allowing me to add Harpie Channeler, Harpie Queen and Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon to my hand," Satsuki announced.

"My turn, draw!" Rex roared. "I summon Trick Archfiend [1000/0]! Now since I control an Archfiend monster, I can special summon from my hand Archfiend Commander [2500/1200], but at the cost of destroying one Archfiend monster I control. So I'll destroy Trick Archfiend. The effect of Trick Archfiend; when destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the graveyard, I can add an Archfiend monster of my choice from my deck to my hand, and I choose Lord of Terror – Genesis Archfiend. Archfiend Commander, attack Gae Dearg with Demon Bane!"

"Trap card, Waboku!" Satsuki defended as her knight was surrounded by the three priestesses.

"I'll set three cards, turn end." Rex concluded.

"Archfiend monsters?" Satsuki observed. "You've given up on running that Dark World deck already?"

"My loyalties were hardly ever with the Dark World," Rex answered.

"Whatever. My turn, I draw!" Satsuki called. "The effect of Gae Dearg; once per turn I can add a level four or lower Dragon or Winged Beast Type monster from my deck to my hand, and then send a Dragon or Winged Beast from my hand to the graveyard. So I add Harpie Channeler, and discard Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon. I summon Harpie Channeler [1400/1300], and discard Harpie Queen to special summon Harpie Dancer [1200/1000] from my deck to the field."

"Two level four monsters..." I muttered by the sidelines.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Satsuki called as Harpie Channeler and Harpie Dancer were sucked into the vortex. "When the queens of the storms combine with the will of the cold, the result will bring the hailstorm down upon everything! Exceed summon! Soar, Sylphine, the Sub-Zero Siren!"

Snow began to fall. Ice formed on her eyelashes, and her breath steamed. The temperature dropped several times, and from the skies above the monster spread blocky sharp dark blue wings. Against its light-blue, almost white skin, the female winged monster had dark blue crystalline plates that served as a skirt, as armour on her arms and legs, and all over her head. Her bodice was white, and so pale as to blend with her skin [2000/2200].

And at the same time, the roads behind Satsuki's Morrighan steamed and froze over, leaving behind a trail of spikes in her wake like some parody of Ghost Rider. The power of Winter trailed from the champion of Winter, just like... just like Vanessa, only colder, stronger, greater.

"Chain quick-play, Fires of Doomsday!" Rex called. "I'll special summon two Doomsday Tokens to the field [0/0]. Activate Continuous Trap, Monster Chain. Now, since I control three monsters, three Chain Counters are placed on this Continuous Trap, one to be removed at each of my opponent's end phases. While this card is on the field, neither player can declare an attack."

Satsuki issued a harsh bark of laughter. "The effect of Sylphine; once per turn, I can detach one Exceed Material from this card, and then negate the effects of all face-up cards your opponent currently controls. Sylphine, Perfect Freeze!"

"What?" Rex yelled as the bird-beast absorbed one Exceed material and froze his field.

"If I do use this effect, Sylphine gains three hundred attack power for each face-up card currently on the field, except herself, and both of these effects are applied until my next standby phase," Satsuki giggled. "There are... thanks to you, there are six cards on the field other than Sylphine [2000/2200 → 3800/2200]. Sylphine, Ice Ray on Archfiend Commander!"

The cold ray shot through the monster, freezing it in a trance and shattering it, and the shrapnel pelted at Rex.

Rex: LP 8000 → LP 6700

Satsuki: LP 8000

"I'll set a card, turn end. Your turn," Satsuki murmured.

"I... draw!" Rex growled. "I tribute one Doomsday Token to summon Archfiend Commander [2500/1200]!"

"W- What?" Satsuki bristled. "You..."

"I'm not that dumb," Rex shook his head. "True, Monster Chain's effect won't protect me now, but neither will it protect you. When Archfiend Commander is tribute summoned, I can special summon from my graveyard a level six Fiend-Type monster in defence mode. Revive, Archfiend Commander!"

"Two level six monsters..." Satsuki bristled. "And then what?"

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Rex called. "Exceed summon! Come, Sword Breaker!"

The warrior monster [2700/1000] arose, completely buried under the swords it wore.

"That's..." Satsuki blinked.

"I detach one Exceed material from Sword Breaker, and declare a Type such as Winged Beast," Rex called. "Sword Breaker, attack Sylphine with Genocide Blade!"

Unexpectedly, against all odds, Sword Breaker's blade managed to behead the icy monster.

"My Sylphine..." Satsuki growled.

"Sylphine might have the stronger attack power, but my Sword Breaker has the effect of slaying all monsters of a chosen Type," Rex murmured. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"You..." Satsuki growled. "My turn, draw!"

She glanced down at her cards. "Monster Chain's effect begins, so neither or us can attack. By the effect of Gae Dearg, I add Harpie Lady One to my hand, and discard Harpie Lady One. With that, I banish Fane and Harpie Dancer in the graveyard to special summon Dark Simorgh [2700/1000]!"

With a cry, the dark bird-creature appeared upon the field.

"Shit," Rex muttered.

"Your Sword Breaker has the ability to destroy Winged Beasts, but that ability happens only upon declaring attack," Satsuki looked amused. "Turn end, and your Monster Chain loses one Chain Counter (2)."

"My turn. Draw!" Rex growled. "I'll activate Allure of Darkness, banishing Lord of Terror – Genesis Archfiend from my hand to draw two cards. Now, I'll activate the set Escape from the Dark Dimension. Revive, Lord of Terror – Genesis Archfiend [3000/2000]!"

The giant demon crashed down, seated upon a great throne. Its dark scales could hardly conceal the reddish flesh of its calves, forearms, and the crimson of its blade. As it appeared, it bellowed in a facsimile of laughter.

"Once per turn, I can banish an Archfiend card from my hand or my graveyard, and destroy one card on the field," Rex called. "I shall banish Archfiend Commander, and target Dark Simorgh! Genocide Beam!"

The black bird squawked as it was destroyed by the great lord's sword.

"Turn end with a set card," Rex called.

"Draw!" Satsuki called, considering the card before she smirked outright. "Have you kept count?"

"Count?" Rex echoed.

"By having five Wind Attribute monsters in my graveyard, this card can be special summoned from my hand," Satsuki confided. "Not counting Dark Simorgh, right now my graveyard contains the Wind Attribute Harpie Queen, Harpie Channeler, Debris Dragon, Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon and Harpie Lady One. Arise, Windrose the Elemental Lord!"

Green armour materialised as a gale blew across the highway. Purple petals fluttered about, a herald of that which was to come. They assembled in a vaguely bird-like shape, purple roses making up the wings under green marble-patterned armour [2800/2200].

"This monster's a Nomi," Satsuki replied, using the colloquial term for monsters which could only be special summoned by a specific way. "When this monster is special summoned, all of my opponent's spells and traps are destroyed."

"That's totally one-sided!" Rex complained as Monster Chain, Escape from the Dark Dimension and the set card were destroyed.

"Your Lord of Terror is destroyed and banished as well," Satsuki blew it a kiss as it groaned and shattered. "Trap activate, Hysteric Party. I discard a card, and then-"

Three Harpies appeared; the green-haired angelic Harpie Queen, the black-winged Harpie Channeler, and the original crimson haired Harpie Lady One.

"Harpie Lady One grants all Wind Attribute monsters a three hundred point attack boost [1300/1400 → 1600/1400]," Satsuki announced as all of her monsters seemed to glow a sickly emerald green, from Windrose [2800/2200 → 3100/2200], Gae Dearg [2400/800 → 2700/800], the Harpie Queen [1900/1200 → 2200/1200] and the Channeler [1400/1300 → 1700/1300].

"Lucky me," Rex smirked as the shadow of a card appeared in the background, that of a man shouting at troops. "Threatening Roar keeps my monsters safe, and it was chained to the destruction effect of Windrose."

"For how long?" Satsuki sweetly replied. "I activate Wing Requital, paying six hundred life points to draw cards equal to the number of Winged Beasts I control, so I draw four. But, this turn I cannot use those cards."

Satsuki: LP 8000 → LP 7400

Rex: LP 6700

"I'll construct the overlay network with all three Harpie monsters." Satsuki chanted. "Exceed Summon! Appear now, our servant, Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon!"

The blood-scarlet dragon that appeared was slimmer, with the same decorated headpiece and collar as the original but somehow more malicious. A chain slid down from its neck for Satsuki to hold [2000/2500] [2700/800 → 2400/800] [3100/2200 → 2800/2200].

"Turn end, Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon will detach one Exceed material by its effect."

"My turn, draw!" Rex shot back. "By its own effect, I special summon from my hand the tuner monster, Trap Eater [1900/1600] and destroy your Hysteric Party."

"Knew it," Satsuki commented as the ugly fish-face monster appeared.

"Then, I summon Lancer Archfiend [1600/1400]," Rex called as the lancing monster appeared. "Tuning, level four Lancer Archfiend to level four Trap Eater. The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! The king's soul, Red Demon's Dragon!"

A grand fireball erupted upon the field. The temperature climbed from freezing to burning hot, and I saw a passing tumble-weed catch fire. The dragon that appeared was horned, more muscled than any other dragon I knew. The ace monster of the World King, Jack Atlas... and one of the five legendary dragons that once saved the world, the Red Demon's Dragon [3000/2000].

"Red Demon's Dragon, attack Windrose!" Rex called. "Absolute Power Force!"

"Chain trap card, Impenetrable Attack!" Satsuki groaned.

Satsuki: LP 7400 → LP 7200

Rex: LP 6700

"Dammit..." Satsuki groaned.

"Sword Breaker, attack Gae Dearg!" Rex roared as the dragon was made short work of.

Satsuki: LP 7200 → LP 6900

Rex: LP 6700

Rex's eyes narrowed. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"That was close..." Satsuki muttered. "I draw. I'll use the effect of Gae Dearg to search for Black Feather – Blizzard the Far North to add to my hand, and discard Black Feather – Mistral the Silver Shield. I summon Black Feather – Blizzard the Far North [1300/0], and with its effect I can special summon the discarded Black Feather – Mistral the Silver Shield [100/1800] in defence mode. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters! Exceed summon! Come, Daigusto Phoenix!"

The new monster was a flaming small phoenix, with a beak-like mouth and burnished orange with green fire [1500/1100].

"The effect of Daigusto Phoenix," Satsuki called. "Once per turn, I can detach one material and choose a Wind Attribute monster. During that turn, that monster can attack twice during the battle phase. I choose Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon."

"What? But compared to Red Demon's Dragon, that monster..." Rex's voice trailed off.

"I play Monster Reborn to special summon Harpie Lady One [1300/1400 → 1600/1400] [2000/2500 → 2300/2500] [2800/2200 → 3100/2200]. Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon can attack directly!" Satsuki snapped. "Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon, attack directly with Mirage Fire Giga! Twice!"

Rex: LP 6700 → LP 4700 → LP 2700

Satsuki: LP 6900

The Throne skidded for a brief moment.

"Rex!" I shouted in concern, unable to break into the Duel field that isolated the Duelists.

"Windrose, attack Red Demon's Dragon with Hurricane Wave!" Satsuki cried out. If it struck, Rex was as good as dead.

"Rex!" I shouted.

"Continuous Trap, Cosmic Mind!" Rex bellowed. "Up to twice per turn, Dragon-Type Synchro monsters cannot be destroyed- urk!"

Rex: LP 2700 → LP 2600

Satsuki: LP 6900

"Turn end." Satsuki growled as Rex skidded behind her. "You, you're still this thick-headed, aren't you?"

"It's a family trait," Rex disaffected answered. "Is this your standard? Michiru was a lot harder to deal with than this."

"Michiru?" Satsuki laughed. "I guess that's true. She's a fighting commander, not a messenger like me. But, I'd like to think I have pretty good skills."

Her tone suddenly changed. "You know that like this, you can't win, right? Even if you win this Duel, the enemies you face this time are serious. They aren't playing about, skulking behind shadows like the Courts. They won't play by the rules of the Courts, and they'll kill you given half a chance. This is not a game you can play by luck and live."

"A game? Do you think their deaths are just a game?" Rex protested. "Uncle Rua, Aunt Ruka... do you still think it's just a _game_? Lives are being lost here!"

"That's a matter of view," Satsuki answered. "Tell me, do you know exactly what is worth innumerable lives?"

"Worth... innumerable lives...?" Rex echoed.

"The lives of many, many Psychic Duelists, and the lives of many more Duel Spirits," Satsuki replied. "Yes, this is a game, and the stakes are higher than you can ever imagine."

"Don't screw with me!" Rex yelled. "I don't recognise this! I don't think this is a game! I... I'll solve this! I won't allow you, Shimotsuki, Ryuusei, or any of your screwed-up lot to mess with the lives of others! It's my turn, I _draw_!"

Rex's next draw came at a moment, when I thought that he could no longer win.

"Because I control a level eight or higher Synchro monster, I can special summon Creation Resonator [800/600] from my hand," Rex called. "And then, I summon Barrier Resonator [300/800]. I double tune my monsters! Roll out the red carpet for the star of the show!"

"Rex... that monster?" I called.

"The King and The Devil... here and now shall become as one." Rex's words were accompanied by a sudden tense silence. "A raging Spirit! Lift up the very cries of Creation itself! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Scar-Red Nova Dragon!"

Now it grew hotter, and Red Demon's Dragon gave an answering roar as the new monster appeared in its dying wake, bearing more plates of red and black. Its wings resembled metal plates hammered into shape and bent into wings. Its skeletal body stood out amidst the scarlet flames of its power, as if its body had been eroded away by the sheer power of the beast [3500/3000 → 5000/3000].

Around it, a thousand or more dancing scarlet flames leapt up, burning in defiance of Winter.

"You're going to rely on that power, and just that?" Satsuki questioned. "A power that is not yours will never listen to you."

"Two years of hell isn't enough?" Rex hollered back. "Watching my friend rip himself apart over each death isn't enough?! Watching someone else do everything that I couldn't do, while I travelled and hoped for a way to reach beyond isn't enough?! I don't want power, or land, or anything like that. I've seen the trappings of it, of how my father was hardly ever at home, of how my mother always kept crying to herself and keeping newspaper clippings of him in her scrapbook, of how Reina couldn't even remember his face except that it's _just like mine_!"

"Rex..." I whispered, feeling slightly contrite at the sheer feeling behind his words.

"Now, I activate this card, Xyz Treasure!" Rex continued. "There are three Exceed monsters on the field, so I draw three cards. I activate Trap Booster from my hand, discarding a card to activate a Trap from my hand. I activate another Escape from the Dark Dimension."

"Escape from the-" Satsuki cut off as the Lord of Terror rejoined them.

"Lord of Terror, I banish Archfiend Commander to destroy Windrose," Rex instructed as the demon destroyed the armoured bird. "Your Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon is still immune... so I'll banish the Overlay Eater I just discarded to take away its last material!"

"What?" Satsuki's mask of calm shattered as the green light winked out, caught by a long tongue.

"If I had everything to keep my family together, without threats from spirits or demons or things that bump in the night, then I don't care!" Rex shouted.

"But, do you really think that the world would listen to that?" Satsuki questioned. "Do you really think that your will is enough?"

"It's not about my will or anyone else's," Rex answered. "This is a wish! Lord of Terror, destroy Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon with Genocide Sword!"

Satsuki: LP 6900 → LP 5900

Rex: LP 2600

"Sword Breaker, attack!" Rex commanded as Daigusto Phoenix bit the big one. "And... Scar-Red Nova Dragon, attack her directly! Burning Soul!"

Satsuki: LP 5900 → LP 4700 → LP 0

Rex: LP 2600

Instead of stopping and the hood popping open, the Morrighan continued to move along. As I watched, blue light gathered around it.

Satsuki's voice came to us, as if from far, far away. "Be careful, both of you. Sometimes... the real monsters are the ones who are very, very human."

"What?" Rex snorted as she disappeared into the corona of light.

"Not what, when," I dismounted to rush towards Nico's inn and opened the door. It opened – predictably – straight to the bar.

All the customers were asleep. A scent of honey and warm milk hung around. By the bar counter, sitting on his lap, Reina gurgled at us happily.

"You..." Rex stared at the one holding Reina.

Red bangs hung like curtains to frame his face, though the rest of his hair was black. He looked handsome, not overly packed with muscle but not like a pushover, the kind of man who offered kindness but could kick your ass if you offered him violence. He wore a black shirt and jeans with army-surplus boots that looked like they had seen some use. It should have looked slovenly, but he made it look like Esprit's autumn line-up. His eyes gleamed blue-green, and though he held Reina with a gentle air, I had no doubt that right now, the biggest threat to Reina was him.

"Hello," he said.

I found my voice, but Rex beat me to it. "Hello, Ryuusei."

* * *

_**Cosmic Mind  
**__**Type: Continuous Trap  
If you control a monster with Star, Quasar or Nova in their name; this card can be activated from your hand during either player's turn. Up to twice per turn Dragon type Synchro monsters cannot be destroyed. You can send this card to the graveyard: target one Dragon type Synchro monster in your graveyard; special summon it.**_

_**Created by **__**Ten Commandments**__** and used with his permission.**_

_**Please review!**_


	68. LXV: Rise of the Bujin

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXV: Rise of the Bujin**

"I've never liked this scene," Kaido said. This prompted quite a few stares towards him.

"What?" Agent Tell finally managed to hiss.

"Detective confronts murderer. Murderer produces gun, points same at detective. Murderer tells detective the whole sad story, with the idea of shooting him at the end of it. Thus wasting a lot of valuable time, even if in the end murderer did shoot the detective," Kaido elaborated. "Only, murderer never does. Something always happens to prevent it."

"The gods don't like this scene either," Ms Sophia agreed. "They always manage to spoil it."

"Well, in this case..." Yamada-san let his eyes drift towards the doors that were being fired upon. Parts of the mirrors were no doubt strewn about North Rampart Street, as the road-sign helpfully informed us on the other side of the windows. At least the Hummer H2 was bulletproof. "A spoiler doesn't seem to be forthcoming."

"Is this the time to be chatting away peacefully?!" Ryuusuke yelled, as a fresh wave of gunfire bore down upon us.

Fire and thunder seemed to be the byword, as sparks danced on the surface of the car's steel body and bullets thumped outside on the ground. Windows splinted like spider-webs, but held together just barely before it caved and we dived to the floor of the car.

"Bulletproof glazing," Yamada-san identified, scowling. "We're sitting ducks here. Driver?"

Ms Sophia just scowled back before turning towards the driver's compartment. "Mu, sit rep."

No answer.

"Mu Narukami, so help me give me a goddamn sit rep, now!" Ms Sophia yelled.

"H- Huh?" A voice murmured. "I'm sorry, Virgo! B- But, we're being fired on!"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Ms Sophia acidly shot back. "Can we drive?"

"N- No! Oh god, we're being fired upon! With guns!"

The hail of gunfire abruptly cut off.

"Drive, you idiot!" Ms Sophia yelled.

The engine roared and took off straight down the road.

"St. Claude Avenue, stick to the main roads!" Ms Sophia barked as it trundled along.

"What about civilian danger?" Agent Tell barked. "We can't just leave-"

"Tilly, none of us are bulletproof!" Ms Sophia snarled as the Hummer rocked again with another explosion. "Call the Tower!"

"Erm..." the woman driver's voice whispered. "Merci?"

"What, Mu?" Ms Sophia groaned.

"There's... a guy in the middle of the road."

"If he's idiotic enough to stand in the middle of it, run him over."

"He's got a DuelDisk and-"

Whatever the mysterious Mu was about to say was lost as the glass broke. I glimpsed a flashing blade that had stabbed directly through the windscreen and part of the privacy webbing between the passenger and driver cabin.

Ryuusuke screamed. Kaido peered at the water-patterned blade with ample curiosity. "That's new."

The long sword-blade was pulled out right as Mu's scream could be heard and the Hummer swerved.

Beside us, Agent Tell had already clicked his phone shut and was pulling out his gun. "I'm going to-"

"That's stupid and you know it," Ms Sophia and Yamada-san immediately shot down his suggestion.

Yamada-san allowed Ms Sophia to explain with a dismissive wave as he crawled over the double seat towards the vehicle commander position, deck drawn.

"Psychic Duelists," Ms Sophia explained with that phrase, now observing Agent Tell. Agent Tell shook his head. "Fine, go wild."

Ms Sophia immediately pulled out her phone. "Attention, Virgo to Tower. Was picking up Polaris and company, currently under fire in the bulletproof Hummer on South Rampart Street, heading towards St Claude Avenue. Request overwhelming force, caution the presence of automatics and Psychic Duelists."

"Duelist," Mu corrected.

"Duelist- are you saying that there's only one guy?" Ms Sophia cut off to dive for the door.

"Wait-" Agent Tell pulled on it to stop her from jumping out of the Hummer. "Bloody hell, Sophia! Are you insane!"

Words echoed outside, eerie, quaint words;

"Hear this word which I take up for you as a dirge, O house of Israel: she has fallen, she will not rise again – the virgin Israel. She lies neglected on her land; there is none to raise her up. For thus says the Lord God, the city which goes forth a thousand strong, will have a hundred left. And the one which goes forth a hundred strong, will have ten left to the house of thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, seek me that you may live."

"This quote..." Agent Tell blinked.

"I have come to judge you, she who takes the name of the North Star," the male voice continued. "I have come for you, she who takes the name of Polaris."

The door opened and Ms Sophia piled out, rolling immediately before she got up in a shooting stance of bended knee, gun held straight out with one hand. With the other hand, she made a motion that caused the DuelDisk attached to lash out and lock together.

By my side, Agent Tell made an aggrieved noise. "She stole my gun!"

"You're under arrest for illegal weapons possession, disorderly, and attempted murder," Ms Sophia barked as the other door opened and Yamada-san got out, readying a five-card hand.

Secretly, I crawled out after Yamada-san, and then tilted my head to study the ground. Yamada-san shifted to cover me in the case that I had to run. I felt like telling him not to, but I knew that there was no way I could dissuade him, nor was there any logical reason I could use.

"The laws of man, supersede that of higher powers?" the man answered. "I think not. Just in case-"

Ms Sophia fired once, twice. Both bullets pinged harmlessly.

"As expected," the man sounded like he was panting. "So, the fabled Polaris refuses to face the last of the Angel family? Could it be that the Cold Queen finally knows that judgement is upon her?"

"I- I don't know," I confessed to Yamada-san.

"Shion Angel," Ms Sophia spat the name with disgust, as if it were a bad taste in her tongue. "We had an agreement. The Heaven Movement gets to maintain their holds over the rest of the Bible Belt. We get Louisiana and Miami, you get everything else, and the Arcadia Movement doesn't dive into Virginia to deal with the rest of your fundamentalist organisation."

"Your godless atheist organisation cannot save you, Merci Sophia," the man snarled. "Nor did they save the rest of the Sophia from judgement."

"Shut up, you overbearing prick," Ms Sophia fired back. "Besides, do you really want to be facing Polaris as you are?"

"The messenger has mandated that the Polaris must die," Shion Angel spoke in a voice that had a touch of sadness. "And after what that demon did to us, can we disagree? The word of above is absolute, therefore Polaris must die."

I couldn't take it any longer. I stood up.

Shion Angel, for a supposed terrorist, was actually quite distinctive. He had yellow eyes, a skin tone the colour of soft peach, short spiky hair the colour of silver, and was fairly clean-cut if not outright handsome. He wore a white shirt under a sleeveless yellow jacket with white skinny jeans, yellow boots, and white diamond ear piercings all around his ears. Oddly, he had a tattoo of a pair of dove's wings on a halo on his right hand. On his left arm, he carried a halo-shaped DuelDisk, almost similar to the oldest DuelDisks in the novelty museums or recent historical exhibits.

Immediately, he turned to face me, his yellow eyes wide upon the realisation that I was standing here. "You..."

"I am the current Polaris, Seika Kannazuki," I spoke loudly, lest Shion Angel would mishear me. "What seems to be the problem?"

"You... no, you cannot be Polaris," he shook his head, eyes wide. "Where is she?"

"W- Who?" I squeaked as he brandished his DuelDisk, and a creature resembling a horse with a sword mounted upon its head appeared by his side.

"The demon who stormed us seven years ago!" he screamed. "The demons who killed over fifty of us, who killed my father! The Cold Queen who passed her sacrilegious judgement upon us, Setsuka Shimotsuki!"

The outburst left him panting with emotion, so much that he was glaring at me with all of his efforts. When he next spoke, I was caught by surprise at the sadness in his words. "And you're telling me, that you... _you're_ Polaris?"

"I don't know you," I immediately answered, panicking. If he was one of those who had come to seek revenge unknown upon Setsu-chan... "Setsuka Shimotsuki has defected from the Arcadia Movement. She is a wanted fugitive. She is no longer here. The reason for your vendetta is no longer here, believe me."

"You... you are Polaris..." he echoed numbly.

"Come," I persuaded. "Please don't let yourself do this, Mr Angel. Let us talk."

He shook his head, and bright white light, sterile and hot, seemed to blaze from within him. "Glorious Halo... I see. You are the one who possesses all the gifts. The arsenal."

"What?" I echoed.

He drew a large-barrelled gun and, without preamble, aimed it at the fallen Hummer. "I see that the engine of that Hummer is leaking. If I were to fire this flare gun, I presume..." he let his words trail off.

Even though I had taken the language only starting from Duel Academia, I was familiar with English syntax to realise the implied threat. "No. Please, we can work something out."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists, Polaris," Ms Sophia sharply protested, her aim never wavering. "And there's no point wasting breath on goddamn fundamentalists. The only solution is to kill them and salt the earth where they stood, and then eradicate the whole idea."

"Evil should not be allowed to propagate, and the Sophia were evil," Shion stubbornly insisted.

"So right means killing my family for no other reason?" Ms Sophia fired right back.

"The Sophia were gatekeepers of the Underworld Gates, they were associated with those of evil since the beginning," Shion argued.

"What the hell?" Ms Sophia fired right back. "We never did anything to you guys, we were just running Symphony! Your Heaven Movement just killed my whole family for that? I was there, I saw the slaughter. My parents couldn't even put up a fight when your Heaven Movement came! I'd say that the Cold Queen brought comeuppance onto you guys."

"It doesn't matter. Evil bears no negotiating with," Shion switched off from the stand-off as abruptly as it began, turning to me as he aimed with a practised air. "Even the most proficient Psychic would be hard-pressed to deal with a Dragon'sBreath round this close in range. Now, for the lives of everyone else here. Seika Kannazuki, come with me."

"What?" I heard Yamada-san mutter.

"He's after you now?" Agent Tell blankly echoed.

"Seika-chan, no," Ryuusuke whispered. "You can't. You can't follow him, or else-"

"I must try," I insisted. "I must give you all a chance to escape."

"There's no way I'm telling Yuko I lost you to some two-bit hack," Yamada-san snarled as he gripped onto my wrist. "No negotiations. No giving in. We're through."

"But... but the Hummer and all of you-" I shivered, though New Orleans hung in a near-oppressive heat about us. "It's my duty to all of the Movement. I-"

"We came here to negotiate business," Yamada-san cracked his knuckles. "It's my job to protect you."

Having said that, he dived from his crouch to some sort of low run that ended with him throwing – a bottle of water? – into the air at the same time that Shion fired. Droplets spattered on the ground about Yamada-san, dissipating almost immediately into the air upon contact with air, and in that instant he hissed a single syllable under his breath and flipped his left hand palm up. A rattling buzz of furious sound was heard as water condensed over the field immediately.

A sudden, gelatinous cloud of faint, foggy mist interposed itself between us and the gun barrel before Shion could fire. I saw the flare strike against that gooey cloud, sending watery ripple patterns racing across it, ploughing a widening furrow through the semi-solid mass. There was a hissing sound, and then the Hummer was slapped across the bumper by a spray of tiny, dark particles the size of grains of sand.

"You used the principles of entropy," Shion coldly observed. "Disrupting, shattering, and dispersing any objects trying to pass through it, turning their own energy against them by shattering the bullets with their own momentum, breaking them into many tiny pieces, spreading them out so that their individual impact energy would be fine control in a split second must be a gift from the Lord himself."

"No Lord involved," Yamada-san corrected. "Just hard work."

"You dare question the divinity behind your gifts?"

"I think whatever higher power you call God and I must agree to disagree," Yamada-san corrected as he held up a piton dart gun and fired. The projectile played out, latching onto the halo-shaped DuelDisk with little trouble.

"Oi, I'm the-" Ms Sophia cut off under Yamada-san's stare.

"Therefore, since we must agree to disagree," Yamada-san continued without breaking his stride as Shion Angel tugged ineffectually at the Duel Anchor that bound them for the duration. "We might as well settle this as all Duelists do, and lay our cards out on the table. Oh, wait, I presume religious souls do not know of the colloquialisms associated with gambling, since gambling is presumably a sin, being linked to greed and sloth and, I imagine, gluttony. What I mean is, let us have a Duel."

* * *

The ceiling fan creaked overhead. Gentle snores filled the tiny wood-built bar that made up the attached meal area of the inn. Reina cheered happily as much as only an oblivious two-year-old can, as Ryuusei patted her head in absent fondness.

"I guess you got Regulus's message," I started. By my side, Rex held himself barely, tensely waiting for the opportunity to snatch Reina away.

"I did," Ryuusei allowed, spreading his hands. I spotted a spot of oil on his left thumb, and briefly I wondered if he had been fixing up another D-Wheel or something. "I didn't expect to see Regulus. I thought that you had finally figured out how to send a messenger to me, either the Beast or the Demon."

"The closest thing we have to relatives are dead, and you just sent their bodies back by what, special express?" I said. "A warning would have been nice."

"Chase, you know the rules of Duel Spirits as well as any human can comprehend," Ryuusei shook his head. "The only reason I could touch Uncle Rua and Aunt Ruka's corpses and send them back was because of Aunt Ruka's connection to the highest of my Court, Ancient Fairy Dragon and Life Stream Dragon. In this, I could guarantee my promise to Ancient Fairy Dragon. However, during our last... tussle on the roof of the Arcadia Movement headquarters, a lot of my... connections to the mortal worlds became... stilted."

"Why?" Rex asked.

Ryuusei's brow furrowed. "When Seika told me that I wasn't her brother anymore."

Rex looked halfway between shocked and blank. "She never said that!"

"Well, in the context, no, she did not," Ryuusei agreed. "However, the words were there, and all spirits, even I, are bound by words and obligations and duties. Therefore, the... shall we say, human side of Fudo Ryuusei was..."

"Barred," I spoke up. "The mantles of power change their bearers. It turned Shimotsuki into what she was, and now... it's changing you. Into... something else."

Ryuusei inclined his head. "As you said it. _Barred_."

I leaned forward. "Then... do you feel regret for your actions?"

"Regret?" he echoed.

"For having to kill the Beckmans," I clarified. "For killing Ichimonji. For trying to kill Yuko and Yukio's father. By the way, their Mum is more receptive to them now, but it doesn't change the fact that you would have framed and set up Yamada Yuuta."

"I feel regret because their deaths were necessary, though I wish otherwise," Ryuusei answered. "I'm glad that some good came out of it. But what's past is past."

"... well, so much for regret," I backed slightly. "A necessary evil, then?"

"Depends," Ryuusei shrugged. "I wanted to remove an opposition to Seika. I wanted her to be happy."

"Why can't you understand?" I murmured.

"Understand what?" Ryuusei sounded honestly perplexed.

"Seika grew up in a world of Psychics as one without power," I said. "That's why she knew that there were things in this world she couldn't do on her own, that there was no other way for her to show gratitude. That's why she never spoke up against those against her, because she was too tired just trying her best to manage. Why can't you understand that she never wanted power, or responsibility, or this? Why can't you understand that what you did made her sad? You're damn lucky she's in America for the next week, or else this would have been even more awkward."

Reina's giggles were the only sounds in a long moment.

"You called me here for questions," when Ryuusei sounded, his voice was neutrally flat. "State your questions, then."

"So you're taking that road?" I fiercely rebutted.

"Says the one with the Duel Spirit in his head," Ryuusei sharply replied.

"He's doing nothing," I argued.

Ryuusei's silence was all that was needed.

"Dammit," Rex sighed. "I'll change the damned subject. Who killed them?"

Ryuusei's fingers tapped the bar for a few brief moments. "Before I answer, there is my price."

I groaned.

"Price?" Rex repeated, disgusted.

"It's the rules," Ryuusei shrugged. "If I answer you, you have an obligation to me to return the favour, and depending on the method done, the matter could very easily be a criminal matter."

"What did you have in mind?" I cut in before Rex could lose his head in negotiation.

"A game," Ryuusei admitted. "Twenty questions, so to speak. An honest answer to one question. Answer me, and I will tell you what you seek."

"You could just ask for an unlimited favour," I snorted. "I've heard that one before."

"I didn't say you'd have to answer in full," Ryuusei conceded. "I certainly don't wish to threaten you. But what you would answer, you must answer honestly."

I thought about it for a minute. "All right. Done."

Ryuusei leaned over and filched an opened bottle of soda from the bar, cracking open the cap. "Rex, tell me. How is Carly-san? I haven't quite heard from her since the King Goblin nearly made off with Reina."

"You'd know," Rex grumbled. "She's... not very well. I think she was jealous of Reina taking up Father's attention as well as mine, that's why she... she said those words."

"Words, cannot ever be unsaid," Ryuusei agreed as Reina cooed by his side. "Chase. Answer only this. Why do you do what you do?"

I blinked. "You mean Duel?"

"I mean always," he corrected. "Why do you investigate in connection with Duel Spirits? Why do you present yourself openly so, as an investigator? Why do you help other mortals as you do?"

"Uh," I paused. "What else would I do?"

"Precisely," he reasoned. "You could be doing many other things. You could be seeking a purpose in life in other careers. You could be sequestered and studying. You could be using your skills for material gain and living in wealth. Even in your chosen profession as an investigator, you could do more to avoid confrontation than you do. Instead you consign yourself to coasting on your status as heir of the Manjoume Group, a small home, and the danger of facing all manner of mortal and supernatural foe. Why?"

I leaned against the nearest empty table, folded my arms, and frowned. "What kind of question is that?"

"An important one," Ryuusei pointed out. "And one you agreed to answer honestly."

"Well..." I paused. "I guess I wanted to do something to help people. Something I was good at."

"Is that why?"

I chewed over the thought for a moment. Why had I started doing this stuff? I mean, it seemed like every few months I was running up against situations that had the potential to horribly kill me. I've never met another spirit-caller with my kind of problems, not even Rodriguez. Others didn't challenge other supernatural forces. They didn't ally themselves with the Movement at large, therefore declaring themselves of other forces, of something paranormal. They didn't get into trouble for sticking their noses in other people's business, whether or not they'd been paid to do so. They didn't meet my kind of life on a daily basis.

So why did I do it? Was it some kind of masochistic death wish? Maybe a psychological dysfunction of some sort?

Why?

"I don't know," I finally decided. "I guess I never thought about it all that much."

Ryuusei watched me with unnerving intensity for a full minute before nodding. "Don't you think you should?"

I scowled down at my shoes, and didn't answer.

"Do you know how to really control someone?" Ryuusei prompted.

I cleared my throat, but said nothing as I looked at him.

His blue-green eyes were huge and deep. "Give them what they want. Give them what they need. Give them what no one else can give. If you can do that, they'll come back to you again and again. I know what I can give you, Chase. Shall I tell you?"

"I'm not buying," I snapped.

"I know." Ryuusei answered. "Winter has offered you a position in her Court thrice already. I thought you wanted peace, but obviously I was wrong."

"Why?" I snarled. "How can I not want peace? How can I not wish for everyone to remain together?"

Ryuusei leaned forward, and told me, very gently, "Because that's _boring_. Because you're the type to enjoy flinging yourself into danger. Your energies could have been directed to something like base-jumping, or even police service, but your very background leaves that skewed, as many legal subjects has been skewed with you all of your life. So the only occupation where your status as heir of the Manjoume Group, as a Duelist, and as a unique spirit-caller with the power of the Spirits' Cry could be used without much effect as another weapon in your arsenal, and where your wit and grit is sorely tested, is amongst the affairs of the two planes. You _enjoy_ it."

"You shut up," I snapped back as I felt Rex's stare. "We answered. Now cough up."

Ryuusei primly set Reina down, prompting a full moment of the Atlas daughter warbling for 'Nii-chan' and Rex walking over to ineffectually tug at Reina before he let off with a curse. "The rulers of the Courts are not allowed to intervene directly into mortal affairs. To that end, we have mortal agents. Select... members of the high and mighty of each Court make contracts with mortal agents, or agents make agreements with the standing Courts. Our members are of a limited scale, no more than about a hundred or so scattered across the lands. Of course, there are informers like the bartender at the Magic Formula, and then there are direct agents who have made a contract with a Duel Spirit and so gained something from that contract in exchange for power. These agents do answer to both Courts, and do therefore gain powers associated with either Court, but they keep their free will where it matters."

"Ah," Rex demurred. "I'm pretty sure the problem with free will is that sometimes, people can choose otherwise."

"And when they do, it causes... problems. For us all." Ryuusei considered. "And then they... well, no sane mortal can admit to the existence of invisible monsters in public. Logic is... very close-minded in such matters."

"So this time you have a rogue agent," I supplied.

"There are... others," Ryuusei allowed. "Who have spirit partners, but are not allied with either Court, nor serve a higher power. Thus, they do not fall under the purview of either Court. In this case, a... shall we call them, a Seer, independent of either Court may one day find out the truth that there are Duel Spirits all around, that maliciously or unthinkingly hurt and injure and wound each other _because, _and there are humans who knowingly allow these to happen."

"And that there are humans who knowingly do these things with the help of Duel Spirits, and the Courts don't do anything," I pointed out.

Ryuusei sighed. "There's also that. Now with that train of thought taken to its logical extremes, what other option is there for such a hostile agent, or agents, to take?"

I didn't answer. I didn't have to. The answer was in the two corpses currently undergoing cremation. Rex and I didn't have the heart to stick around for Mr and Mrs Morisawa's tears, nor did we have to investigate fully to know the consequences.

Ryuusei set Reina on the bar, settling her dress primly about her. "The one you seek is named Shion Angel, currently in New Orleans. His official affiliation is with the Heaven Movement, titled as the Seventh Judge of Sanctuary and as leader of the Heaven Movement, which has its main base quarters in Virginia. More information is available with the Arcadia Movement's archives, especially if you look up the Night of Walpurgis case seven years ago."

I nodded, and exhaled through my nose. Arcadia links meant that I could find information, I could contact the Movement, I could make my way to New Orleans. "Right then. Thank you for your help."

He lifted a hand. "One thing more. You must know why Winter wishes for you to stay away."

I arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

Ryuusei crossed his legs as he gently manhandled Reina away from trying to glomp him. "They received part of a prophecy. A prophecy that told them that should you seek the one you seek, you will most assuredly fall in battle."

"Only _part_ of a prophecy?" I asked.

"Yes. Our Adversary concealed some of it from them."

I shook my head, filing away the 'our adversary' for later reference. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because," Ryuusei explained patiently, "you must hear the second half of the prophecy in order to restore the balance."

"Uh. Okay?"

Ryuusei nodded and fixed me with that unsettling, unblinking stare. "Should you seek the man Shion Angel, Chase Princeton, you will most assuredly perish."

"All right," I said after a pause in the face of certain death and Ryuusei saying my full name and a name I have never heard of before. "So what happens if I don't?"

Reina began crying as Ryuusei stood up and pecked her on the forehead. Warmth and light began to envelop him.

His voice came to me quietly, as if from a great distance. "If you do not, the Louisiana Arcadia Movement, those who stand in between, and Shion Angel... they all die. And any city they are in, with them."

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	69. LXVI: The Bujin Armament Apparition

_**Call of Darkness**_

_**Edited 18 July 2013: Bujin archetype entered the TCG, names updated as far as JOTL.**_

* * *

**LXVI: ****The Bujin Armament Apparition**

Cold blue met yellow, ice met fire. The fiery, condemning gaze of Shion Angel would have made lesser men cower before him, but Yamada-san evenly faced it. Both had their DuelDisks drawn, with the air of facing pistols at dawn.

"Duel!"

Shion: LP 8000

Yukio: LP 8000

"Since I am challenged, I shall take the first turn." Shion declared. "Draw. I shall summon Bujin Yamato [1800/200]to the field."

The warrior that appeared glowed a soft blue-white as it appeared. Somehow, for some reason, it wore no heavy armour.

"Observe, the emissary of your demise," Shion murmured. "Since neither player can attack on the first turn, I shall set two cards, and declare turn end. End phase, Yamato allows me to add a Bujin monster from my deck to my hand, and send one card from my hand to the graveyard. I shall add Bujingi Quilin and send Bujingi Turtle to the graveyard."

"My turn, draw," Yamada-san shortly said. "I summon Deep Sea Diva [200/400]. Due to its effect, I shall special summon a level three or lower Sea Serpent Type monster from my deck such as Gishki Abyss [800/500]. When Gishki Abyss is summoned, I may add a Gishki monster with one thousand or lower defence from my deck to my hand, such as Gishki Avance. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters, Exceed summon! Appear, Armour Kappa!"

The armoured Kappa [400/1000] seemed small next to the glowing Beast-Warrior as it knelt in defence mode, but still Yamada-san seemed certain.

"I use the effect of Armour Kappa, allowing it to detach one Exceed material to gain one thousand attack or defence power, and I choose to allow it to gain defence power [400/1000 → 400/2000]. I'll set a card, turn end." Yamada-san declared.

"You intend to hide behind a wall?" Shion sounded surprised. "I shall draw. My emissary of war, attack Armour Kappa with Charge of the Light! Chain Trap card, Horn of the Phantom Beast [1800/200 → 2600/200]!"

"Why am I not surprised... I activate the effect of Armour Kappa, discarding a card to render Armour Kappa indestructible by battle and I also take no battle damage," Yamada-san responded as the Bujin was beaten back. "Too bad."

Shion merely shook his head. "The wheels of God grind slow, but they grind exceedingly small. All by His design."

"I hope his design accounts for your loss, then," Yamada-san mildly answered.

"I end my turn." Shion answered. "At the end phase, I shall add Bujingi Crane to my hand and discard Bujingi Quilin."

"My turn, draw," Yamada-san announced. "I summon Gishki Avance [1500/800] to the field. With that, I shall activate the effect of Avance to take a Gishki monster and place it on top of my deck, such as Gishki Beast. I detach another material from Armour Kappa for it to gain one thousand defence power [400/2000 → 400/3000]. I set a card, turn end."

"You have nothing you can do," Shion murmured. "Draw. Now to main phase one. By sending Bujin Relic – Habakiri from my hand to the graveyard, I can double the original attack power of Yamato during this turn."

"What?" Yamada-san murmured. A pair of wings spread in the shadow of the Bujin [2600/200 → 4400/200].

"I'll allow that building a wall is the best bet you have," Shion reasoned. "However, there is more than one blade the gods hold."

"Obviously," Yamada-san admitted.

"Activate from the graveyard," Shion called. "By banishing Bujingi Quilin from the graveyard while I control a Bujin Beast-Warrior Type monster, I can destroy one face-up card on the field my opponent controls, such as your Armour Kappa."

Yamada-san barely reacted as the kappa was stabbed through by an underground beast.

"Yamato, destroy Gishki Avance with Sword of Creation!" Shion continued.

"Trap card, Extreme Pressure Power!" Yamada-san called. "I choose to destroy Gishki Avance, sending it to the graveyard to draw a card."

Shion and Yamada-san had no change in expression as they faced each other in the wake of the warrior's destruction.

"It seems like I have the upper hand," Shion pointed out. "End phase, I shall add Bujingi Yata from my deck to my hand, and then discard Bujingi Hachi. Turn end [4400/200 → 2600/200]."

"Why didn't he attack?" I whispered.

"My turn, draw!" Yamada-san called. "I summon Gishki Beast [1500/1300]! With its effect, I can revive Gishki Avance in defence mode. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters, Exceed summon! Serpent of the deep, Bahamut Shark!"

The shark appeared, and leathery wings of blue and white sprouted from its back, and it gave a roar as it bared teeth and claws at everyone [2600/2100].

"I'll bite you to the death," Yamada-san whispered. "This is the proof of the Cold Wolf."

"And what about it?" Shion challenged. "My Yamato is still comparable to your beast. Ugly monster, it should have died with the Great Flood."

"I detach an Exceed material from Bahamut Shark to special summon Number 47: Nightmare Shark from my extra deck," Yamada-san announced as the other monster appeared. "In exchange, for the rest of this turn Bahamut Shark cannot attack."

Another blue and white shark shimmered into existence. Unlike Bahamut Shark, this one put me to consider the legendary beings called mermaids. It had no legs, but instead a tail. It bore wings on its back, large ones like a stingray's. Its fin protruded between the shoulder blades. Its snout was the shark's one, awkwardly positioned with gills where the cheeks should be. Its arms, which were anatomically incorrect of a shark, and protruding out of a human torso, bore sharp implements [2000/2000].

Shion's lip curled. "Demonic fiends of the dark and cold, the light will finish you and the one who consorts with the likes of you."

"By the effect of Nightmare Shark, I attach Lost Blue Breaker from my hand to Nightmare Shark as Exceed material," Yamada-san called. "With that, I detach one Exceed material from Nightmare Shark to activate its effect. Once per turn, Nightmare Shark allows me to target one Water Attribute monster, including itself, and declare a direct attack. But, only that monster can attack this turn."

"Number 47... so you have Number cards as well," Shion muttered.

"Of course, I choose Nightmare Shark himself. Nightmare Shark, attack directly with Jaws from the Deep!"

Shion: LP 8000 → LP 6000

Yukio: LP 8000

"I'll activate the Spell, Xyz Treasure, and draw two cards," Yamada-san announced. "I shall set a card, turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Shion bellowed. "You... how dare you! How dare you strike against me directly!"

"And why should I not?" was Yamada-san's challenge.

"You... I'll activate the Trap, The Bujin Armament Apparition!" Shion cried. "This card allows me to add a Bujin monster from my graveyard to my hand, or return a banished Bujin monster to the graveyard. I shall choose to add Crane back to my hand. Next, I summon Bujingi Taruta [1100/2000]."

"Eh?" I blinked.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Shion cried out as the monsters combined forces. "Exceed summon! Arise, Bujintei Susanowo!"

Yamato reappeared. Only that, his form had changed. His aura throbbed gold and white, bright and flaring. He wore armour about him, held a sword in each hand and his feet were shod much more solidly. Behind the Emperor, wings flared [2400/1600].

"Susanowo can attack all monsters my opponent controls once each," Shion gloated. "In short, one sword will be enough to kill the monsters which should have died at the Great Flood. And, I activate the effect of Susanowo, allowing me to detach a material to either search for a Bujin monster in my deck, or to mill a Bujin monster instead. I shall search for Bujin Mikazuchi to add to my hand. Now, I use the effect of Habakiri on Susanowo [2400/1600 → 4800/1600]. Attack with the Blade of Above on Nightmare Shark!"

Yamada-san shielded himself, but not enough to stand the attack.

Yukio: LP 8000 → LP 5200

Shion: LP 6000

"Look upon the might of righteousness," Shion laughed as Yamada-san skidded back, arms raised to protect himself.

"It produced a physical impact..." I whispered.

"The Heaven Movement might have a few Psychics under its payroll," Ms Sophia informed me. "But, that guy has psychic powers...?"

"Now, Susanowo, target Bahamut Shark!" Shion laughed. "Attack!"

"Trap card, Poseidon Wave!" Yamada-san defended. "This card negates your attack, and then inflicts eight hundred damage for every Fish, Aqua or Sea Serpent Type monster I control. Right now, I only have Bahamut Shark, so that's eight hundred damage!"

Shion: LP 6000 → LP 5200

Yukio: LP 5200

Shion sputtered as a geyser erupted from the card and onto him. "You... do you really think that water can stand up against light? Do you really think that you can drown divine might?"

"I don't know about divine might, but I'm pretty sure about humans," Yamada-san answered.

"I'll end my turn here," Shion called.

"My turn, draw!" Yamada-san called. "Activate the Trap, Aquamirror Cycle. By shuffling a Water Attribute monster I control back into my deck, I can add two Water Attribute monsters from my graveyard into my hand. So, I choose Bahamut Shark, Armour Kappa and Nightmare Shark."

"Then... there's no hand advantage," I murmured as Bahamut Shark winked out of existence. "Yamada-san's ace card, Bahamut Shark would have disappeared from the field-"

"I shall activate the Spell, Treasure Cards of Adversity, and draw two cards since my opponent controls a special summoned monster and I control no monsters right now," Yamada-san continued. "I activate the Spell, Raft Party, to special summon two Raft Tokens [0/0] to my field. With that, I tribute both Raft Tokens to summon Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth [2800/2200]!"

With a roar, the giant whale-like creature appeared, teeth bared.

"I discard a card to special summon as any level four or lower Fish Type monsters in my deck as I can," Yamada-san called. "Therefore, I special summon Shark Stickers [200/1000], Friller Rabca [700/1500], Hammer Shark [1700/1500], and Royal Swamp Eel [1700/1200] to my field. But, they cannot attack, and their effects are negated."

"Then why summon them?" Ryuusuke volunteered.

"Are you an idiot?" Ms Sophia snapped. "There are two level three monsters and two level four monsters! Isn't that obvious?"

"By the way, the Atlantean Marksman I discarded for Coelacanth will destroy your set card," Yamada-san added. "I construct the overlay network with Royal Swamp Eel and Hammer Shark. Exceed summon! Arise, Bahamut Shark!"

Bahamut Shark growled as it clawed the field once more.

"Then, I construct the overlay network with Shark Stickers and Friller Rabca!" Yamada-san called. "Exceed summon! Arise, Number 47: Nightmare Shark!"

Coelacanth bellowed, musical and loud as a basso as Nightmare Shark joined the fray.

"Coelacanth, attack that Bujin!" Yamada-san barked as the giant whale dived for it.

Shion: LP 5200 → LP 4800

Yukio: LP 5200

"Bahamut Shark, attack with Chronos Bite!" Yamada-san hissed. Shion might not have been expecting such an assault, as he staggered back.

Shion: LP 4800 → LP 2200

Yukio: LP 5200

"Ugh..." Shion staggered as he tried to survive Yamada-san's assault. "You..."

"And, finally, Nightmare Shark," Yamada-san pointed. "Jaws of the Deep!"

"Trap card open!" Shion bellowed. "When I control no monsters, I can activate this trap from my hand. I activate The High Priestess's Staff! When an opponent's monster declares an attack, I can negate it and end the battle phase, and then inflict five hundred damage to my opponent."

Yukio: LP 5200 → LP 4700

Shion: LP 2200

"So why didn't you activate it earlier?" Yamada-san questioned. "You misplayed, right?"

Shion seemed even more enraged. "Shut up! I just let my guard down. As the Seventh Judge of the Sanctuary, I shall pass judgement upon all who have done the servants of the Almighty wrong. I shall lead the sheep back from the wayward devil. It was a minor miscalculation. I assure you, it will not happen again."

"... oh," Yamada-san tacitly echoed. "I shall activate the Spell, Sacred Sword of Seven Stars, targeting Coelacanth and banishing him in exchange for drawing two cards. I set a card, turn end."

"I... you..." Shion panted. "I... I won't forgive this! Draw!"

He glanced down at his cards, and then nodded firmly. "I just drew the card that shall lead to your demise. I summon-"

He cut off as one of the nearby statues cracked overhead and shattered on the pavement. As the sunset of New Orleans approached, two figures could be glimpsed.

One was a dark-haired woman. Wings of black feathers sprouted from her back, and she danced on the air as easily as any ballerina. She descended from the top of the nearest building, barely pausing in her descent to drop her package and proceed in a power walk towards us. Her long blue-black hair played out from under her red beret. She was extremely pale and skinny, with large, round indigo eyes and deep red lips. She wore a black strapless shirt, knee-length black skirt with white polka-dots on it, with a red blazer, black Converse, and a very modest diamond ring on her engagement finger.

The package, or companion, bore a serious expression. He was of average height with light skin, and his long black hair was wrapped in a ponytail to show brown eyes. The cut-off jeans with a T-shirt underneath a blue vest was liberally dusty, proof of having been in impromptu flight. A pair of goggles, the lenses cracked through, were perched on his forehead.

"_Bonjour, messieurs et madames_," the female, clearly a Psychic, began as she considered Shion Angel. "You're under arrest."

"Dammit," Yamada-san cursed as her presence cancelled the Duel.

Shion: CANCELLED

Yukio: CANCELLED

The Duel Anchor hissed as it detached, leaving Shion home free but surrounded.

"Don't make us shoot you," Agent Tell hissed.

"You think you can manage?" Shion challenged. For a moment, I thought he would have rushed at us, but then a crackle of static echoed throughout the street.

Shion threw himself to the side, skidding on his feet as what resembled a sphere of lightning hit the pavement where he had been standing.

"Back!" Yamada-san was shouting, turning his head. From the corner of my eye, I thought I glimpsed long white hair as the white-robed figure disappeared.

Without pausing to even check, Shion reached up and out, playing a card. In a flash of light, Shion had escaped.

Kaido looked about at the liberal wreckage that used to be St Claude Avenue. "We're going to need a financial review."

"We would have been justified if you didn't barge in and cancel the Duel, Angel." Yamada-san looked angry as he rounded on the newly arrived female Psychic.

"You didn't need to challenge him, Cold Wolf," the female Psychic Duelist answered, her voice echoing with a lilting accent. "This isn't Neo Domino. You can't summarily execute people."

"Terrorist Act," Yamada-san reminded her.

"Well, there's that," Agent Tell admitted.

"Whose side are you on, Tilly?" the woman snarled.

"Erm..." I swallowed. "Alexianna-san. Yamada-san was protecting us. Please don't blame him."

Alexianna LeRouge turned on Ms Sophia next. "And you couldn't handle it?"

"Cold Wolf jumped in before I could even do anything," Ms Sophia argued. "Where were you anyway, in a fucking movie set?"

The man that came with Alexianna-san just sighed. "I'm sorry," Ishihara Takeshi told me. "About the Duel."

"You don't have to apologise," I assured. "Erm..."

"Lexi got an assignment here with Nee-chan, so I was... manhandled here," Takeshi-san answered. "You've met Nee-chan."

"Nee-chan?" I echoed.

"My sister is Kaname Ishihara," Takeshi-san admitted.

"Kaname- Oh."

"Now is not the time to quarrel!" the driver, a slender girl, complained. "The issue should be how are we going to pay for the destruction!"

"_Who cares!_" Alexianna-san and Ms Sophia yelled.

"How... exciting," I could only say. It was going to be a very long week.

* * *

"I can't leave Reina here," Rex spoke up twenty minutes into the resulting argument over split peas.

"We're not taking a toddler along," I insisted as tiny little peas dropped into the basket Nico had saddled us with when she took Reina – and herself – for a siesta. "Me going alone is the best option, but you're insisting so graciously on coming along though you're not willing to leave Reina at home. I need someone on home base, Rex, and so you staying with Reina is the best option."

"But you're going to be alone in America," Rex pointed out. By the side, we had traded with a despondent West who was currently doing an exhibition Duel with Kiryu-sensei.

"Thanks to Duel Academia, all of us know how to speak one major language, and we all took English," I snapped. "I'll be fine."

"It's on the other side of the planet," Rex pointed out.

"Rex, I'm asking you to stay here, not just for Reina," I took a deep breath. "You know why we skipped town, because someone's apparently after some blood from a Dark Signer. Carly-san left with Uncle Jack, and we don't really know where are the others. There's only Kiryu-sensei here, and Nico and West. Can you imagine it if someone targets them?"

Rex looked down. "I don't want to be left behind. Not by Father, not by Ryuusei... not by you. You're proposing to go to America on the pretext that people are going to die."

"People are dead," I hissed. "Uncle Rua and Aunt Ruka proved that well enough."

"That's the thing."

The subject was changed. "What is?"

"Uncle Rua is one of the top Duelists of the senior Leagues," Rex pointed out as he took a swig of coffee and split another pod open. "And Aunt Ruka works with the Arcadia Movement in between consultations. Yet we haven't heard about it."

I paused. Rex had made a point. Where Duelists may be part of the sports industry or whatever, it remained a fact that being a distinguished Duelist meant fame. That translated to reputation, top lists and the infamous method by which the fourth estate gained their necessity; press coverage. Uncle Rua being one of the legendary Team 5Ds and a member of the senior leagues meant that we should have heard about it from Carly-san's numerous alerts early, if not actually received information from the Arcadia Movement or New Orleans police.

That doesn't make sense.

"Okay... when would a murder not be publicised as a murder?" I posed rhetorically. "Rex, you know how the press works, right?"

"I don't know about North American press, but Japanese I can do fine, and there are things that cross all lines of culture anyway," Rex nodded, flicking a bad pea out. "We could have saved a lot of Momentum fuel just by staying in Neo Domino, you know."

"We couldn't have," I argued. "There's Reina, Kiryu-sensei, Nico and West. We couldn't leave them in the lurch."

"Yeah," Rex morosely agreed, tearing the next pod open with a dainty viciousness. "We couldn't have."

A bit of silence passed.

"Either someone suppressed the information deliberately, or no one knows that Uncle Rua and Aunt Ruka are dead yet," Rex spoke up.

_They can mean the same thing, _Rei added.

I ignored the mental lizard. "Which is more likely?"

"The latter," Rex answered. "Information like murder of a public figure like Uncle Rua against any press, and the press wins. It _has_ to be reported in the case of an obituary. Even if we factor in time difference, we should have known already. It's more likely that no one has cottoned on to the bodies suddenly appearing in Neo Domino or anything."

"But Dr Yukina-" I paused. "Well, shit."

"Huh?" Rex blinked.

"I forgot," I groaned. "He said to me. Dr Yukina-" and I told him about Vanessa and how I spotted her and we Dueled.

"Now," I finished. "I realised that Vanessa Trent brought them back."

"Right," Rex drawled, a palm on his face. "So, tell me. Did you ever pause to think that you were Dueling a Psychic Duelist who could easily kill you?"

"Erm..."

"You need someone to... anchor you," Rex made a motion. "Youkai did that, but the Sylph is currently landed due to the whole fiasco with Ryuusei. If I'm benched, then who's going to make sure you don't get killed on a hare-brained scheme?"

"I..." I paused. I had no answer to that.

"You see?" Rex reasoned. "I may not be able to see Duel Spirits, but I did run into situations with my training from Rodriguez and Shinamori. And I know that I can sit on you before you fling yourself into danger. Besides, you heard Ryuusei, if you go you might die."

"I don't care about prophecy," I sincerely answered. "Don't tell me you think it's solid."

"Ryuusei wouldn't lie," Rex insisted.

"Okay," I admitted. "Say that yes, Ryuusei is right, and I might die if I go. But if I don't go, there's two things that could happen. Either I leave things to chance, or there are others who will die in my stead. Chance hasn't been kind to anyone, there's no point hoping. It doesn't change what I have to do, does it?"

"You could stay, and I could go," Rex pointed out.

"You can't see spirits."

"I'll find someone to help me."

"And then what?" I groaned. Peas bounced out of the basket for a bit before I could stop it. "What if you die? Reina can't live without her brother, and I suck at babysitting. I can't be a replacement for the big brother she still doesn't know."

Rex's jaw set, and he looked away. I had pulled the Reina card, and if I said anything right now, things were assuredly _not_ going to be civil.

"Plus," I doggedly continued. "I'm just one person. I don't have parents to worry for. I don't have a sister to care for that's way younger than I am."

"You have Uncle Kiryu," Rex said. "You have Reina and I. You have Youkai too. We're going to be worried if you fling yourself into this stupid thing and we're going to be sad if you die. I'm going to be left alone if you die. I don't ever want to go through that when there's another option."

That was... touching. I looked into the grey eyes Rex had inherited from Carly-san, and there I found complete sincerity. Warms all the way to the cockles of my cold black heart.

"You aren't in a position to say that," I chose.

"I want your safety," he said. "You were named. You're in danger."

"You're kidding me," I decided. "I know how to handle myself. You should know that by now."

"Like you did with Ryuusei? Chase, if you hadn't been caught by Shimotsuki-"

"What?" I snapped. "So. I'd have been dead. It isn't like it isn't going to happen sooner or later. What else is new?"

"You don't understand."

"I understand all right," I insisted. "One more wacky horror movie reject tried to kill me. It's happened before. It'll probably happen again."

I hate cryptic warnings. I know, the whole cryptic-remark concept is part and parcel of the gig, but it doesn't suit my style. I mean, what good is a warning like that? The population of New Orleans would die if I didn't get involved – and my number would be up if I did. That sounded like the worst kind of self-fulfilling crap.

_You are thinking of it from a mortal perspective, _Rei admonished. _Year by year the future __recedes before you, so you __beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. __Spirits don't always have the same kind of existence. In comparison, our presence is tenuous, rippling upstream and down as a part of their existence throughout. If Spirits were to try and change the future, we change ourselves. It is not done._

I know. It makes my head hurt too, the... inevitability.

I don't put much stock in prophecy. As extensive and aware as these spirits might be, they aren't all-knowing. As nutty as people are, I don't buy that any spirit is going to be able to keep an absolute lock on every possible temporal outcome. Maybe-genuine prophecies aside, I could hardly drop it now. In the first place, I owed it to Uncle Rua and Aunt Ruka to investigate. They had died for this, and at the very least I should know why.

In the second place, the risk of imminent death just didn't hit me the same way it used to. It wasn't that it didn't scare me. It did, in that kind of horrible, uncertain way that left me with nothing to focus my fears upon. Yet, I've beaten risks before. I could do it again. I had to do it again.

Finally, if the prophecy was right, then people could be in danger. Once I'd run down the murderer and finished, everything would be fine.

Yeah, right.

I turned the peas to a harried Nico, Rex took Reina out for a round around Satisfaction Town, and I went to make a call.

The call went through on the first ring, and I made a few commands and demands before I got to the one I wanted.

"Manjoume."

"Hi, Uncle Jun," I dutifully started.

"Yes, idiot nephew? What do you want?"

We'd improved somewhat once I got over my own alcohol-fuelled mourning a week ago and someone hit the speed-dial. "I need to borrow the Lear jet."

A pause. "What for?"

"A ride to New Orleans," I answered. "It's... complicated." Which could mean up to anything where we were concerned.

A heavy sigh answered me. "Is this your way of cadging free flights or something?"

"No. It's urgent. There are... Duel spirits involved."

"A lot of things are urgent," he sighed. "Aren't you in that mining town right now, anyway?"

"It's an hour's drive, not an hour's flight. I'll manage," I answered as I realised something. "Uncle Jun?"

"Then I need you to do me a favour," he said. "You know the in and out of managing talent, right?"

The incredibly boring module had been compulsory, but other than Ryuusei, Shirahane, Rex and myself, the cohort didn't take it seriously. "More or less."

"By the way, we landed Madas thanks to you, so just as well..." Uncle Jun paused. "There's a B-class tourney going to start, the Pontchartrain Lakeside Tourney. For subjecting me to that time, you get to escort Manjoume Entertainment's newest two talents to there, since you're going to Crescent City."

"Great, a frat meeting," I groaned. "Madas? As in, Madas Elvin? Who else are you guys fielding at that? And, Riding?"

"Well, it looked standard enough," Uncle Jun dismissed. "Besides, take this as training. I'm intending to retire sometime soon, you know."

I groaned. "An escort job. With their agents. And you need _me_ along?"

"No, it's convenient, and inflicting the boss's nephew on the staff is always fun," Uncle Jun replied.

"I'll do it."

"I thought so," Uncle Jun muttered. He sounded smug. "Tomorrow, noon, Neo Domino Airport Gate 7C. It's the Honolulu-Dallas route."

"Bye." I hung up and mentally revised clothings for warm weather. Or was the US experiencing winter as well?

I made another call.

"Knights of Arcadia," a harried tenor answered. "Yamada speaking."

"Yuko," I said. "I need all references to a Night of Walpurgis case. Seven years ago."

"What the hell, Princeton," Yuko heaved a sigh. "You have the worst timing in the universe. I was just about to call you."

"Eh? What for?"

"An attack was made on the Misawa house."

My heart stopped. "Youkai?"

"Well, your boyfriend is fine, but Misawa Ryokai is under traction and right now we have a missing Hibiki Akio," Yuko reported. The clench stopped. "Youkai's sitting in on the interrogation with Himemiya."

"Hazuki or Uzuki?"

"Hazuki," Yuko sighed. "We're a bit short-handed at the moment, given that our main interrogator is in The Big Easy. We caught a perp, but it's his ribs, you know."

"Put him on the phone," I ordered. "Erm, sorry. Could you please-"

_Click-snap_

"Hello?" a voice between baritone and soprano answered.

"You terrified me when Yuko said that you had to call your emergency contact," I sighed. "What the hell? I wasn't in town and you threw a party without me?"

Normal people would have taken offence. Youkai had five years of hanging out together under his belt to care about my flippant tone. A door slammed. "Hello, scumbag. I had to get my ribs taped, yes, I'm fine, no need to ask, you care so much."

"Did they hurt you?" I asked in a voice of false sympathy. "What's that? I infer from your ability to snark back that you're fine?"

"Haha," Youkai shot back. "I'm fine. Ryo-nii got an arm broken by this guy who came in to try and kidnap him. Akio-nii was there, traded himself after knocking Ryo-nii out and taking a sword to the guy."

I whistled. "Big damn heroes."

"Enough to warrant a full-body tornado, I know," Youkai groaned. "I just contacted Tsu-nii on Facebook to tell him that someone's gunning for him."

"You-" I stopped. "Why are you using your Facebook account to contact your cousin in London?"

"He's not in London. Tsu-nii went for a lark to New Orleans. Damn, everyone and their grandmother is going to The Big Easy."

"Great," my heart sank. "The reclusive White Rose, one of the Madame's personally trained Psychics, is in Crescent City. What the hell happened to Yamamoto-san?"

"Koichi-san isn't his minder, Chase," Youkai reprimanded.

"Sure feels like it, though," I muttered. "Anyway, I need all references to a Night of Walpurgis case. Seven years ago."

"And you're lucky I'm stuck with a laptop, so I'm connecting into the system. Night of Walpurgis?"

"Please. Print a copy, mail me one, or just verbally tell me."

"It's a restricted case," Youkai said after a moment. "Why? What happened?"

Cue the explanation of why my life is so weird.

"... from anyone else, I'd really be asking questions," Youkai said after a long silence. "There's no way to access the Night of Walpurgis case, except that it involved Shimotsuki Setsuka. Only the heads of the Arcadia Movements or the head archivist can allow the files to be even opened. There's no getting past the data encryption with conventional measures."

Then how did Ryuusei know? I voiced it aloud.

"He probably hacked the system. Ryuusei was a whiz with computers. Anyway, the file's outfitted with self-destruct. If I try to break through without decryption and passwords, the virus would crash the hole system. Mailing it would release a virus that would destroy all data and data pathways."

"So basically, it's to stop anyone from stealing the data," I pondered. "Is there a physical copy?"

"Probably locked in the office," Youkai answered. "Though, I think the electronic data is the only existing copy. You said that Regulus told you to look it up?"

"It's the only lead to the cryptic warning I have," I answered. "I'm not quite keen on d-" I stopped.

"Yes?"

"Nothing," I answered. "You said that Shimotsuki Setsuka investigated this?"

"It's... a case set in New Orleans, Louisiana," Youkai said. "There's the location and investigating personnel, but other than Kaido and Nakamura-san, only Shimotsuki Setsuka would know anything to do with this case."

"So there's no way of asking, right?" I sighed. Well, I could, but extracting secrets from her was... teeth-pulling excruciating. "Right. I... they killed them. Uncle Rua... Aunt Ruka..."

I hardly ever called them Aunt or Uncle. I hardly ever saw them. But they were family anyway, and now... now, someone had killed them. Someone had killed part of our family...

"Magical things don't happen to people who search for them," Youkai whispered. "But, if it makes you feel better... I'll go see if I can coordinate something."

"It's... thanks. I..." I swallowed. "You're interrogating the guy who- how's Ryokai?"

"He's in traction, Dr Erik hasn't called," Youkai solemnly answered. "Akio-nii took his place... we're interrogating the guy who came on the trail of the kidnappers. Two masked guys broke in and tried to kidnap Ryo-nii, and Akio-nii... we're still trying to figure out how that happened."

"If I can help, I will," I promised.

"You're going to New Orleans, right?" Youkai asked. "Then, keep an eye on Tsu-nii, please. He's... not very stable, not without Koichi-san. If... if..."

"I will," I answered. "I'm coming back to Neo Domino, by the way. Just in case."

"I'll see if I can find something on the case." Youkai whispered. "You... I can't follow you right now, but-"

"I know," I whispered. "But the Sylph also needs to land to rest. Until then... until it flies again, I'll just have to hear the winds. Give Ryokai my regards."

"I... Chase, you idiot." He then hung up with that parting jibe.

I made a few more calls, a few more arrangements, and also told Kinsman at the lawyer's office that I was going for a three-day weekend. Seeing as that was my code for 'go do unbelievably dangerous shit', he just said yes and hung up. I think he was going to cry.

I picked up my keys, checked my luggage – packed light – and then made for the doors. "Nico, I'm going out."

Nico, bless her, didn't even ask where. "Are you going to come back?"

I might die. I might expire in a foreign land and never come back. I might be eaten and my body slowly dissolved to feed some creature of the night.

"I'll come back with Youkai."

"Have a safe trip," Nico giggled.

"Don't tell Rex."

Spontaneity, thy name is Manjoume. Or Princeton.

I swung my leg over Carpe Jugulum, muttering about and checking my electronics and wallet.

"Where are you going?"

I froze at that tone of disapproval. "K- Kiryu-sensei."

Leaning against the white-washed wall, Kiryu-sensei crossed his arms. "This is something to do with that sleepy episode just now, right?"

When Ryuusei put all of you to sleep, yes. "Yes."

"You're going to leave him behind," Kiryu-sensei tilted his head. "For his own safety."

_Alone_, was the implication. "Reina needs a family. And... she needs her brother more."

"More than Rex needs a friend?" Kiryu-sensei was fishing now.

"... we were called in to identify two bodies flown in from New Orleans," I muttered. "Uncle Rua, and Aunt Ruka."

"I... Oh," Kiryu-sensei whispered. "The funeral?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "I have a clue as to who did it, but..."

"What?" Kiryu-sensei asked. "If there's a clue, fly ahead. What's wrong?"

"... if I go, there's a chance that I could die," I confessed. "If I don't... there are people, many people, who would die. If I can... I would prefer, for both Rex and Reina... that they wouldn't be targeted any more."

"Ah," Kiryu-sensei muttered. "And I was wondering why didn't you just leave on your merry way. So, to summarise: you've both got a clue about their deaths. If both of you go, Rex is in danger. If you go, it's almost certain someone would take you out. If Rex goes, he sees nothing and he's the one in danger. Rex thinks he should go, and you stay. You think Rex should stay, and you should go. In the middle of it is Reina, who's obviously going nowhere. So you intend to win that argument by leaving before Rex can stop you, and therefore leave Rex behind."

"That's... pretty much it," I admitted.

"Even though it goes against every single thing I've told you about friends?" Kiryu-sensei asked.

"Rex... we've lost Ryuusei," I echoed, my voice sounding hollow. "I can't deprive Reina of her brother. I wouldn't know what's it like, being a big brother, but I know Reina needs Rex much more than I do right now. But... neither of us can leave this clue behind either. That's why..."

Kiryu-sensei nodded. "And what do you think... Rex?"

My head snapped around so fast I might have given myself whiplash. Behind me, Rex was cradling a babbling Reina to his hip, and his face was mask-like, as if carved into granite.

"Hate to say it, but you're right," my friend admitted. "You dumb fuck."

I just laughed, and the relief must have echoed in my voice. "I'm leaving here, asshole. Have a little respect."

"Not a chance, dago."

"How about for a friend, prat?"

"Yeah," Rex's response was unnaturally quiet. "Here. A charm."

I accepted the card with slightly more care than a lethal virus. "This is... Gorz? Aww, Rex."

"It's a Fiend, it protects from direct attacks, and it nets you a token," he answered. Then, with more rage than I had ever heard from him, "You are an arrogant, stupid, stubborn son of a _bitch _sometimes, you know that?"

"I–"

"But you're also my best friend, jerk, and don't you fucking forget it." Rex huffed. "I want that back, by the way."

Of course, the lack of brain-to-mouth filter kicked in. "Jerk."

"Wuss."

"Jackass."

"Pansy."

"Philistine."

"Dandysprat."

Kiryu-sensei broke it up the ensuing insult face-off with a single question. "Should the both of you really be talking in front of Reina?"

Reina's garbled words concluded it: "Jerk!"

Everything covered and accounted for, I then started the engine and left my best friend and his younger sister behind, and the first home I had found in that meeting of destiny.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	70. LXVII: Do a Barrel Roll

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXVII: Do a Barrel Roll**

"You came from a..." Agent Tell paused. "A movie set?"

Alexianna-san waved towards the boot, where the wing harness she had apparently been wearing was currently stored in. "Stunt double. Don't ask."

"So the part where-" Agent Tell paused, apparently at a loss for words. "You're a stunt-woman?"

"For now," was the short reply.

"Couldn't get a decent job, if you asked me," Ms Sophia commented.

"Aren't you supposed to be busy running Symphony, Merci?" Alexianna-san asked, her voice barbed.

"I'm good," Ms Sophia yawned. "I'm very good."

"Well, please don't fight..." the driver, Mu, whispered as we made our way along St Claude Avenue in the miraculously intact Hummer. The windscreen had been taken out, along with all the other broken windows.

"Symphony?" A shaken Ryuusuke asked. "You mean that toy company with a long line of custom-designed plushies?"

"Yes," Ms Sophia snapped. "I'm the owner of Symphony. Got a problem?"

"Not at all," Ryuusuke said.

"Because if you're one of those guys who think that women-" she paused. "What. Did. You. Say?"

Ryuusuke shifted. "I think it would be quite hypocritical for anyone who lives in the Central Movement to comment on feminist policies. Ma'am."

"Call me Merci," Ms Sophia snorted. "I'm graceful enough to accept that, unlike certain fake frogs who can't take a joke."

Alexianna-san bristled. "Well, I'm not an uncultured Yankee who has to make a joke of everything."

"Shut it, Frenchie," Ms Sophia rebutted. "We both know that's not why you're here. Even if the guy's Kaname's brother, why the hell is he here?"

"Takeshi has his own work within the Movement," Alexianna-san growled.

"Far as I can tell, he's not working," Ms Sophia observed.

"That-" Alexianna-san hesitated, clearly unwilling or incapable of answering.

Takeshi-san just stared out of the window, and did not answer.

"So," Ms Sophia finally turned to us. "Why are the big brass from the Central Movement here?"

"It's..." I paused, trying to piece something sensible together.

Kaido intervened, much to my great relief. "Due to the success of the West Academia team, we've decided to give the North American Movements the go-ahead to work with the Duel Academias."

"You're kidding," Agent Tell muttered.

"No way," Ms Sophia hissed. "You can't seriously be siding with the military. They'll kill us."

I felt surprise at such venom directed towards authorities.

"You've already registered all our profiles," Ms Sophia continued. "Yes, Ms Shimotsuki assured us countless times that the list is kept secret, but then now you're giving the military anti-Psychic training. Is this the part where we start hanging up white flags or something?"

"Actually, I doubt anyone has a choice of what goes into their profile," Yamada-san muttered.

"This is a violation of privacy!" Ms Sophia yelled. "The New York pansies would probably say the same thing. We have a right to use our cards."

"Actually, the profiling not only makes it easy to determine power scores, it also keeps members accountable," Kaido pointed out.

"You're not going to get anyone enlisted, I can say that right now," Ms Sophia said. "The Psychics of N' Awlins have a right not to see this policy implemented."

"I think not everyone would agree with you," Alexianna-san tightly replied. "It's a start."

"And since when do the federal powers get involved?"

"Hey," Agent Tell coughed. "I'm sitting right here."

Awkward silence met this proclamation.

This is going to be harder than I thought, I realised when the Hummer finally stopped at the front of the headquarters of the Louisiana Arcadia Movement.

"This is..."

Yamada-san stared at the solid building planted in the middle of Canal Street. "The headquarters of the Arcadia Movement, Louisiana Chapter. Babel Tower."

"The pretentious asses in New York name theirs the Skyscraper, but it doesn't have the history that comes with Canal Street," Ms Sophia grinned.

"Canal Street traditionally marked the boundaries between the French Quarter and the upper bourgeois of New Orleans," Kaido murmured.

The Tower itself had a misleading name; it stood at its tallest at ten stories. The glittering mica pattern of its outer structure made it seem sleek instead of dark and forbidding, and it was built with a façade of steel-framed doors. It was an oddity planted in the middle of a bustling shopping district, the dark pupil of an eye from where traces of capillaries would seem to branch from. Over the steel frame of the front doors was a simple proclamation:

_In somnis veritas_

"'In dreams, there is truth'," Alexianna-san translated for us.

The Hummer drove to an underground garage, where it was duly parked for mechanics to swarm over it, and more than one complaint was heard as we vacated the Hummer with our luggage.

"Tilly, the report is with Beatrice," Alexianna-san began. "Kaname might still be on communications. Please, follow-"

"Hey, I'm the acting head," Ms Sophia bristled.

"By regulation, and clearly you're being run ragged over Symphony and the Louisiana Movement along with various outposts," Alexianna-san reasonably answered. "Also, there are concerns regarding your objectivity in the context by which the Central party has come to New Orleans."

"You mean you think I have a problem," Ms Sophia challenged. "Well, I can tell you right now you can take your objectivity and sink it where the sun-"

"_I_ think," Yamada-san crisply said, "that we should be shown to freshen up, put our stuff away, and then, presumably after a meal, get down to business. Unless, of course, the Movement of New Orleans is unable to provide the hospitality necessary, by which we will settle the evening meal ourselves. Ladies, please."

"He wins," Takeshi-san said as Alexianna-san and Ms Sophia looked contrite. He led us off down a series of marked corridors towards the dormitory floors, leaving Alexianna-san and Ms Sophia behind with Agent Tell. "I'll show you guys along. Right now there are two rooms, but we could clear another one-"

"We will be fine," Yamada-san answered. "Considering that there is a hostile running at large after the head of the Arcadia Movement, we can perhaps be forgiven for placing comfort as secondary."

"Ah, yes," I agreed, feeling the toll of the entire flight weigh down upon me. Judging by all of the others, they seemed as exhausted as I felt. "Takeshi-san... could I ask why are you here?"

"My sister is here. I came to help her get settled and look to Dueling in the American leagues," Takeshi-san explained. "Also, Alexianna is working with the Louisiana Movement, so it seemed a better option to follow them to New Orleans, especially since it means room and board being accounted for. It's fun."

"I see," Kaido nodded.

"Well, erm..." Takeshi-san paused before two rooms, set side-by-side. "For you three, it would be a bit of a squeeze. Sorry."

The room, as expected, was barely furnished to dormitory standards. Bed screwed down to the floor, table, chair, and a tiny chest of drawers. There was an attached bathroom and toilet, though both were approximately the size of a cubby. A blue shower curtain was hung around the stall. Towels, clean and white if not thick hung on a nearby rail. Another door in the toilet was set in the far wall, barred shut. No one said that the accommodations were necessarily first-class. I checked through most parts of the room before exhaustion took a hold and I flopped onto the bed, reflecting on all of the information that I had to process before Kaido even cleared me for diplomatic procedures.

Perhaps it was jet lag, perhaps exhaustion or excitement, but I found myself unable to fall asleep. I found myself daydreaming more often than not. _No practical definition of freedom would be complete without the freedom to take the consequences. Indeed, it is the freedom upon which all the others are based._

Between alternating rounds for a quick shower, a change of clothings and to sort my items, I then gathered with the three others in the room.

"I believe Kaido has something to say," I began the conversation.

Kaido coughed. "Ryuusuke, I'm sorry, but we have to clear this topic first."

"Right," Ryuusuke quickly nodded.

"We are going to discuss the intervention of West Academia's Blue Berets into the training curriculum of the Louisiana Arcadia Movement," Kaido explained. "Before that, does anyone have any concerns?"

"Um..." I considered. "Ms Sophia... was very... combative."

"Most Americans don't respect the establishments all that often," Kaido answered. "Especially here. Of course, not to be general, but it was an uphill struggle especially since the start where Louisiana was concerned. Being a generally secular organisation, allying with the governments of cities, usually ignoring the rules of the local populace in favour of overarching national laws. All three don't quite lend themselves to a racially and religiously inclined land with a tendency towards superstition."

"Yo don't seem like you like this place, Kaido," Yamada-san commented.

"I did my thesis in Tulane University... and I think Professor Kannazuki was here as well."

"He was?" I echoed.

"He was," Kaido softly answered. "I think... well, I wouldn't remember. It was very long ago."

"Then... if Papa was here, then I could find... something, right?" I whispered.

"Who knows," Kaido answered.

"Enough," Yamada-san muttered.

"Anyway, the major issue here is Merci Sophia," Kaido changed the subject. "As you can see, she's not very keen on that. She's also a bitter enemy of Shion Angel."

"Revenge as a motive isn't the first reason why people join the Movement, you know," Yamada-san murmured.

"The thing is, LeRouge is right," Kaido explained. "Merci Sophia is too unstable to be the head of the Movement. But she's also the Louisiana Movement's primary bank-roller and she's local, which gives her an edge. If we had to, LeRouge might have the support of our Creole and Cajun members, but not enough to keep a lead on the Movement. To even think of implementing Psychic combat training in a large-scale plan means that we have to prove that it works in troubled areas as well as peaceful areas. We know that it works at home, but right now we are in a completely different environment. We need to see if this plan can survive the different environment, or if there is a result that could go wrong."

"I see," I murmured. "Then, we'll reconvene after dinner with the main administrative members of the Louisiana Movement."

"And, the schedules for the week," Kaido opened a small planner. "Yukio, you'll be covering the necessary training regime for the local Knights of Arcadia on fine control, morning at eight hundred hours to fourteen hundred hours. Ryuusuke, your appointment with Rafael de Santos is tomorrow, sixteen hundred hours, the local Hilton Garden on Gravier Street. I'll get a map, and the reception desk would direct you if I'm not free. Kannazuki-san, your appointment is tomorrow, starting at fourteen hundred hours. During the time leading up to that you can tag along behind Yukio, or stay with me."

"S- So fast?" I gasped. "I- I'll tag along Yamada-san, thank you."

Yamada-san did not meet my eyes.

"The faster we find out if it's your psyche, your powers, if any, or yourself, the sooner we can tackle the main issue of implementing this armament plan," Kaido considered. "Myself, I will be discussing communications and logistics with the archivist and communications specialist to see if setting up a main post in Honolulu is necessary. Any questions?"

"I... nothing," Ryuusuke paused.

"Very well. Last item on the agenda. Ryuusuke," Kaido faced him. "Your birthday is coming in two weeks. Once you reach eighteen is when we'll ask you to consider either working full-time, or further education. No matter which option you choose, we of the Movement will continue to fund you if necessary, though it is implied that you will have to repay us upon the conclusion of your course of study. A payment plan can be-"

"Kaido..." Ryuusuke murmured. "That... I know I've been a burden on all of you. If... if there is something..."

"No, Ryuusuke-san," I shook my head. "You're a precious member of the Arcadia Movement. This is your home, for as long as you need."

Kaido considered his planner. "Well, that's that."

The sound of his planner closing resounded, in my ears, like the vibrations of a gong...

* * *

For the local tourist, Satisfaction Town was about an hour's drive or so from the outskirts of Neo Domino. It takes about an hour and a half to get there by D-Wheel, even in the best conditions. With a light dusting of snow about, it was more or less freezing even on the highway, and I didn't dare speed in case fate had a road accident on its mindset for one Chase Princeton ready.

Behind me, Satisfaction Town's sun was waning, approaching sunset. Orange and yellows and reds painted the skies. The Duel Time was approaching, and the ghosts of Satisfaction Town's Crashtown era was apparent in every second that approached.

How did Kiryu-sensei feel, living in a town where the past was evident every day, every time the sun sets and the ghosts wake? I didn't know. One day... the buildings would crumble, the cloth torn to shreds, the glass shattered. The townspeople would live, but change, age, even the ghosts would die. Some would leave. Some would stay. Some would join the ghosts of those who gave their lives to the Dyne mines... and some would be free at last.

_I am not keen to see you die, _Rei confessed.

"That's great," I replied.

_It would mean that I too, shall die. Therefore, you cannot. This is madness._

"They killed my family," I answered. "You had... people like you once. Didn't you?"

_Kyothys, Zerashii and I... we were the only ones in the empty world of ourselves. It... doesn't matter. I am a mere shadow of the original within the card. Should you wish it, my power is yours to take up._

"It matters," I answered. "Because there's more to life than mere survival. And if this would help... then I would do it."

_Why? They are immaterial. They do not matter in your life. It is not worth it. Do not give your life up in a misplaced sense of guilt._

"I won't," I answered distantly. "Give up my life so easily. Neither will I stop and sit on my hands when I can do something. This man, Shion Angel... if I find evidence of him for their deaths, I might die. If I don't, the man, the Louisiana Movement, the city itself might die. Either option is bad for me, but that's alright."

My fingers drummed on the handles as I wheeled into the Clubs area. "What do you think?"

_It is a foolish move, that has no basis in logic._

"Not that," I groaned. "It's a stupid move. But Regulus said that they were slain. And why would the talking lion hold it against me, anyway? It's not you."

_From you, it is perhaps not as insulting as it might be from another mortal. And, after all, I am not in fact that being. I am only the shadow, the emissary, a figment of your own perception, and a guest within your mind._

"Guests get invited," I commented. "You're more like a vacuum cleaner salesman who managed to talk his way inside for a demo and just won't leave."

_Touché, my host. Though I would like to think I have been both more helpful and infinitely more courteous than such an individual._

"Granted. It doesn't change anything about being unwelcome."

_Then rid yourself of me. Take up my card, the entirety of my power, and I will rejoin the rest of myself, whole again. You will be well rid of me._

I snorted. "Yeah. Up until I'm turned into a psychotic boy-toy and I wind up a monster."

The dragon itself appeared as a purplish spectre, silently gliding beside the red and black Carpe Jugulum. _Have I not given you sufficient space? Have I not done as you asked, remained silent and still? When is the last time I have intruded, the last time we spoke, my host?_

I hit a pothole, grimaced, and steered my D-Wheel right. "Duelist Kingdom. And that wasn't by choice."

_Of course it was. It is always your choice._

I shook my head, despite feeling clear-headed. "It was a last resort."

_And this time? Am I too, a last resort to preserve your life?_

"It's family."

A moment of blessed mental silence passed. _Ah, yes. You care a great deal for people who are virtual strangers to you._

"They're family," I replied.

_Allow me to rephrase the observation. You care for the murdered ones, to an irrational degree. Why_?

I spoke in a slower voice. "They are family."

_I understand your words, but they don't mean anything._

"They wouldn't," it was a shot in the dark. "Not to you."

Stunned, mildly disturbed silence. The dragon itself seemed to be gliding just over the dusty highway now. _I see._

"No," I muttered. "You don't. You can't."

_Do not be too sure, my host. I, too, had... family. Once upon a time._

My tongue clicked. "What happened?"

_You have seen the result. Zerashii was banished by the Envoy called upon by King Summer. Kyothys was destroyed by Trishula of the Ice Barrier. I am the last of Nothingness. It almost makes one wish that I had never transcended, but our stories... they reverberated. It was demanded. And like all stories, we are a dying breed. Power lost to the ages, lost to cycle upon cycle of Ra._

It sounded sincere.

It isn't, I told myself. It's a liar. It's running a con on you to convince you to like it, or at least trust it. From there, it would be a short commute to the recruiter's office of the Courts of Darkness.

I reminded myself very firmly that what the spirit monster offered me – knowledge, power, companionship – would come at too high a price. It was foolish of me to keep falling back on its help, even though what he had done for me had undoubtedly saved both my life and that of many others. I reminded myself that too much dependence would be a Very, Very Bad Thing.

Yet, the sorrow of Rei's reflection stayed with me.

I stopped by my apartment and threw a travel bag together in double-quick time and pocketed the necessary documents from home after printing off the flight details necessary. Then I considered the rest of my schedule.

I raided the fridge first before I locked up and left. My route took me from West Hearts to East Clubs, and from there to the South Diamonds and then, just across Manjoume Entertainment, was the Magic Formula. It was still buried underground, its entrance had its very vague warning Winter-guaranteed, and it was neutral ground. Plus, my boyfriend worked for the owner.

The door creaked open, and I was met with about many different pairs of eyes, staring unblinking at me.

"Wow, Jarvis, you're busy," was my first greeting.

From the crowd of mildly curious onlookers burst the proprietor of the Magic Formula, who dragged my arm back out of the door and slammed it shut. Panting as he rested all of his not-inconsiderable weight against the hard wood, the former Changeling glared at me. "I jus' saved yer life from 'em bloodthirsty fiends. Runners, 'e lot of 'em, for all the good it'd go. What now?"

I stared at him. Jarvis was really not mincing it. "Was that-"

"Aye, part of the 'undred or so who defected to Winter, laddie," Jarvis muttered. "And more than half of 'em... 's 'orrible, is what it is. Yer know? Yer choose a side, yer 'ink it's all going to be good and glamorous, and then one day... Bam! Them Courts 'll tear yer to shreds. 'S why Da never got much ambition, too busy struggling to live. "

I blinked. "Those are Psychics? Those are... the missing Psychics?"

"Not all," Jarvis shook his head. "Some. Some heard that them Grigori bastards finally made it to Neo Domino. 'S late, the man. Why, yer gonna report them to Arcadia?"

"I... I don't know," I shook my head. "For a start, let's begin with why is the Magic Formula packed. For another, what is a Grigori or something, and what is going on?"

Jarvis snorted. "Yer know what I was, laddie. More than 'alf of them, they're the same."

"More than-" I stopped. "They're... Changelings? I... I... why are there _so many_?"

"Yer really 'ink 'em Arcadians were all Psychics?" Jarvis snorted. "Half of them exhibit special powers that really got no 'ing ta do with Psychic powers and every 'ing ta do with 'e blood of them sire. The Winter Queen gave them blanket protection, 's what she did, but even Her Coldness can't stop every abusive parent who punishes a child 'cause it was born out of being 'aped by a monster."

"They..." I whispered. "They were... erm... you... I'm sorry."

"'Twas lucky," Jarvis muttered. "My Da, Jeeves. Some of them... some of them spirits were once human, and wanted to be human. Da was one of them. If he spent long enough here, he'd die on this land, so far from the imaginary world. Him bein' jus' a Bistro Butcher, well, it's a few centuries of wastin' away and watching your kids die and... and..." Jarvis sneezed here. "'m sorry. Got carried away. Where was I?"

"The Grigori?" I suggested.

"Ah, yes. Well, some Changelings, be'er at fighting and all, and some are be'er at hidin', and the rulers of each Court got nay to object. The Fellowship of Grigori was formed, you know. Named fer the Watchers. Slavic," Jarvis waved a hand. "Like them Arcadia Movement, just more specific and hiding from them Courts."

"The Fellowship of Grigori is going to hide them?" I asked. "They're... refugees? From Winter?"

"Some, I guess." Jarvis muttered, his eyes screwed shut. "Some from Summer, some no Court. All waitin' for 'e stinkin' agent to come. Ain't gonna ma'er, 'cause 'e Grigori has gotta take 'em in. Food's not gonna last for long, and 'e truce stands only as long as I'm in it. Once I step out to 'e wholesalers, them kids are gonna be... spirited away."

I stared at him. "Erm... Jarvis?"

"Yeah, laddie?"

"You're currently standing outside."

A tinkle of broken glass and screams then rang out on cue, and Jarvis quickly slammed the door open. The wooden interior of the Magic Formula had been torn apart, furniture scattered and pictures crooked and all of that. People, men, women and children, all Duelists that carried DuelDisks, were slowly backing towards the walls to make a space for the centre of the café. There, a pool of rippling water glimmered, mirror-smooth as it floated up in mid-air.

It dropped to the ground, and quite a few people screamed.

Somehow, someone had taken the trouble to transport a bunch of fully armed storm-troopers into the middle of the Magic Formula. I kid you not, all of the ninja guys in dark blue were there, fully armed, and glaring as they set out to grab any of the people within reach. A girl cried out as one of them caught her arm and twisted, and I heard cracking bone. One of the men present screamed before his voice was cut off with a punch to the sternum.

"I could have been in Crescent City already," the young woman who led the storm-troopers complained, crossing her arms casually despite the rather bulky carmine DuelDisk that hung off her left arm. She was beautiful, with pale skin and high cheekbones, that framed cold blue eyes almost entirely darkened by dilated pupils. Her hair was worn long and dyed black, with bangs shaped like lightning bolts dyed lavender that went past her shoulders. She wore a Lara Croft outfit of a white sleeveless tank top, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, and long white socks, and a wide-brimmed black Stetson perched on her head. I could see a belly piercing where her midriff had been left bare, amidst henna tattoos that curled around her navel, and she also sported a long necklace from which a simple silver snowflake hung suspended.

In any other setting, she could have been another of the people assembled here, waiting. She was, right now, assuredly enemy number one. She gave them no more notice than one would give to the floor. "Come on already, the guy's late. I have a date, chop chop."

"He's not here yet," one of them spoke up.

He was nearly blasted for his trouble; a mini explosion reverberated in the café.

A tiny glowing sphere that reminded me of a certain comic book heroine bounced in her palm. "Listen. The Court gives you leave to this quaint little tavern, and assuming that the Fellowship is here, _perhaps_ you'd have a chance, no matter how tiny. But right now, the Fellowship ain't here, chump. So the Queen still owns all of you, blood, bone and flesh. And as the Queen's messenger, so do I. So this round of the game is over, right, time to go back."

"Michiru," I growled.

She turned to me, her eyes widening comically. "Chase Princeton. You know, Her Majesty's been anticipating how long it'd take before you kneel by her feet. Winter's champions are many and varied."

"He's with her!" one of them whispered, and suddenly I had been given a wide berth again. As I looked back, I noticed that most of them were still of the pimply-faced stage, unsure and coltish. The oldest there could have still been in Duel Academia, for crying out loud.

"Never," I answered Michiru. "You can tell Her Royal Iciness to fuck off. I'm not accepting. Never accepting."

"Never say never~!" Michiru giggled in a sing-song tone before she regarded the rest of the gathered people, the Changelings. "Well? Why aren't you coming?"

"We... we don't want to," a tiny girl spoke up from the crowd. "Not anymore. We... we can still choose."

Michiru smiled, and the girl screamed as a snake wrapped around her and squeezed her throat. She was then hurled out and landed on the parquet floor, where her throat ended under Michiru's boot. The girl couldn't have been shorter than Seika, blonde hair spilling out in waves that lent her that air of terrified, coltish beauty.

"Not yet," Michiru purred. "And not ever."

"You just want us in a place where the Queen controls the flow of time!" another accused. "Then we'll never reach our majority or our Choice!"

"Then you're going to eat Jarvis out of house and home?" Michiru _tsk_ed. "Such bad hospitality. And you know how offending hospitality is punished...?"

The man who had spoken up paled and tried to hide, but the next sphere was headed towards him. Screams accompanied the next explosion, though I might add that he lived.

Absently, Michiru kicked the girl on the floor. "Look at you," she sneered. "Everything about you is forfeit should I choose to take them. I think I made one of you dance in the red shoes. Did you see that? Does anyone remember that?"

The crowd cringed away from her. More than one whimpered in fear, and the air was rank with ammonia.

"That's right," Michiru chuckled, her eyes alight and predatory. "That's right. This leash, this chance dangled in front of your eyes is a faint hope. A silver of hope the Queen has dangled before the weak, the undetermined, those who have not Chosen. The Queen offers you this hope, and then, and then... we take it away. That's when you fools make the most _beautiful_ face."

"Okay, that's it," I planted myself in front of the door, glaring at her. "Michiru, you're a psychopath. We all know that. We all don't want you here. In fact, Jarvis is going to break the ale out, you and the stormtroopers are going away, and I'm going to stay here until you and your grunts leave. Now."

Michiru's eyes narrowed. Then, without warning, she stomped down on a delicate, unsuspecting throat. The girl whimpered, her throat crushed under a dark suede boot, drool flecked in the corners of her mouth and helpless as Tenjouin Michiru lifted her leg to brace it for a kick.

I leapt, or I would have if Jarvis hadn't held me back.

"No," he hissed. "You interfere, the stormtroopers get license to kill you."

"I... but, she's-" I struggled.

"You can't do anything," Michiru laughed. The rest of the Changelings stared fearfully back, some trying to hide, some putting on brave fronts in the face of the terror that must be their tormentors. "Try it, and I will kill you where you stand."

I had no doubt that Michiru would do it.

"Not here," Jarvis growled. "This is neutral ground. You won't piss off Her Coldness by breaking her law."

"That law exists only as long as none of your customers or yourself interfere with the retrieval of Her Majesty's property," Michiru chuckled. "Go on, then. Throw your lives to save this cow who traded her life for safety. Jarvis, Jarvis... I'm waiting. For one of you, for one of them," and here she waved her arm towards the gathered stone-faced defectors of the Arcadia Movement, "to stand up to us. Go on."

The girl began to cry, snivelling. None of them moved.

"Jarvis!" I snapped.

"You move, she dies, and you die with her," Jarvis groaned. His fingers were a steel grip on my arm.

"But-" I helplessly looked around. The people around, Changelings, were apathetic to one of their fellows being abused, some just sitting there and watching the girl crushed underfoot. Not a single soul, or person, seemed to care about her. "But... why is no one reacting?"

"Each time, one of them dies," Jarvis whispered. "Each time the Queen lets them return here, and they wait for three days. Each time they return, one of them die, and then the cycle repeats. They've grown so used to seeing their friends die that they're just biding time for themselves, for when those Grigori bastards come and hide them away. The Fellowship hasn't come. Not until now, and now..."

"Hope and despair," I murmured. "Again and again."

"It's about two hours early, though," Jarvis thoughtfully muttered.

Several of them gave us looks of hope, but Jarvis still had a grip on my arm. Some were... resigned to it. Resigned to waiting, and hoping, just hoping that one day the Grigori would come...

"Who's the Fellowship guy?" I hissed. "If he's in Neo Domino, I could track him down. When did he say that he was coming?"

"Angelo di Diablo, Changeling. Supposed ta come at noon," Jarvis whispered back as Michiru idly spun on one suede boot and absently kicked her downed blonde victim in the stomach. "Three hours late. Probably caught by them Movement, since 'ere 's no way law enforcement could hold onto a determined Changeling."

Valid reasoning. And Winter probably knew it, since Michiru arrived two hours early to terrorise a few people. Or else...

"Oh, Michiru," I faked a sigh. "Did you slip Shimotsuki just for this?"

Michiru twitched slightly. "None of your beeswax, Princeton."

"Now, I'm feeling charitable, so I'm just going to warn you," I gave my best grin, which really the grin that made people want to punch me in the face. "Turn about and high-tail it back, Michiru. Else you and I are gonna have words."

"You can't beat me," Michiru echoed with certainty.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I hung out with a Class V psychic for most of my life, and I fuck a Class IV. Last I checked, you aren't much of a match to the Sylph or to Regulus. I'd really rather not hit a girl, Michiru."

For a long moment, there was dead silence.

And then her face twisted up in fury. The seductive beauty of her features vanished, replaced by an animal's rage. Her eyes blazed cold blue, and the temperature in the air dropped suddenly, painfully, enough to cause icy frost crystals to start forming. Michiru glared at me with naked hatred in her too-big eyes, and then...

...gave me a small bow of her head and a little smile. Her foot was currently resting on the sternum of the Changeling girl she had been idly shoving at with her foot, and the heel dug in.

There was a deliberate coolness, underscored with professional satisfaction. My stomach might have turned over.

"With a bit more weight on it, the sternum will break, and in this position I have a good chance of stopping the heart," Michiru thoughtfully considered, looking down. "I haven't tried it this way before, since I prefer knives. But I could make an effort."

"You aren't going to think so in a minute," I snarled back. "Let her go."

Michiru leaned in closer to her victim, and inhaled through her nose. "Odd," she commented. "I don't smell you on her. She's nothing to you."

"She's not yours, either," I answered. "Let her go. Don't make me say it again."

"She's nothing," Michiru was smiling, which was Very, Very Not Good. "A mortal of no station in the Court. Her body, her mind, and her life are all forfeit, should we decide to take them."

"We just decided to let. Her. Go." I nearly took a step forward as Jarvis's grip slackened.

"You keep coming, and I keep squeezing," Michiru idly commented. "This game is terribly interesting. I wonder how long she can take before her ribcage is completely crushed."

I stopped, because I didn't like the sound of that even though I didn't know the answer to her question. It's sort of scary how easy it is to kill someone once you know how to get it done.

"What makes you think," I drawled, "that I won't get you away in time before you can?"

She motioned to the rather deadly spear-waving stormtroopers on her side. "They do."

Crap.

The odds here were long. Way long. No matter which of them I took on first, Blondie's outlook wasn't good. I needed some kind of edge, a game changer.

In fact...

A game changer was _exactly _what I needed.

"Why don't we make this interesting?" I said out loud. "I trust you wouldn't object to making a gamble of our dispute?"

Oh, the room got _intense _then, as many throats all inhaled at the same time. I could practically feel the air grow closer as all of those beings, Changeling, Duel Spirit and human alike leaned very slightly towards me, their suddenly sharpened interest filling the underground tavern.

"What if you could get more out of it?" I suggested. "A Duel. I've beaten you once, and I could do it again. Or else... or else you could defeat me, and then win against someone who has continually bested you."

Whispers and excitement seemed to thrum there, a single note played in the silence.

Michiru's upper lip twitched. If she hadn't been in public, and in front of all of those she considered lower than her, she would have snarled at me. "Very well. What do you propose as the terms for this Duel? I must warn you that if they are not returned, Her Majesty will not be pleased. She will most likely arrive herself."

A mass shudder, and more ammonia. Yes, the very mention of Shimotsuki Setsuka could cause bladder problems, apparently.

"I win, you let them go for... two hours," I checked my watch. "You're early, after all, most likely to get in some entertainment. I'm not stupid enough to interfere in whatever the Winter Queen does, but I do know that this game has rules, and right now you're standing in them. So, what say you?"

"Acceptable. I may not be able to injure you permanently, but bruises don't make too much of an impediment to future employment prospects. If I were to maim a potential colleague..."

She beckoned with one hand, and one stormtrooper hurried over to her. She thrust Blondie into his arms. The dark-armoured man, seemingly a cosplayer, simply wrapped an arm around her neck and held on. Blondie whimpered.

"If he cheats," Michiru growled, "break her neck."

"Understood_._" Neither Duel Spirit nor Changeling met my eyes.

Then Michiru nodded and turned to face me, eyes narrowed as she unfolded her carmine DuelDisk. In two seconds, I had the revolver DuelDisk out, and I was grinning back as the Disks met.

"Duel!"

Michiru: LP 8000

Chase: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Michiru called. "Interesting. So, do you think that you will prevail? Draw. I summon Tour Guide From the Underworld [1000/600]."

With a puff, a small girl with bubblegum-pink hair and horns dressed in a dark blue woman's suit with pencil skirt appeared, holding onto a clipboard and her dark cap with one hand each.

"The effect of Tour Guide allows me to special summon from my deck a level three Fiend-Type monster, such as Fabled Kushano [1100/800]," Michiru declared as the shadowy monster appeared, downy wings spread wide. "Because I control a Fabled monster, I can send Fabled Grimro from my hand to the graveyard to add any Fabled monster to my hand. I choose The Fabled Cerburrel. I overlay these two level three monsters, Exceed summon! Appear, Muzurhythm the String Djinn!"

A guitar solo began to start as the little devil appeared in the spotlight. It wore an orange coat and denims and large-soled shoes. Its horns poked through its green hat. It held a rose in its mouth. The guitar it held was a double-neck guitar. Its little black form held the guitar in tiny black paws, and the entire image was... rather cute, as it snapped its fingers. "_Muzu_!" [1500/1000].

That is not cute, I told myself severely. Mainly to convince myself that it was not cute, and therefore a threat, and everything. I don't think I _quite_ succeeded in that.

"I'll set two cards, turn end." Michiru declared.

"Draw," I cautiously muttered. "Well... I summon Infernity Necromancer [0/2000]. Due to his effect, he changes to defence mode when normal summoned. With that, I'll activate the Spell, A Feather of the Phoenix, and discard a card to place the Infernity Demon I just discarded on top of my deck. I set three cards, turn end."

"Bad hand?" Michiru slowly observed. "Weak. I draw. I can discard a card to special summon The Fabled Nozoochee [1200/800] from my hand, and therefore special summon a level two or lower Fabled monster from my hand with it. Rise, The Fabled Chawa [200/100]!"

What appeared was a tiny chihuahua wearing armour, that yipped before it rested on all fours in defence mode.

"Also, The Fabled Cerburrel [1000/400] will special summon itself upon being discarded to the graveyard," Michiru continued as the tiny three-headed dog with a roan coat appeared.

I backed cautiously in the face of four monsters.

"Tuning, level two Cerburrel to level two Nozoochee," Michiru whispered. "Legends long hidden by the con of man, lead the charge to reveal yourself in light! Synchro Summon! Charge, The Fabled Unicore!"

Hooves clipped onto asphalt as the mythical horse creature galloped next to its mistress. Its eyes gleamed red under the armoured skull, where the single spiked horn was placed in the very centre of its forehead. The armour it wore was light bronze and ochre, stark against a pure white coat. It was a creature of beauty... and a herald of something more [2300/1000].

"Dammit," I swore.

"Muzurhythm, attack Infernity Necromancer with Rhythmic String!" Michiru laughed.

"This monster..." I recalled Tenjouin-sensei's ill-fated Duel with his daughter in a bid to get her to see reason.

"When a Djinn Exceed monster is attacking, I can detach one overlay unit to double its attack this damage step [1500/1000 → 3000/1000]," Michiru confirmed. "Go, Muzurhythm!"

I shielded myself. "Continuous Trap, Void Shield!"

The shield flashed up only in time to stop the horn. Horses with horns? Never a good thing.

"When... my hand is at zero..." I growled. "Then Void Shield can negate attacks."

Michiru studied it. "Good for you. I discard Fabled Soulkius in my hand to retrieve Fabled Kushano. I shall then activate the Trap, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, allowing me to discard a card in favour of returning Void Shield to the top of your deck."

I winced slightly, but showed no expression as I placed the card over the Infernity Demon I had set into place earlier. Right now her hand was at zero... and this was the only chance I had to destroy the Unicore before it became more than just a pain in my ass.

"Turn end," Michiru muttered.

"Draw!" I called. "I activate the trap, Reckless Greed, allowing me to draw two more cards but at the cost of skipping my next two draw phases. With that, I activate the trap, Infernity Inferno. By discarding two cards from my hand, I shall then mill two Infernity monsters from my deck to the graveyard, such as Infernity Archer and Infernity Avenger. Turn end."

"Draw!" Michiru scowled. "I'll set a monster. Unicore, attack that Necromancer!"

"Continuous Trap, Void Shield!" I responded.

"The effect of Unicore, Illusion Killer," Michiru defended as my trap began to shatter. "When we share the same hand size, Unicore can and will negate all Spells, Trap and monster effects you can throw against me. Go, Unicore!"

I was left with no choice but watch my monster get destroyed.

"Muzurhythm, direct attack with Rhythmic String!" Michiru cried out as I was hit by the next attack.

Chase: LP 8000 → LP 6500

Michiru: LP 8000

"Turn end," Michiru chuckled.

"My turn," I growled. "Because of Reckless Greed, I can't draw. Turn end."

"Why is he doing this?" I heard someone ask. "Why?"

"It's 'e right 'ing to do," Jarvis answered. He sounds like an election platform.

Someone at the back pipes up. "It's stupid, is what it is."

I could imagine Jarvis getting this look on his face, the one that always makes people ashamed of trying to filch dregs of coffee from their cup instead of paying for a refill – which, by the way, your stomach would thank you for later.

"The right thing is always the scariest, and the weirdest, and the saddest thing you'll ever have to do," Jarvis sounded every bit of his admittedly mysterious age when he said those words. "If you're bored, it's because you've stopped doing it and you didn't even notice."

"My turn, I draw!" Michiru called. "I'll flip summon Morphing Jar [700/600] to the field, allowing me to discard one card since I'm the only one with cards in hand, and then we both draw five cards. Bet you're relieved, aren't you?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that," I decided to answer rather than use the multitude of invectives I had mentally prepared.

"Unicore, direct attack!" Michiru cried out.

"Go, Battle Fader!" I retaliated.

"Unicore, Illusion Killer!" Michiru snapped as the bell's tolls faded in an abrupt flash, and the damage hit.

Chase: LP 6500 → LP 4200

Michiru: LP 8000

"I activate the effect of Gorz the Emissary of Darkness [2700/2500]!" I defended as Gorz appeared along with a similarly dark-armoured female. "And then an Emissary Token [?/? → 2300/2300] with attack and defence power the same as the battle damage taken will be special summoned to my field, also in defence mode."

"But, even so-" Michiru paused.

"That's right," I told her. "Battle Fader was destroyed in my hand, so after negation, I was down to four cards. That's why you can't use the effect of Illusion Killer!"

"You..." Michiru growled. "Muzurhythm, attack Gorz with Rhythmic String! And I detach its last unit to do so [1500/1000 → 3000/1000]!"

"Even so, the Emissary Token, Kaien, remains!" I defended.

"Main phase two," Michiru shrugged, though I guessed that she was thrown by my response. "You won't be so lucky forever. I'll set a card. Tuning, level four Unicore and level two Morphing Jar to level one Chawa. Galloping in heavens like thunder, tearing apart the sea of clouds! These hooves will rip across the surface of the earth! Synchro Summon! Roar, Voltic Bicorn!"

With a clap of rolling thunder and a rumble of a coming storm, the electrically-charged unicorn appeared in placed of Michiru's ochre-armoured unicorn [2500/2000].

"A Light Attribute Beast-Type... I'm totally unsurprised," I commented.

"Turn end," Michiru growled.

"My turn... draw!" I called.

"Your hand is numbering at four," Michiru offhandedly counted. "The Infernity way requires you to hold a hand size of zero."

"I've met worse odds," I defended. "First, I activate Heavy Storm."

"Chain Trap, Beckoning Light," Michiru called. "By discarding my entire hand, I can then retrieve Light Attribute monsters from my graveyard to add to my hand, up to the number of cards discarded this way. I shall therefore retrieve Fabled Grimro, The Fabled Cerburrel, The Fabled Chawa and The Fabled Unicore, the last of which returns to my extra deck. What I discarded included a card known as The Fabled Catsith, whose mandatory effect triggers, resulting in the destruction of your token monster."

"That's really good," I hissed.

"And then? What?" Michiru shook her head.

"I activate One for One, discarding Infernity Destroyer from my hand to special summon from my deck Infernity Mirage [0/0]," I called as the Native American monster appeared. "With that, I activate the Continuous Spell, Infernity Launcher. I use the effect of Infernity Mirage; when my hand is at zero, I can tribute him to special summon two Infernity monsters from my graveyard except for itself. Come, Infernity Destroyer [2300/1600], Infernity Archer [2000/1000]!"

Bowstrings twanged and claws clicked as the two mini-bosses appeared.

"Right then, I shall use the effect of Infernity Launcher, sending it to the graveyard when my hand is at zero to special summon Infernity Demon [1800/1200] and Infernity Necromancer [0/2000]," I continued. "The search effect of Demon is triggered on special summon, so I retrieve Infernity Barrier. I set Infernity Barrier. Next, I use the handless effect of Infernity Necromancer to revive the tuner monster, Infernity Avenger [0/0]."

The cowboy, upon appearance, began laughing at me.

"Suck it up, would you," I muttered. "Tuning, level four Demon and level three Necromancer to level one Avenger. When the dead and the living meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro summon! Come forth, Infernity Death Dragon!"

In a burst of dark flame, the boss of the Infernity monsters and my first inheritance, my first dragon, appeared in a burst of pincer-clicking, fire-breathing, ass-kicking ugly-as-anything menace [3000/2400].

"When my hand is at zero, Infernity Death Dragon can destroy one of my opponent's monsters and inflict damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's attack power to my opponent," I recited. "Infernity Death Dragon, target Voltic Bicorn with Infernity Death Breath!"

Michiru: LP 8000 → LP 6750

Chase: LP 4200

"When Voltic Bicorn is destroyed, both players send the top seven cards of their deck to the graveyard," Michiru defended quickly.

"I know, I've studied Team Unicorn," I tersely replied as I milled seven cards. "In exchange, Infernity Death Dragon cannot attack. But, it doesn't matter, because when my hand is at zero, Infernity Archer can attack you directly."

"W- What?"

"Infernity Archer, take aim!" I pointed as the archer pulled on the bowstring. "Hell Snipe!"

Michiru: LP 6750 → LP 4750

Chase: LP 4200

"Infernity Destroyer, attack Muzurhythm!" I called as Destroyer shredded the tiny fiend. "And as a bonus, Destroyer's effect activates when my hand is at zero, allowing me to inflict sixteen hundred damage to you each time Destroyer destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard!"

Michiru: LP 4750 → LP 3950 → LP 2350

Chase: LP 4200

"Dammit..." Michiru grumbled. "My monsters..."

"Turn end," I panted.

"My... turn!" Michiru screamed, her eyes wide and mad. Light glittered along her arms, her power made manifest. "My pride... my monsters... I play the Spell, Pot of Avarice! This card allows me to shuffle five monsters from my graveyard into the deck, and therefore draw two cards. I shuffle Tour Guide, Voltic Bicorn, two Fabled Grimro and one Catsith into the deck and then draw two cards. I send two cards from my hand to the graveyard to revive Fabled Soulkius [2200/2100]. Now since I control a Fabled monster, I send Grimro from my hand to the graveyard, and add to my hand from my deck The Fabled Rubyruda, and summon the tuner monster, The Fabled Rubyruda [1100/800]."

"Level six... and level four..." I observed with dread. Many people were already backing away.

"Tuning, level six Soulkius to level four Rubyruda!" Michiru's voice echoed. "Legends sunk long ago into the darkness of time, arise to begin the revolution of the tales! Synchro summon! Lord of the monsters, Fabled Leviathan!"

The monster she summoned wore a long red wig, and had on gleaming red and gold armour. Instead of that warm feeling of heroism, that red and gold seemed sinister, a perverted purpose of warm colours for what they should have intended. As I watched, the monster rose slowly from its golden throne, and began to laugh. Quite a few people screamed [3000/2000].

"Fabled Leviathan, attack Infernity Death Dragon!" Michiru cried. "Clash of the Titans!"

My ace monsters was destroyed in a flash, screaming bloody hate and vengeance.

"But, your Leviathan is destroyed too!" I defended.

"When Leviathan is destroyed, I can retrieve any three Fabled monsters from my graveyard to add to my hand," Michiru murmured. "I add Nozoochee and Cerburrel, as well as Fabled Grimro. I discard Cerburrel to special summon Nozoochee, and therefore Cerburrel is special summoned as well. Tuning, level two Nozoochee to level two Cerburrel. Legends long hidden by the con of man, lead the charge to reveal yourself in light! Synchro Summon! Revive, The Fabled Unicore!"

With a whinny, my most hated Fabled monster [2300/1000] reappeared.

"I shall send Grimro to the graveyard and retrieve The Fabled Catsith," she announced. "With that, I set two cards. Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" I called.

"Upon resolution, no matter what you play, it's useless," Michiru sneered. "What can you do now?"

"This," I flashed the Spell card. "Spellbook Inside the Pot."

Michiru looked confused as she drew three cards along with me. "Eh?"

"Then I activate Dark Core, discarding a card to kiss that pain in my ass bye-bye," I saluted as the Unicore screamed in hate and defiance, but was swept off of the field. "You have four cards, and at resolution I have one card in hand. Your Unicore can't do anything."

"Counter Trap, Dark Bribe!" Michiru defended as my Spell bounced off.

I drew a card due to Dark Bribe. "My point's still made. Activate Continuous Spell, Wave-Motion Inferno. When my hand is at zero, all Infernity monsters I control gain four hundred attack and defence power [2000/1000 → 2400/1400] [2300/1600 → 2700/2000]. I'll set a card. Infernity Destroyer, destroy The Fabled Unicore!"

Michiru was about to move, but froze for a mere second. "Trap card, Horn of the Phantom Beast!"

"Counter-Trap, Infernity Barrier!" I cried as my Barrier shattered the Horn which would have led to much more pain on my part, and echoing my relief, Destroyer charged.

Michiru: LP 2350 → LP 1950 → LP 350

Chase: LP 4200

"Infernity Archer, finish this!" I followed. "Hell Snipe!"

Infernity Archer lined up its shot... and fired.

Michiru: LP 350 → LP 0

Chase: LP 4200

"I... won," I panted, trying not to sink down after the sudden exhaustion of being pinned in move after move.

Michiru slowly raised her head, and suddenly energy to run flooded my limbs.

"Two hours," Michiru snarled, her eyes flashing about the café. Several hopeful-looking Changelings immediately found an excuse to be elsewhere. "Very well. You have two hours... and when I come here again, I will no longer be _courteous_."

Two hours. Two hours to run to the Movement, find some guy named Angelo di Diablo, drag him here, and get all the Changelings out before Winter, and Michiru, came for them and so signed their death warrants.

I had no illusions of this fact; this was the life I chose.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	71. LXVIII: Storm Dragon Guard

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXVIII: Storm Dragon Guard**

A hubbub of chatter was the first thing that greeted us in the evening meal given in the cafeteria. We of the Central Movement had long adjourned to the room that was listed on the directory.

"Why is there a map?" Yamada-san sounded irritated.

"This is still a civilian building, and we have maps back at the Castle too," Kaido mildly answered. Yamada-san, Kaido and I were the only ones of the Central Movement present, Ryuusuke having already discharged his own responsibilities and fallen asleep.

Despite its name, the commissary resembled a miniature café with approximately ten tabled arranged around a main bar. A long row of tables were there, and only about five or six people were seated at the long table. The other smaller tables were suspiciously empty, or had nervous people clearing out of them.

"Over here!" Takeshi-san stood up, giving me a determined, if rather facetious smile. "Kannazuki-san, my sister, Kaname."

Ishihara Kaname was an attractive woman of average height, with short messy brown hair and cerulean-blue eyes. She wore the blue-edged white uniform of the DA college branch instead of normal clothings. "Hi."

"Hello, Kaname-san."

"Just call me Kaname," Kaname-san answered. "It's not everyday that I meet the young head of the Central Movement, after all. Come, I'll introduce my colleagues for the last six months."

"Oi, Castle," one of the men present at the table stood up. He had dark brown hair streaked liberally with silver, and he wore a fitted black jacket over a white V-neck sweater, on top of slacks and sneakers. Steel-grey eyes peered at me. "We can introduce our own selves! I'm Ichiro Kanzaki, a _Yonsei_- that is, I was born in LA. I'm the technology specialist, and I usually work with Ms Ishihara in her Communications work."

"Fourth-generation Japanese-American," Kaido added for my benefit.

"Hang on, Kanzaki!" Kaname-san sounded pissed off. "Don't steal my show!"

"You don't take all their attention, then!"

"E- Erm..." A timid-looking girl sat by their sides, and her laugh was ringing with falsehood. "P- Please, we're all friends... heheheh... right?"

"Mu, you can stop talking now," Alexianna-san waspishly snapped as she dropped into the seat next to Takeshi-san. Judging from the place-cards, Kaname-san and Kanzaki-san were seated on opposite ends of the table, leaving us three wedged between one that read 'Beatrice Epitaph' and the other as 'Mu Narukami', with the seat directly opposite mine as Merci Sophia. This had the unfortunate implication of placing Ms Sophia next to Alexianna-san.

Takeshi-san seemed to have realised this logistical error in time, for he swore under his breath and motioned to Kaname-san. "Nee-chan, you've put them next to each other!"

Kaname-san's invective did not come soon enough as Ms Sophia approached. "I've arranged things with Jeeves, we can have the whole place to ourselves until the peons begin rioting- oh, you're here, Ms Kannazuki. Agent Tell had to return to file that terrorist report on Shion Angel, we'll be called out on a hunt soon."

"You mean, we will be called out to kill him," Alexianna-san icily replied.

Ms Sophia glared back at her. "It's justified. He just fired an illegal firearm in public, and that is a federal offence on par with terrorism."

"So we're going to kill him without trial," Alexianna-san considered. "Manslaughter?"

"Federal authority."

"You know that we're obliged to interrogate him first," Alexianna-san pointed out.

"Well, if he dies in a fire-fight-"

The café door slammed open. "Dammit, quit harassing me, I don't care-"

"This is important-"

I slowly walked over to the entrance to look, Yamada-san following behind like my personal spectre. His breath was inordinately warm against my ear, though I did not pay much attention due to the scene before us.

There was a dark-haired girl standing at the entrance. She wore a purple T-shirt with the logo '_Screw the rules I've got a Taser!_' emblazoned across the front in yellow font with a red skirt. Two belts crossed the red tartan, and her right arm was circled with three bands coloured red, yellow and blue. On her left arm a belt was clipped on her shoulder, and a silver rose pendant was looped around her neck with the medical-grade chain of silver kept for Duelists Class III and above.

The man that was following her was slightly overweight and had brown hair. He wore a dark blue blazer, a black shirt and jeans, and wire-rimmed spectacles hung on the bridge of his nose.

"This is really important," the man was saying. "I'm Maurice Skitten, I'm a card designer, my picture on the I2 website and everything. I've been having dreams where this crazy axe-wielding white-haired gangster swinging an axe and singing songs from Alice in Wonderland keeps on bugging me to make a card featuring him, and give it to you. You're Beatrice Epitaph, right? Please, just take it and get him off my back!"

"I don't believe in that fairy tale nonsense," Beatrice spat. "Mr Skitten, I'm not a competent analyst. I recommend you make an appointment with a shrink instead-"

"Please!" Mr Skitten yelled. "I'll do anything, just take the card!"

He shoved the card into her palm, and then quickly ran away.

"Mr Skitten!" Beatrice yelled. "Man, what a weirdo."

"Who was that?" Ms Sophia asked.

"Some guy from LA," Beatrice waved a hand. "Apparently haunted by a Duel Spirit who forced him to print a card and bring it to the Big Easy. What a joke."

"Oh," Ms Sophia shook her head. "What's the card?"

"It's-" Beatrice stared at the card that she held, her left hand shaking as her eyes slowly widened. "N- No."

Kaido walked over, holding a hand out. "Let me."

With a shaking hand, she held it out. It featured a pointy-eared fiend wearing a purple three-piece suit and a fedora atop spiky white hair. It was covered in blood and infection, and it was loosely clutching an Axe of Despair.

It was also grinning madly, exactly like that man...

"Dante Swartzvauld," Kaido noted. "He was a hero."

"H- How?" Beatrice stuttered. "Who are you anyway?"

"Archivist, Central Movement, Kaido Ariyashi," Kaido answered. "Dante Swartzvauld, former European Arcadia Movement, codename Mad Hatter."

"Mad as a hatter, he was," Beatrice softly agreed. "I... I don't remember. When he left our Team Hell Poets... after Vergil... I haven't spoken to him. I joined the Movement, but... I couldn't find him."

"He's dead," Yamada-san broke the news quickly. "He died a hero."

I glanced at Yamada-san curiously. "Yamada-san-?"

"He died nearly a year ago," Yamada-san said.

Ms Sophia frowned. "You mean at that weather mess back in Neo Domino?"

"It wasn't an ordinary mess," Yamada-san confirmed. "He died a hero."

Beatrice's lips twitched, and she sat down, quietly staring at nothing.

"What did I miss?" a soft masculine voice commented.

I regarded the black-clad newcomer. "Tsugare-san!"

"Kannazuki-san," Misawa Tsugare gave a brief smile.

"Why are you here?" Kaido asked as they took a seat across each other. "I thought you were in London with Yamamoto!"

"Ah, it's complicated," Tsugare-san admitted. "Anyway, it looks like I'm taking your appointment tomorrow, Kannazuki-san. Please be gentle with me."

I paused, unsure of how to answer. Yamada-san solved the problem by glaring at Tsugare-san until the oldest Misawa backed away, purple and blond locks messed up in his bid to flee from Yamada-san, amber eyes glimmering with sweat from the spiciness of dinner.

"Okay, everyone relevant is here," Ms Sophia snapped as a confused Ryuusuke finally walked in. "Jeeves!"

Unlike what I expected, the meal served was not too sweet, but was incredibly spicy.

"Jambalaya," Kaido commented as a pot of rice with chicken and shrimp and almost anything else I could think of to mix with fried rice, including peppers, onions, celery and hot chilli peppers.

"What?" I whispered.

"It's rice with... everything," Kaido finally said.

The Jambalaya I had to take with copious gulps of some extremely sweet drink. "This is... tea?"

"Sweet tea," Kaido corrected. "American teas tend to be brewed cold, not hot, and with lots of sugar."

"Agreed," Ryuusuke gasped halfway through his own share. "Three dishes-"

"Cajun cuisine is a three-pot affair," Kaido rattled off as he took a portion of diced potato fried with Cayenne peppers. "Main dish, vegetables, and one with the starch portion of the meal, usually rice."

"I hope none of you are allergic to shellfish," Kaname-san offered. "Tomorrow there's _Étouffée_. I mean, shellfish stew with rice."

"Sounds promising," Ryuusuke looked intrigued. "But... hot..."

"A bastardization of cuisine," Alexianna-san commented, but said nothing else.

"Right, go eat your fancy French food, then," Ms Sophia scowled halfway into her own Jambalaya. "Why cook it like curry?"

"Actually, bell peppers, celery and onions are the holy trinity of Cajun cuisine," Kaido informed her. Ms Sophia pushed her plate aside mutinously and said nothing else at that.

"It's food, get over it," Kanzaki-san muttered.

"Reminds me of that time you tried to make curry, Nee-chan."

"N- No!" Kaname-san scowled at Takeshi-san.

Between large helpings and the sweet tea, I ended up nearly refusing the dessert of _crêpes Suzette_.

Kaido poked thoughtfully at the crepe, tasting it for a brief moment. "You know, it can be served _flambe_."

Tsugare-san looked amused, and I nearly thought of Uzuki's face at the prospect of setting her food on fire before eating it. It nearly prompted a bout of homesickness.

"You are not setting it on fire," Kanzaki-san glared.

"Why not?" Ms Sophia asked. If pressed I could admit that her expression was suspicious, to say the least.

"Fire alarm."

Ms Sophia twitched.

The dishes were cleared off in time to one side, and set in a pile before Ms Sophia got up. "Coffee's upstairs in the meeting room."

It was entirely formalised, I knew from Nakamura-san's explanations. An evening meal, usually done by a caterer or Jarvis-san, depending on the mood, and then coffee and business. Hardly any alcohol, Nakamura-san added, unless required, and then I was also not to drink, and any encouragements could be seen as breaking the law.

Yamada-san seemed even more tense, even as he took glasses of more sweet tea from the carafe already present and slid them to us. Ryuusuke had departed with a yawn and a good night, and I found that I sorely missed his presence. Anyone I did not have to work with on business would be a welcome distribution. There was trouble in the air; it showed on taut expressions, waiting fidgets and clinks of glass and porcelain.

Curiously enough, stuffed toys decorated the conference rooms, and even then they were of an otherworldly nature; witches and broomsticks and broad-brimmed hats, jack o' lanterns of a bulbous nature with bat ears, and tiny little stuffed bats with plush furry skin.

"Technically, Babel Tower is owned by Symphony," Ms Sophia unapologetically answered my question as to the unusual décor. "But we occupy only the top few floors of it, so the rest of Babel Tower is leased out to the Louisiana Movement. This is our Halloween line."

"I'm quite sure there's a clause that states that the Movement does not allow capital donation of more than twenty thousand US dollars without due cause," Kaido frowned.

"Not capital, land," Ms Sophia dismissively answered. "The dormitories itself is in Rampart Street, so there's less space needed here. Or did you think that the Louisiana Movement's operations were consolidated too?"

"Consolidation of Movement property has nothing to do with the subject that currently the Louisiana Movement answers too much to Symphony," Kaido pointed out.

"It's convenient, since I'm helming it," Ms Sophia argued. "You got a problem?"

"A lot of them," Kaido answered politely. "But I suppose we can give them after we clear all of the pertinent business at hand, Ms Sophia?"

Ms Sophia's back straightened, and though her eyes narrowed at Kaido she made no move to attack him.

"A wide-scale, third-floor conference room," Kaido assessed. "Very... plain."

"I'm sorry, this isn't the Hilton," Ms Sophia snapped back, but remained civil.

"Business. Is everyone prepared?" the girl named Beatrice asked.

Alexianna-san sneered. Kanzaki-san stared. Kaname-san snickered. Takeshi-san had long excused himself, as if the auras of several Psychics about to begin metaphorical warfare was too much of a danger to his continued health. Beatrice nodded, and the last girl nodded.

"Mu, the agenda?" Ms Sophia asked.

A fairly petite but slender pale-skinned girl with light blue eyes, and long dark brown pigtails dyed with light golden brown tips walked up. A basketball jersey with black shorts, black sneakers, a silver necklace with a _sotoba_ suspended around her neck, and emerald-studded piercings all around her ears gave her a casual air, despite the tenseness of her movements. She held up a digital recorder.

"Beginning, meeting on the twenty-sixth of October 20XX, Arcadia Movement Louisiana Movement. For the purposes of secrecy, all minutes will be registered with code-names. The head, Stellar, is considered MIA, hence the present are as follows; Acting head, Virgo. Combat, Angel. Technology, Clockwork. Communications: Castle. Secretary, Thunder. Archivist: Psycho. Guests in attendance: Polaris, Cold Wolf, Spirit of the Books, hereby known as Spirit, and White Rose."

I glanced towards an impassive Tsugare-san, who did not meet my eyes. Instead, he continued staring at the five that made up the main staff of the Louisiana Movement.

The recorder was henceforth removed, and Mu took up pencil and paper, gesturing in the universal motion to go ahead.

"First order of business," Ms Sophia began, glaring at Alexianna-san as if daring her to challenge. "Our _esteemed_ overlord in the Central Movement has seen fit to grace us with her presence. Please, Polaris."

"Thank you, Virgo," I nodded. "I would first like to address the proposals sent from the United States Army with recommendations from both the New York and Louisiana Movements, regarding their reluctance towards the implementation of anti-Psychic courses used to subdue and handle rogue Psychics who have broken the law. Coming from a different country, I do indeed register different concerns about allowing the military into our affairs, yet I realise that the North American Movements in the United States must have some concerns. I realise that the military as a whole is not a popular prospect for any Psychic in North America, and hence I would prefer to understand the views of the locals. I would indeed work with Specialist Archibald O'Brien and Corporal Rafael de Santos on this subject over this week, for the development of such a curriculum as we have taught the Blue Berets of West Academia. I would open the floor to questions, now."

"I got one question," Ms Sophia was, predictably, the first. "Although there are, noticeably very few statistics regarding Psychics over the years, racial statistics could reflect our current situation. In a world where we are seen as, and I quote, 'delicate monsters' and 'demons in human form', why are we giving weapons to the ones who do have the power to oppress us? Why are we going out of our way to supplement the army with the one thing that could ruin the industry the Movement has built itself upon? I am referring to the fact that we, as Psychics, are powerful. We have power, and with power we could make a difference. We have made a difference. And yet you of the Central Movement do not allow us free reign of this power, do not allow we Psychics to mete out the punishment and revenge that is due to us, do not allow us to stand where we truly should be."

"Disrespect for the traditional halls of power is always the mark of the American," Yamada-san commented. "Perhaps it is just as well that if there is a power that you had bowed to, it was Winter. Winter has always said that to make a difference, power is required. To make a change, we ourselves must be the ones to make it. Yet it is clear that we cannot strike out on our own. To do so would be to say, I am different from all of you, I am not one of society. That is not true; we are part of society. That is the truth we are, we are human, and as fallible as anyone else. It is a human fallacy for humans to be afraid of what they do not know. Allying with the traditional avenues of power makes sense, and promotes dissemination and non-discrimination. Therefore, this change must be gradual, else we lose the base upon which so much blood has been shed for us. This alliance, this mutual education policy, is only the start of that change."

"I don't want to think about the government controlling our place," Kanzaki-san confessed.

"We should... ally ourselves, if we want to promote change," Kaname-san whispered. "If we do, most likely we could gain access to archives, records, something to help us reach out to many more Psychics, help us raise more Psychics and intervene in Child Protection Services."

"But... like this, our freedom could be at stake," Mu pointed out. "I don't want to be entered into a list that could lead to our being killed."

"Any practical definition of freedom must include the freedom to take the consequences," Alexianna-san growled. "Opening our knowledge to the military is a start to actual freedom, actual standing. That we could be killed is a risk, because it would imply that we have to trust them. Why ever not, that we cannot trust them?"

"Because our situation is unprecedented," Ms Sophia countered. "Because we place the fate of every American Psychic at stake if we do this. Because history has shown, time and again, that people hate and fear us, because of our powers. I don't think this is smart. I don't think this is right. I think arming the military to fight actual Psychic Duelists is the step that's going to lead to genocide and the loss of our freedom."

"Genocide is not allowed under the terms of the UN Charter," Beatrice pointed out tartly. "Previous records also suggest that marginalisation happens as a result of non-alliance with the governmental powers. At the very least, the Arcadia Movement, Louisiana Chapter, must give the illusion of respect to federal law."

Silence fell. I looked across a multitude of serious, unsmiling faces. Dinner threatened to protest.

"You speak like the Madame, Virgo," Kaido mildly pronounced, breaking the silence at last.

"She was against the establishment?" Ms Sophia's lips parted at the mention of the second head of the Arcadia Movement. Myself, I felt caught off guard when I turned my head to stare at Kaido.

"This has no relevance to the topic at hand," Kanzaki-san pronounced.

"This has every relevance," Kaido countered. "It is important that you hear what I am about to say."

He was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "She was considered a threat to the laws of our Movement."

"What does that mean?" Ms Sophia looked confused.

"It means that she made it a point to dance as close to the edge of breaking ethical and moral laws as she possibly could whenever she got the chance," Kaido pointedly replied. "It took her all of a year after she acquired the Movement to start agitating for change."

This was more than I had ever heard from anyone in the Council about the enigmatic figure who had given me a second lease of life. My hands were sweating and my heart was thudding. "What kind of change?"

"When the original governing principles were drawn up by Divine, she was furious that they had nothing to do with right and wrong," Kaido plainly answered. "She pointed out how Psychics could use their abilities to bilk people out of their money, to intimidate and manipulate them, to steal wealth and property from others or destroy it outright, and that so long as the principles were obeyed, the Arcadia Movement at that time would do nothing whatsoever to stop them or discourage others from following their example. She wanted to reform the Movement to embrace concepts of justice as well as limiting the specific use of magic."

I frowned. "That's... but... we prosecute morally ambiguous cases now. We... we're doing something, right?"

"Wow. What a monster." Ms Sophia sarcastically commented.

Kaido exhaled slowly. "Can you imagine what would happen if she had had her way?"

"The White Witch Massacre wouldn't have happened?" she shot back. "My family wouldn't have died?"

"Once a body of laws describing justice was applied, it would only be a short step to using that body to involve the Movement in events happening in the outside world."

"Gosh, yeah," she snarled. "You're right. A bunch of psychics trying to effect good in the world would be awful."

"Whose good?" Kaido calmly posed the question. "No one is an unjust villain in his own mind. Even – perhaps even _especially – _those who are the worst of us. Some of the cruellest tyrants in history were motivated by noble ideals, or made choices that they would call 'hard but necessary steps' for the good of their nation. We are all the hero of our own story."

"Yeah. It was really hard to tell who the good guys and bad guys were in World War Two."

At this, Kaido rolled his eyes. "You've read the histories written by the victors of that war. As someone who studied the other side of the story as well, I can tell you that both sides had their faults. The common reasoning for the atom bomb was that the Japanese would have fought an invasion of the homeland to the bitter end, as indeed their militarist leaders exhorted them to do, resulting in the same staggering losses on both sides that the fighting in the South Pacific had produced. The rhetoric was that the Japanese were fanatics, above and beyond the normal mobilisation of civilian populace. That they weren't human beings to be reasoned with. That they were incapable of rational behaviour. That there was no other possible way to end the war. Are you telling me that that was _sensible, reasonable_, and _correct_ logic?"

Ms Sophia raised her hands, palms up. "You got me there. I still say that she had it right there, but we shouldn't allow the military to get its mitts on how to deal with Psychics. We Psychics should be the ones choosing where and when to intervene, for us alone."

Kaido gave her an oblique look. "Then by your argument, you would have had the Arcadia Movement destroy the United States."

"What?"

"Your government has drenched its hands in innocent blood as well," he replied, still calm. "Unless you think the Indian tribesmen whose lands were conquered were somehow the villains."

She frowned over that one. "We've gone sort of far afield from the Madame."

"Yes. And no. What she proposed would inevitably have drawn the Arcadia Movement into global conflicts, and therefore into global politics. If the Movement, today, declared war upon America for its past crimes and current idiocy, would you obey the order to attack?"

"Hell, no," she scoffed. "The US isn't perfect, but it's ours."

"Exactly," Kaido posed. "And since the Movement is made up of members from all over the world, it would mean that no matter _where _we acted, we would almost certainly be faced with dissidence and desertion from those who felt their homelands wronged."

I thought about what he had said for a long moment. "What you're saying... is that the Arcadia Movement would have to turn on some of its own."

"And how many times would that happen before there _was _no Movement?" he asked. "Wars and feuds can live for generations. Settling the conflicts would have required even more involvement in political affairs."

"You mean control," Yamada-san quietly spoke. "Seeking political power."

"Precisely," Kaido spoke in a clipped voice. "And for gaining control over others, for gathering great power to oneself, there is no better tool than mind control. Power over the unknown. To be able to reach out, and call down the powers of the world on anything, to anyone. To call ourselves greater."

"The White Witch Massacre," I spoke.

"Correct. Two hundred men killed, and the perpetrator became one of the most... _infamous_ Psychics overnight," Kaido nodded. "We all know what happened to her in the end."

Silence fell. All of the present Psychics of the Louisiana Movement stared, transfixed, at Kaido.

"So the Movement limits itself," Kaido commented. "Anyone is free to act in whatever manner he chooses with his power – provided he doesn't break our laws. Without resorting to the darkest of Psychic powers, the amount of damage an individual can inflict on society is limited. As harsh an experience it has created for the ones who break them, the rules are not about justice. The Arcadia Movement is not about _justice_. They are about restraining power. Likewise, this agreement with the US Army is not about freedom, liberty, or those concepts you Americans are so fond of. They are about restraining power, of assuring that legal power lies with the powers temporal of the nation we happen to be in."

"So it's another way we're a pariah of society?" Ms Sophia spoke up after a long silence. "It's another collar on us?! What business is it of the military that they have to being their shit into our business!"

"Life would be infinitely easier if that were true," Kaido agreed. "If we didn't have to answer to anybody, or feel social pressure based on the choices we make. Sadly, all civilization and morality rests on the fact that we have to answer to each other. The Madame failed to recognise that, but luckily her daughter did not."

"So you're saying that the Madame was short-sighted," Kanzaki-san finally spoke up.

"She was... a complex woman," Kaido agreed. "Brilliant, erratic, passionate, committed, idealistic, talented, charming, scurrilous, bold, incautious, arrogant – and short-sighted, yes. Amongst a great many other qualities."

He shrugged. "She is also dead, whereas her daughter is much more alive, and has done much more for all of us than her brilliant mother had ever done. I look at results. So, Virgo. Your words, enlightening as they are of your fears and worries, while all the more justified, are just as passionate, idealistic, bold and arrogant as Diana Hunter was... and just as short-sighted."

Ms Sophia had gone white at Kaido's words. "You... how am I short-sighted? You saw Shion Angel. You saw him, the hate, the way he was prepared to shoot us and kill us all. How is it not justified that he's the one behind the killings-"

"What killings?" Yamada-san objected.

"What?" Alexianna-san looked shock, her complexion paling to chalk-white. "Why were we not informed?"

"Dammit," the girl, Mu, said; she pronounced it as Beatrice, Kanzaki-san and Kaname-san also stood up with their own objections.

"It's why the search was called, because you know, or suspect that Shion Angel is responsible?" Alexianna-san twitched. "He's not supposed to die if we all do our jobs!"

Ms Sophia "We're Arcadians, or is the meaning of 'Psychic Duelist' lost on you, you French fuckwit-"

"We are not savages to kill him without trial, even if it's personal!"

"You didn't think 'bout that when you sided with a damned human smuggler for a shot at the ice bitch-"

"It was warranted-"

"Both of you shut up," Kanzaki-san said, effectively ending the conversation. "Stellar is MIA, and as the two people next in command you're supposed to keep a level head, Virgo, Angel. If you can't, command shall go to Castle, Psycho or even Thunder, and I will ensure it or I am not called Clockwork. Do you understand?"

"It's not of your business, dickwad," Ms Sophia snarled.

"It is when you're shaming the New Orleans main headquarters in front of the Central people-"

"Oh please," Ms Sophia scoffed. "What they think doesn't affect us."

Kanzaki-san narrowed his eyes. "It does if we don't want the missing people situation worldwide to escalate. We need to present a united front. Quit taking it out on Angel, you're stressed about the serial murders-"

He stopped, but evidently it was the wrong thing to say as he found himself under the gazes of Kaido and Yamada-san.

"What. Serial. Murders." Yamada-san growled, and his growl caused nearly all of the Louisiana Movement's main administrative staff to back slightly. "I thought they were killings?"

Ms Sophia set her jaw. "It's being handled."

"This is an oversight," Kaido growled.

"It's not if the situation is under control," Ms Sophia's jaw set. "I am not going to compromise on this. We _will_ handle it."

"Clearly, it looks like you can't," Tsugare-san challenged.

"It's none of your business," Ms Sophia defended.

"It is when it's highly possible my fiancé is _being kidnapped_," Tsugare-san growled. It was no longer civil, or nice, or remotely like the Misawa Tsugare I had known of. Right now, Tsugare-san looked every bit as intimidating as he could manage with a height of about one-ninety.

Ms Sophia did not look impressed as she drew herself to meet him eye to eye. The air around them grew tense, heavy and stifling as a funeral wake.

Tears dripped from Tsugare-san's eyes, but he kept it even. "Stand down."

Ms Sophia did not move.

Tsugare-san's voice turned slightly more melodic, more alluring. "I said, stand-"

_Slap, slap_.

Alexianna-san stood between them, arms outstretched after delivering the slaps that shattered the silence. "Meeting adjourned. Recess. Turn that recorder off, Thunder. Psycho, make sure the records are clean."

With a guilty expression, Mu clicked the recorder. The LED attached went out. Beatrice nodded, gathering the paper copy of the minutes from the table.

"Kaname-san, clear the table," Alexianna-san sighed. "Mu, get some hot drinks for our guests. Misawa Tsugare, Merci Sophia. Under the rules of combat of the Movement you are to settle your differences with a Duel, by emergency orders."

"What emergency orders?" Ms Sophia screeched. "You can't commandeer the Movement!"

"Regulation six-one-nine," Beatrice pointed out. "Emotional compromise by the operation at hand defaults temporary command to the next up, which is Ms LeRouge."

"I am not emotionally compromised," Ms Sophia spat.

Alexianna-san just stared back at her. "Then I presume, that you will have no problem winning."

* * *

The Arcadia Movement is hard on all criminals who cross their paths. Let's get that straight first. The two thousand or so active members, plus eight thousand or so auxiliary members, are all scattered across Neo Domino. Between felonies and misdemeanours, those unlucky enough to cross the path of a Psychic get the choice between being roasted by fire of eaten alive by a terrifying monster respectively.

Despite so, where the average criminal gets it bad, Psychics gone criminal have it much, much worse. Suspected criminal Psychics, according to the Arcadia Rights Bill, can be held without bail – though are allowed a lawyer – and may refuse to give witness against themselves, depending on the seriousness of the crime. Instead, they and the Arcadia Movement play this waiting game of 'who cracks first' – and generally, the suspect gets so used to life within the confines of the Movement that they are relegated to community service in the Knights of Arcadia – not fun. On the other hand, the rumour mill said that the last felony committed by a Psychic happened around the same time that it was declared a few years back, that felonious criminals got a personal interview with the Knights of Arcadia and their fists and cards. Felonies plummeted after that.

I made my way to the Castle by Carpe Jugulum. Parking it by the side and initiating auto-lock took a brief moment before I hot-footed it from the garage to the attached office of the Knights of Arcadia.

"_Siegfried to Castle Arcadia, everything fine around the Puzzle Area..._"

"_Hydra reporting to Castle Arcadia, card smugglers spotted along West entrance of Neo Domino Harbour, requesting-_"

"_Castle Arcadia to Tokyo Base, we have gotten the records, you may set the bus on its course..._"

I ignored all the talking members of the Arcadia Movement's intra-organisation police force towards the Arrests desks. "Yuko?"

Yamada Yuko glanced up from the switchboard. "Hercules to Hydra, you are go. Team Delta has been dispatched along the west side, begin herding. Over." Then he looked at me. "Princeton? Sylph's in the interrogation basement, we don't have a case for you."

"That I know," I said. "I need to check if you've got any arrests last night. Any... special arrests."

"Oh, you mean the raid on the Misawa house," Yuko made a show of checking his computer. "Last night... that guy that charged into the house in the middle of the night, after Hibiki Akio was kidnapped by presenting himself as Misawa Tsugare. I guess it means that our perps weren't aware that the White Rose already left Japan."

"That guy... you don't have a name?" I asked.

"He invoked rule of silence," Yuko shrugged. "Looks foreign. Titania's been grilling him, but so far he hasn't spoken a single word. Seems more receptive to Kraehe, but no one's keen to try asking the Titania to let Kraehe have a crack at him. Have you heard from Seika, she's the only one who can talk sense into Kraehe."

He tilted his head, touching the earpiece. "Arcadia Movement headquarters, Hercules speaking. What's your trouble? Okay, very well. Plant yourself down and defend where you stand until Team Beta can make it." He then pressed a few more buttons. "Team Beta, Cubic Area, the Dyne processing factory, attend to codename Topaz."

He switched off the call. "Titania and Kraehe are downstairs with Sylph. You know where. It's not exactly high-security, if you have anything mad to do clear it with Sylph."

I stared at him. "How do you do that?"

Yuko seemed rather far out of it. "Training. After Yukio managed to terrify all of the Knights all by himself on his shift, it was decided that no way was he ever going to take the shift ever again. So I ended up covering all of his would-be shifts, and what a disaster it was..."

I hurriedly excused myself before I was treated to a spiel on training conditions in the Knights, and made my way to sub-basement four, popularly known as the Dungeon. It was not the fun kind, and Psychics trying for the BDSM lifestyle usually kept it to the dormitory buildings. Upon exiting the elevator, there was a hallway of the same steel-reinforced wood door with a tiny glass panel and beside it a docket for a name and/or condition. I turned slightly towards the left, instead turning in at the last door on the left; brushed steel.

It was supposed to be a room solid enough to contain Shimotsuki, okay?

Absently, I dipped my head and kissed the top of my boyfriend's hair. Youkai wrinkled his nose, but tilted his head up from where he was facing the one-way mirror. "I thought you hated PDA."

"Is it PDA if no one's watching?" I asked, grinning.

"CCTV?"

"Gives Yuko something to entertain himself."

"I don't think Yuko gets off on gay porn, seeing that he's crushing hard on Kannazuki-san," Youkai commented, watching the one-way mirror.

I glanced in.

There was a table, fixed to the floor. There were two chairs on either side, also fixed into the floor. In one of those chairs sat Himemiya Uzuki, her copper-red hair fixed in a bun and netted. She was alone, with only paper and pencil with her, and the younger of the Himemiya sisters was scribbling away, ignoring the perp.

The guy that sat across her must have been double her weight and height, and that was saying something when most of that body was muscled and tanned. Brown hair and eyes that would have been ordinary anywhere else than in Japan made up his otherwise skeletal features. A tattoo on his left arm read: _Descencus Averno facilis est_. A wooden cross on a leather thong hung around his bulging neck, and he wore jeans and socks. His feet were covered only with socks, and his grey T-shirt stretched too far across a barrel-like chest to be anything but ill-fitting. His arms were defensively crossed, and he was looking anywhere but at Himemiya Uzuki.

"Should she really be alone in that room with him?" I muttered. "I mean, I'd feel nervous if it was you too, but... she must be half his size. So are you."

"His shirt was bagged as evidence, and his shoes were bloody, also bagged," Youkai cryptically remarked. "Not a name, not a peep. Even Titania's getting tired of sitting across him for two days. He hasn't done anything, and if he did, there's a senior Psychic on hand to assist Kraehe. She signed up for this."

"I'm not quite sure what to think, but I am keeping an eye on him," a voice remarked.

I nearly jumped in my britches as Himemiya Hazuki herself appeared, with a clipboard. "W- What?"

"Sign here," she brusquely ordered. "I just got the call from Manjoume Entertainment. Seeing as I'm following along as Hunter-san's manager, I'm processing the paperwork for travel insurance. I was about to drop this off at your flat, but since you're here you can sign the thing."

I scanned through, and scribbled it down. "Wow, Uncle Jun hired you?"

"Yes," Hazuki took the clipboard back. "I have to leave Uzuki here, otherwise Yuko would be swamped in cases. It's the Halloween rush. Noon, Gate 7C, I'll be waiting with the tickets."

She then turned and left.

I let out a long whistle. "That's a badass bureaucrat."

"Yes," Youkai sounded amused.

"I'm terrified."

"I know. So am I," Youkai clung tight, and we made out for a brief moment. I'm not a fan of exhibition, no matter how many quips I make.

I distinctly recalled Jarvis's remarks. "I think I have an idea. Let me in."

A few minutes of explanation and persuasion and administrative work begun later, the door opened. Hazuki looked confused when the signal came, and then she just headed for the door, cautious of the huge man behind the bolted-down furniture. I walked in, and faced the man. He was... large. And powerful. That was definite. An aura of darkness hung about him, a sort of psychic feeling that inspired the basest of terror to run from the inevitable.

"Well, that settles it," I mumbled.

The man didn't respond.

"Are you Angelo di Diablo?"

It was like getting the attention of a grizzly bear, who could probably squash me flat with one arm. He studied me, without a single response. I suspect he was now watching to see if I pulled a knife on him.

"Jarvis sent me," I waved. "You know, the Magic Formula."

A beat passed, and then he... relaxed. It was curiously weird, like seeing an inflatable castle deflate.

"I just beat back a couple of Winter's agents in your place," I continued. "You have..." I checked my watch, "one more hour before they come, and then I'd have gotten all of these chest bruises for nothing. Then you can explain what the hell were you doing to me, rather than to the official records."

"...I don't understand?" He spoke _English_. No wonder he was spending interrogation with Hazuki.

I rolled my eyes, standing up. "I'm a seer. know you're a Changeling, I can see it. I don't care what the fuck you did last night as long as no one died, and right now your right to remain silent is going to take a back-burner because people are going to die and my practically-cousin-in-law cum lawyer is missing, presumably dead. So get up off of your arse and follow me to do your goddamn job by getting Changeling abuse cases the fuck away from the Winter Queen. Everything else can come later. That good?"

A few blinks. "Yes, that good."

I could perhaps detail of the tedious process needed to find shoes for Angelo. I could perhaps tell you of the Nissan Armada that was liberated for this purpose. I could detail a lot of things, including and up to the hopeful tears of Changelings and psychics as they ran en masse out of the café the moment Angelo had said: "We have come for you." What need was there to write of another story of liberation? Clearly not now, since we have yet to reach the end of the tunnel.

Long story short, the tavern was cleared out in double time, Jarvis was giving us coffee – on the house – and Youkai and I were seated right across Angelo. Angelo cradled one cup between two fingers, as a testament to either the size of the handles or how large his hands were against the white porcelain.

"Where do we start?" my boyfriend hissed to me.

"I don't know," I hissed back.

"You're the one with the detective license!"

"It's an apprenticeship, and people don't really need a license to practise in London!" I nearly gave myself a face-palm. It was like I was completely wrong-footed in times of not-crises.

Angelo set down an empty cup with a loud _clink_. I had no idea that anyone could be so passively civil. "Thank you," he said. "About... about your cousin, Sylph."

"Misawa Nowaki. Call me Youkai," Youkai offered. "Sylph is my code-name, but right now I'm off-duty."

"Youkai," Angelo repeated, nervously glancing towards the direction of the bar counter Jarvis was polishing glasses at with an air of passive-aggressiveness. "I am Angelo. My... my last name was by choice. I... I have followed your aggressor from across the Pacific Ocean when we found out about the... the missing people cases. I... I work with the Fellowship of Grigori. I am... helping people with special powers, sometimes, but usually I... I am working with those like me."

"Those like you?" Youkai echoed.

"Changelings," I supplied. "Like just now."

Angelo nodded. "The... Duel Spirits, and Changelings, they are bound by the rules. No matter how powerful, they must follow the law."

"Law?" my turn to echo. "There's a law?"

"It is Law," Angelo explained. "With capital L. Changelings... they can Choose. We can Choose. Be Duel Spirit, or be human. Until then, we are subject to the laws and customs of the Court of the spirit parent." He frowned. "I... worry. For a while the main base has been meaning to come to Neo Domino, and yet... there were... unusual things about. The strange abounds in Neo Domino."

"In short, something kept your Fellowship out until now," Youkai nodded. "What do you think happened?"

"The Winter Court."

I frowned here. "These guys... they were Winter. And yet... why would Michiru hurt people in her own Court?"

Angelo let out a brief, hard laugh. "Because they can. In the Courts, any Court, Changelings are the lowest. Half-blooded. Changelings possess a measure of power of Duel Spirits, with the conscience of humanity. It is... not a combination to be envied in Summer or Winter. And when one's very birth curses one to eternal servitude to an otherworldly monarch, the message tends to be attempted to reinforced." His voice trailed off, as if in memory. "At least, that was what I was told by the Grigori. I got off lucky, being raised in an orphanage."

Youkai's long singers drummed a beat on the table. "Mind explaining how does the Magic Formula fit into this?"

"It is... protection," Angelo haltingly muttered. "I am not too clear on details, but Jarvis might know. A chance at freedom every three days, or perhaps, a chance to prolong despair. Cause enough despair amongst the half-blooded, and some actually choose to be Duel Spirit. They become monster... but they become happy monster."

"What about your own parent?" Youkai asked. "Didn't he do anything to look out for you?"

"My mother was raped by the Terrorking Archfiend." The statement was given as a simple declaration of fact, along with a flat look. "Even if he'd been strong enough to do anything, he wouldn't have. He thinks he's already done enough by not devouring my mother on the spot then. Not that it helped, since she died."

"Oh," Youkai's face flushed. "S- Sorry."

"It is curiosity. Normal," Angelo sipped a bit of coffee. "Ah, what I am about to say may not be fully legal. I would appreciate some... discretion, although I understand that the both of you must report this."

"We'll be fine," I answered. "Right, hon?"

Youkai rolled his eyes. "Depends. Might just be a footnote."

"We of the Fellowship, our main purpose is to protect and integrate Changelings into humanity," Angelo explained. "Part of this falls under hunting and killing Duel Spirits deemed dangerous to humans. A large majority of those who walk between planes are emissaries of Summer and Winter, and thus we normally eschew interfering with the Courts lest the work of centuries be undone in a single stroke by the displeased monarchs."

I could get the rationale behind that. I certainly wouldn't want to be battling two dangerously powerful alliances of Duel Spirits on two fronts either.

"A few months back, we have been receiving cases of murdered Changelings," Angelo continued quietly. "A pattern was present, too much to be coincidental, and we had traced the sources towards the Heaven Movement. For whatever reason, the Heaven Movement has been killing Changelings off."

"I've heard of it," Youkai frowned. "They're the group involved with the Night of Walpurgis case we had on file. You told me to look it up, Chase."

"The Heaven Movement used to comprise of approximately ten thousand members," Angelo thoughtfully mentioned. "We had statistics. About six thousand of their membership scattered to the winds, maybe less than two thousand defected to either our Fellowship or the Arcadia Movements, and about one thousand remained as the Heaven Movement."

"What happened to the remaining one thousand?" I asked.

Angelo frowned, giving a full-body shudder. "The Night of Walpurgis happened. They were... Winter came to them."

"They were killed," Youkai flatly stated, one hand reaching to twine fingers around my own fingers. I tightened my grip on his hand.

"Perhaps worse," Angelo whispered in acknowledgement. "Either way, we get wind of this associate of the Heaven Movement leaving, and I am sent to follow him. I came, and I was unable to stop him and I was incarcerated with the Central Arcadia Movement. I did not know his aim until that night, and I arrived too late to stop him from absconding with the target. I am very sorry for your loss, Mr Youkai, and for that of the White Rose."

"Huh?" Youkai blinked. "Tsu-nii, I mean, Tsugare Misawa is in New Orleans."

Angelo's face morphed. "You mean to say that... the cousin that is missing..."

"Is normal," Youkai paled, his fingers digging into wood. "Akio Hibiki."

"My lawyer," I explained to a confused Angelo. "We're clearly missing out quite a few facts."

I filled everyone in on the deaths of Uncle Rua and Aunt Ruka, and how Vanessa and Satsuki had appeared on my doorstep.

Angelo's expression turned wary for a second. "You keep in contact with agents of the Courts?"

"No," I groaned. "They keep tabs on us. It must be a huge stalker-fest somewhere or something."

"When you say us, you mean...?" Angelo quizzed.

"Kannazuki- I mean, Seika Kannazuki," I explained. "The current head of the Arcadia Movement. She's in New Orleans right now."

"There is no time to lose," the heavy wooden chair was knocked over by prodigious bulk as Angelo quickly stood. "If this Seika is watched by both Courts, the likelihood is high that the Heaven Movement will take action to find out her value. Even as bargaining power, should she provide leverage against the rulers, her life itself shall be in grave dangers across any plane."

"That's... not possible, right?" Youkai turned to me. "She's with Yukio and Kaido. I don't know about the lazy bastard Kaido, but Yukio would rather chew his arms off than fail in his duty to the Knights of Arcadia."

"It does not matter," Angelo groaned. "The Heaven Movement has somehow tapped into powers beyond understanding in their fervour for purity and salvation. Their aims are not ours to comprehend, and are incomprehensible to me. This does not help you, I know, but please believe me when I say this: I believe that the Heaven Movement is out to kill all Changelings on the earth."

_It is Law, _he had said with a defeating attitude. "Why?"

"Why what?" Angelo echoed.

"Seika Kannazuki is the head of the Arcadia Movement," I began. "I don't know how you're intending to convince us, but are you sure about trusting this information to us?"

At this, Angelo di Diablo tapped his burly knuckles. He sat back. He stared at his teacup. "You are spirit-caller. You could have ignored them and left, but you remained. Why? It is for that same reason."

* * *

_**OK, I've never been to the American South. I admit that. However, I had a brother who visited MIT before, and his general comment on food in the North-East was 'salty, large portions and too much oil'. He might have gotten ripped off by tourists, but I wanted to focus on a different aspect of America, which also means the more exotic cultures in the South, and therefore I chose to set the fourth arc in New Orleans.**_

_**Please review!**_


	72. LXIX: Ghostrick Panic

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXIX: Ghostrick Panic**

The Duel fields assembled here was more of a multi-purpose quality. Lines denoting the court dimensions were taped on the parquet flooring, and a relatively large stage stood at the far end. These courts were also handy for preparing for an impromptu Duel by combat.

Ms Sophia looked even angrier as Tsugare-san got up to the field to face her, DuelDisk ready but his hands lax, as if he did not care one way or another.

"Standard rules apply for Ground Duels," Alexianna-san called, refereeing the match. "Do not hurt each other too much. Begin!"

"Duel!" Ms Sophia tried to reach quickly, but she only narrowly won against Tsugare-san's hand speed.

Merci: LP 8000

Tsugare: LP 8000

"The honey-trap," Ms Sophia sneered as she glared at him. "Trying to play at real Dueling?"

Tsugare-san just looked back at her. "That part of my life is over. And, I am a Duelist, no matter what my past consisted of."

"Hmph, I just see a man-whore trying the whole Goth package," Ms Sophia sniffed. "I'll begin. Draw! I'll set a monster and a card, turn end."

"Draw," Tsugare-san declared. "I'll summon Naturia Pumpkin [1400/800] to the field."

A large green pumpkin grew upon his field, with a grinning face and a faraway expression.

"The effect of Naturia Pumpkin: when this card is normal summoned while my opponent controls a monster, I can special summon a Naturia monster from my hand," Tsugare-san announced. "I choose the tuner monster, Naturia Cherries [200/200]."

"Synchro summon...?" I whispered.

"Tuning, level four Naturia Pumpkin to level one Cherries," Tsugare-san announced. "White tiger of the west, Byakko, hear the cries of the forest of your home! Come to defend us! Synchro summon! Strike, Naturia Beast!"

With a savage roar, an emerald green tiger leapt from the Synchro Summon. Its legs were like trees, and moss grew on its fur [2200/1700].

"Naturia Beast, attack that set monster!" Tsugare-san ordered.

A pumpkin grinned momentarily as the cactus shot spikes at it, before it shattered. Laughter, haunting and high-pitched started up, and vines sprouted below the ground. The same pumpkin, now wearing a tiara, sprouted from the ground, grinning.

At the same time, a jazz belt began to spout:

_Well, well, well... what have we here?  
Sandy Claws, huh? Ooh, I'm really scared~  
So you're the one everybody's talking about, ha, ha, ha, ha.  
You're joking. You're joking. I can't believe my eyes!  
You're joking me, you gotta be!  
This can't be the right guy.  
He's ancient, he's ugly,  
I don't know which is worse.  
I might just split a seam now,  
If I don't die laughing first!_

_When Mr. Oogie Boogie says  
there's trouble close at hand,  
You'd better pay attention now,  
'Cause I'm the Boogie Man.  
And if you aren't shakin',  
Then there's something very wrong,  
'Cause this may be the last time,  
you hear the boogie song..._

Tsugare-san froze as the chorus was belted. "Erm..."

Ms Sophia scowled down at her DuelDisk. "Damn MP3," she muttered.

Alexianna-san gave a stifled giggle. Several more of the members present wolf-whistled, and Kaname-san started singing as well.

"Anyway," Ms Sophia growled. "When Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts [900/1000] is destroyed in the monster card zone, I can place her into the Spell and Trap card zone as a Continuous Spell card."

"Well... I'll set a card and end my turn, then," Tsugare-san debated.

"Draw!" Ms Sophia called, a dark shadow of dark blue against Tsugare-san's plain black. "During each player's standby phase, while my princess hangs about on the field as magic by her own power, Pumprincess gains one Pumpkin Counter (PC: 1). For each Pumpkin Counter accumulated, all monsters my opponent controls lose one hundred attack and defence power."

"What?" Tsugare-san snapped as vines caught onto the Beast [2200/1700 → 2100/1600].

"I'll also set a monster, and then I activate the Trap, Ceasefire. This will cause all face-down monsters to be flipped face-up, so come, Ghostrick Kyonshee [400/1800]!"

From where the set card appeared, a _kyonshi_ popped up, talisman waving from its face. It gave a brief chuckle.

"When Kyonshee is flipped face-up, I can add a Ghostrick monster with a level less than or equal to the number of Ghostrick monsters I already control from my deck to my hand," Ms Sophia declared. "This is permissible since the effect of Ghostrick Kyonshee is not a flip effect. I choose to add Ghostrick Specter from my deck to my hand. Also, by the effect of Ceasefire, you take one thousand damage."

Tsugare: LP 8000 → LP 7000

Merci: LP 8000

"I will now use the other effect of Kyonshee to flip him face-down once more," Ms Sophia called as Kyonshee winked out. "I set a card. Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Tsugare-san called.

"At the standby phase, Pumprincess gains another Pumpkin Counter (PC: 2), and so Beast loses one hundred attack and defence power [2100/1600 → 2000/1500]," Ms Sophia observed.

"It's a Pumpkin Countdown," Kaname-san commented as the song mercifully closed, ad-libbing as the song petered to the end. "Sounds like part of some cartoon. _'Cause I'm Mr Oogie Boogie, and you ain't going... nowhere._"

"Naturia Beast, attack the set monster!" Tsugare-san called.

"When Kyonshee is flipped face-up, I choose to add Ghostrick Lantern to my hand," She defended. "Then, upon the destruction of a Ghostrick monster, I shall special summon Ghostrick Specter from my hand in face-down defence mode and draw a card."

"Turn end," Tsugare-san declared.

"Draw!" Ms Sophia called. "Standby phase, Pumprincess gains a Pumpkin Counter (PC: 3), so your Beast is weakened [2000/1500 → 1900/1400]. I summon Crane Crane [300/900], allowing me to revive Ghostrick Kyonshee from the graveyard. I construct the overlay network with these two monsters."

The MP3 player continued warbling, though this time it was starting out with a violin:

_'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems.  
In a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams.  
For the story you're about to be told,  
began with the holiday worlds of auld.  
Now, you've probably wondered where holidays come from.  
If you haven't... I'd say it's time you begun._

Despite the eerie music, Ms Sophia just laughed. "Exceed summon! Open the gates, and let the screams rage! Master of the parade, Ghostrick Alucard!"

Beside the bedsheet spectre, a strange human figure appeared. His face was completely white, such that the paleness of the monster's hair seemed to be part of its face. He was dressed in a sumptuous suit of a gold-edged smoking-jacket over a starched white shirt and carmine dress trousers with sharp-toed boots [1800/1600]. Bats flickered as he waved the dramatic opera cape that was draped over the entire ensemble, and began to sing:

_Boys and girls of every age,  
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?  
Come with us and you will see,  
This, our town of Halloween~_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween!  
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!  
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene,  
Trick or treat till the neighbours gonna die of fright!_

_It's our town, everybody scream,  
In this town of Halloween..._

The sound bite trailed off before Ms Sophia held up a card. "Trap card, Ghostrick Panic! I flip my face-down Ghostrick Specter [600/0] into face-up defence mode, and then I shall turn your Naturia Beast to face-down defence mode. Next, I'll use the effect of Alucard, detaching one material to destroy a set card you control, such as your Naturia Beast!"

_I am the clown with the tear-away face,  
Here in a flash and gone without a trace...  
I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?",  
I am the wind blowing through your hair...  
I am the shadow on the moon at night,  
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!_

"Trap card, Spiritual Earth Art – Kurogane!" Tsugare-san defended. "By tributing the set Earth Attribute Naturia Beast, I can special summon a level four or lower Earth Attribute monster from my graveyard, such as Naturia Cherries [200/200] in defence mode. Of course, Pumprincess affects my monsters regardless [200/200 → 0/0]."

"You..." Ms Sophia bristled. "Alucard, destroy Naturia Cherries!"

"When Naturia Cherries is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can special summon two more Naturia Cherries in face-down defence mode." Tsugare-san defended.

"I set a card and switch Ghostrick Specter to face-down defence mode again by its own effect. Turn end," Ms Sophia grumbled.

"Draw!" Tsugare-san called.

"Standby phase, Pumprincess gains one more Pumpkin Counter (PC: 4)," Ms Sophia interjected as random sound bites kept ringing out:

_In this town we call home,  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song..._

"I summon Naturia Marron [1200/700 → 800/300]," Tsugare-san defended. "When Marron is summoned, I can mill a specific Naturia monster from my deck to my graveyard, and I choose Naturia Ladybug. Then, I flip summon both Naturia Cherries [200/200 → 0/0]. I activate the effect of Marron; by shuffling Naturia Pumpkin and Naturia Beast from my graveyard into my deck, I can draw a card. Since the effect of a Naturia monster was activated this turn, I can special summon Naturia Hydrangea [1900/2000] from my hand. Tuning, level five Hydrangea to level one Cherries. Green dragon of the east, Seiryuu, to protect the forest it is time to arise and fight. Synchro summon! Roar, Naturia Barkion!"

The dragon that appeared was a Chinese dragon. Green moss grew on its scales, and its whiskers were as rough-looking as grass. It gave a tinny roar as it appeared [2500/1800 → 2100/1400].

"When a Naturia Synchro monster is Synchro summoned, I can special summon Naturia Ladybug [100/100 → 0/0] from my graveyard," Tsugare-san continued. "Tuning, level three Marron and level one Ladybug to level one Cherries. White tiger of the west, Byakko, hear the cries of the forest of your home! Come to defend us! Synchro summon! Strike, Naturia Beast!"

Naturia Beast bellowed in great fury as it bounded upon the field, and both dragon and tiger glared down at the stoic, grinning figure of Ghostrick Alucard [2200/1700 → 1800/1300].

"And, when I have exactly five Earth Attribute monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon this monster from my hand," he added as the earth trembled and a giant in gold armour arose from the ground [2800/2200 → 2400/1800]. "Welcome, Grandsoil the Elemental Lord!"

"E- Elemental Lord...?" Ms Sophia gasped.

"That's not all," Tsugare-san nodded. "When Grandsoil is special summoned, I can revive a monster from either graveyard onto my field, and I choose Naturia Marron [1200/700 → 800/300]. Battle! Barkion, attack Alucard with Blue Flame!"

"When an attack directed at myself or at a Ghostrick monster is declared, I can negate that attack and special summon Ghostrick Lantern in set defence mode," Ms Sophia defended.

Tsugare-san grimaced. "Grandsoil, attack Alucard!"

"Trap card, Needle Ceiling!" Ms Sophia quickly countered.

"The effect of Barkion; by banishing two cards in my graveyard during either player's turn, I can negate the activation of a Trap card and destroy it," Tsugare-san defended as he took out two cards and pocketed them. As he spoke, his dragon spat out a burst of blue fire that consumed the card, leaving the path clear for Grandsoil to destroy the vampire.

Merci: LP 8000 → LP 7400

Tsugare: LP 7000

"Marron, attack the one on the right," Tsugare-san ordered, and the bed-sheet ghost was consumed in a shower of spiny needles. "Beast, attack the other one."

Another pumpkin shattered, this one wearing a hat, and faint strains of music played as it met its time...

_This is Halloween, everyone scream!  
Wont' ya please make way for a very special guy?  
Our man Jack, is King of the pumpkin patch,  
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King, now!  
In this town, we call home,  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!_

"When Alucard is sent to the graveyard, I can take any Ghostrick card I want from my graveyard to add to my hand, and I choose Ghostrick Kyonshee," Ms Sophia declared.

"Turn end," Tsugare-san murmured.

"My turn, draw!" Ms Sophia called. "Pumprincess gains another Pumpkin Counter (PC: 5) [2400/1800 → 2300/1700] [1800/1300 → 1700/1200] [2100/1400 → 2000/1300] [800/300 → 700/200]. I'll set a monster and a card, turn end."

"Draw!" Tsugare-san looked nervous. "I'll use the effect of Marron to shuffle Naturia Hydrangea and Naturia Cherries into my deck and draw another card. Grandsoil, attack the set monster!"

A hand was raised, but as it crashed down, the giant grinning jar marked as '2' reversed the situation.

"Morphing Jar 2 [800/700]," Kaname-san identified. "Oh shit."

"The effect of Morphing Jar 2 is far upgraded," Ms Sophia announced as a vortex stemmed from the jar across the field. "All monsters on the field are shuffled back into the deck, and then we pick cards from it until we reveal level four or lower monsters equal to the number each of us shuffled and summon them in face-down defence mode. The rest of our cards will then be sent to the graveyard."

Tsugare-san bit his lip but nodded, his face eerily calm as he picked the top card of his deck. "Naturia Rosewhip."

Ms Sophia shook her head as she turned the card she picked. "Look, Witch of the Ghostrick. And I'll set her. I'm done."

In the end, Tsugare-san had to discard three cards and finally set Naturia Rosewhip [400/1700], Naturia Mosquito [200/300], Naturia Beans [100/1200] and Naturia Cliff [1500/1000]. "Turn end."

"Draw!" Ms Sophia looked triumphant. "Standby phase, Pumprincess gains another Pumpkin Counter (PC: 6). I'll activate the Spell, Recurring Nightmare, to add Ghostrick Lantern and Ghostrick Specter from the graveyard to my hand. Then, I flip summon Ghostrick Witch [1200/200]."

This witch wore raggedly black, a sort of pink-laced dress of black cotton which left her arms bare under the collar that covered her shoulders over a bodice, match with long fingerless gloves of black and wielded a broom in one hand, and stockinged feet in loose black shoes. A broom with stars and puffs hanging off of it hung in her hand, as she giggled.

_In this town – don't we love it now?  
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!  
'Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can,  
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll-_

_Scream!  
This is Halloween  
Red 'n' black, and slimy green,  
Aren't you scared?_

_Well, that's just fine.  
Say it once, say it twice,  
Take a chance and roll the dice,  
Ride with the moon in the dead of night~!_

_Everybody scream!  
Everybody scream!  
In our town of Halloween~!_

"With her present, I can summon Ghostrick Kyonshee [400/1800]," Ms Sophia continued. "I'll then activate the home of the house of horrors; welcome to the Ghostrick House!"

_Tender lumplings everywhere,  
Life's no fun without a good scare,  
That's our job,  
But we're not mean,  
In our town of Halloween~!_

_In this town – Don't we love it now?–  
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!  
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back,  
And scream like a banshee,  
Make you jump out of your skin!_

The lantern's teeth clacked, and everybody jumped in their seats, and I gasped as shadows played across the field, a deep shag carpet appeared to cover the floor, and suddenly the Duel field resembled a haunted house.

"Ghostrick House, the home of the Ghostrick clan," Ms Sophia smirked. "When this card is on the field, all monsters in face-down defence position on the field cannot be targeted for attacks."

"I see," Kaido realised. "With Ghostrick House on the field, then the effect that flips Ghostrick monsters can be used to hide the Ghostrick monsters for the next turn. But, such a card must have its price."

"There is," Ms Sophia sourly declared. "There is a price. A player can be attacked directly if all monsters they control are in face-down defence position. But, in exchange, all effect damage and battle damage that either player takes would be halved, except for battle damage from Ghostrick monsters. Battle! Witch, attack that poof directly with Black Magic!"

The witch giggled, as she winked out of existence and then leapt out to cheerfully thump Tsugare-san across the knees.

"Kyonshee, attack him directly!" Ms Sophia called, and Tsugare-san shivered.

Tsugare: LP 7000 → LP 5800 → LP 5400

Merci: LP 7400

"I'll flip both Witch and Kyonshee to face-down defence mode, and then set two cards. Turn end." Ms Sophia defended.

"My turn, draw!" Tsugare-san declared.

The tiara-wearing pumpkin cackled. "Pumprincess gains another Pumpkin Counter (PC: 7)," Ms Sophia explained.

"I see," Kaido stared at the field from his place on the sidelines. "The Ghostrick monsters I've glimpsed all have low attack power, that even Alucard is barely sufficient. Not to say that they are weak, but their lack of power makes them a difficult deck to play, and therefore reliant on Spell and Trap support. The reason Merci Sophia played that Morphing Jar 2, was because she needed to get rid of Beast and Barkion before their combined lockdown properties made victory rather more difficult, and that she played Pumprincess was to combine the stalling properties of the Ghostrick monsters with consistent weakening of the opponent's monsters. Well, that and probably to keep with the Halloween theme."

"Please don't blame her," the girl named Mu confessed to us. "Merci... Ms Sophia is not a trusting woman. And she's under quite some pressure."

"I flip summon Naturia Rosewhip [400/1700 → 0/1000], Naturia Mosquito [200/300 → 0/0], Naturia Beans [100/1200 → 0/500] and Naturia Cliff [1500/1000 → 800/200]," Tsugare-san declared. "I shall set another card. With that, I declare turn end, since I cannot enter my battle phase due to the removal of Grandsoil from my field last turn."

"Nice," Kaname-san praised. "The problem with Ghostrick House is that to attack directly, all of the opponent's monsters must be in face-down defence position. But most cards to flip monsters are either self-directing or targeting, like Book of Moon."

"Let's not forget the effect of Naturia Rosewhip," Yamada-san added. "That monster dictates that the opponent can only use one Spell or Trap per turn."

"My turn, draw!" Ms Sophia called. "Pumprincess gains a Pumpkin Counter (PC: 8). I shall use the effect of Ghostrick Witch to flip Naturia Rosewhip face-down, and therefore save myself the hassle of its lockdown effect."

"Three more to go," Yamada-san counted. "And the restriction is lifted."

"I set a monster," Ms Sophia continued. "And then, I activate the quick-play Spell, Book of Eclipse. All face-up monsters are flipped to face-down defence mode."

"Again?" Kaido glanced down in concern.

"I flip summon Ghostrick Witch, Ghostrick Kyonshee and Ghostrick Stein [1600/0]," Ms Sophia spoke as the witch and the kyonshi appeared, this time followed by a bellowing giant behemoth with greyish skin marred with cuts stitched together and metal knobs at its neck. "The effect of Kyonshee allows me to retrieve another Ghostrick Witch from my deck to add to my hand. Battle! Ghostrick Stein, attack him directly!"

"Trap card, Mirror Force!" Tsugare-san countered.

"Trap card, Ghostrick Out!" Ms Sophia defended. "By revealing the Ghostrick Witch in my hand, this turn, Ghostrick monsters and face-down monsters I control cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects!"

The mirror flashed, but the monsters remained, ghosts charging as they swarmed Tsugare-san, or rather, tried to.

Ms Sophia scowled as the bell-ringing fiend appeared. "Battle Fader [0/0], huh? Then I'll flip all my monsters down and end."

"And at the end phase, all my face-down monsters are flipped face-up, and I draw a card for each," Tsugare-san added as Rosewhip, Cliff, Mosquito and Beans revealed themselves. "My turn, draw. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Pumprincess!"

"Great!" Alexianna-san hissed as the tiara-wearing pumpkin disappeared. "Now he's not being held down!"

"Tuning, level two Beans and level four Cliff to level three Rosewhip," Tsugare-san chanted. "Lord of the forest and its king. Stand tall, yet be not proud. Bellow, Naturia Leodrake!"

The mossy leaf-mane lion growled as it bounded upon the field, glaring [3000/1800].

"When a Naturia Synchro monster is Synchro summoned to the field, Naturia Ladybug [100/100] can be revived," Tsugare-san continued. "With that, I can special summon from my hand Naturia Hydrangea [1900/2000]. I summon the tuner monster, Naturia Tulip [600/1500]. Tuning, level five Naturia Hydrangea to level two Tulip. Black tortoise of the North, Genbu, stand tall with your shell between the forest and its enemies. The shield that all others depend on. Snap, Naturia Landoise!"

A beak-like mouth snapped as four legs pounded upon the ground, and the tortoise snarled as glowing green pumpkin vines grew to trap around its legs [2350/1600].

"This calls for rather a change of scenery," Tsugare-san offhandedly commented. "Activate the Field Spell, Gaia Power [2350/1600 → 2850/1200] [3000/1800 → 3500/1400] [100/100 → 600/0]."

"The House... no," Ms Sophia whispered as the shadows about shattered, a tree growing in its wake.

"Battle."

Ms Sophia backed slightly as her three monsters were attacked. "I'll negate the attack on Ghostrick Witch with Ghostrick Lantern. I'll special summon Ghostrick Specter in response to the destruction of Ghostrick Stein, and therefore I draw a card. And Ghostrick Kyonshee, since it was flipped over prior to destruction, I can search for another Ghostrick Stein to add to my hand even in the case of destruction. So what if my field was destroyed? I still have time... I can still..."

"I have wrested control of the field back," Tsugare-san answered. "By all means, try. Turn end."

"D- Draw!" Ms Sophia called. "Flip summon, Ghostrick Witch, Ghostrick Specter [600/0], Ghostrick Lantern [800/0]. I return Ghostrick Lantern to my hand to special summon Genex Ally Birdman [1400/400], and I summon Ghostrick Stein [1600/0]. Activate Trap, Xyz Reborn to special summon Alucard with one Exceed material. Now, I overlay these two monsters! Exceed summon! Open the gates, and let the screams rage! Master of the parade, Ghostrick Alucard!"

The two Alucard twins grinned as they stood upon the field.

"I choose to use the effect of Witch to flip your Landoise," Ms Sophia sneered.

Tsugare-san barely reacted.

"Now, one Alucard will destroy your set monster," Ms Sophia sneered as the will o' wisps that formed the Exceed material vanished into purple flame that swallowed the cards. "Your Battle Fader and that Ladybug will be destroyed, too. So you see, I have yet to lose much, and you have been caught in another deadlock. While my Alucard remains on the field, you may attack no other Ghostrick monster, so you can neither attack my two Alucard, nor can you attack the Witch or the Specter. Turn end."

"Draw!" Tsugare-san seemed calmer in the face of adversity. "You are strong, I admit, and also stubborn. And your type is the easiest to control."

"What?" Ms Sophia spat. "I don't want to hear that from a fairy. Mind control is illegal."

"What I'm talking about wouldn't be a severe alteration to anyone. It wouldn't be obvious," Tsugare-san waved. "You wouldn't make someone turn into a raving lunatic and murderer. I mean, that's sort of noticeable. Instead, just... nudge them. Nudge people into being a little bit more like you want them to be. Your anger makes you an easy target."

"Play already," she spat.

"As am empath, as someone who can manipulate sorrow, why?" Tsugare-san questioned.

"Shut up!" she screamed. "Shut up and play already!"

"Very well," Tsugare-san nodded. "I play Smashing Ground."

The spell hit one of the Alucard, destroying it for good as its horrified twin looked on.

"I summon Naturia Dragonfly [1200/400 → 1700/0 → 3500/0]," Tsugare-san called. "Dragonfly gains two hundred attack power for all Naturia monsters in my graveyard, and right now there are a fair few, plus the bonus from Gaia Power. Leodrake, attack Alucard with Roar of the Prince!"

Merci: LP 7400 → LP 5700

Tsugare: LP 5400

"Dragonfly, attack the Witch!"

Merci: LP 5700 → LP 3400

Tsugare: LP 5400

"Turn end with a set card," Tsugare-san announced.

"D- Draw," Ms Sophia stared down at the card she had drawn. "I turn Ghostrick Specter into defence mode, and I set a card. Turn end."

"Draw," Tsugare-san considered the field. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set card. Dragonfly, destroy the set monster. Leodrake... end this!"

Merci: LP 3400 → LP 0

Tsugare: LP 5400

"He won!" Alexianna-san yelled. "Great!"

But her cheer was short-lived, as Ms Sophia abruptly turned her back and ran for the door, her face cracked and sad, as if she were holding back a dam by herself. With her tears.

* * *

You'd think that the sports and entertainment industry was easy, compared to any other.

Wrong. I've heard comparisons to ducks on the state of that; how many don't ever see the business behind the scenes, how the logistics work out in the face of events outside of control, how the stage was completely managed. Thankfully, Manjoume Entertainment kept an eye on its own talent but left them a free hand; as long as the talent kept winning, the company sent them to tournaments in relative comfort. Relative seeing as we had a stowaway.

Madas had grown his hair out a bit, which made his face seem slightly thinner. He'd also taken my advice to wear a midnight blue coat, close to black but light enough to complement his eyes and still give his lanky frame some bulk. "Erm, I get why you're here, Princeton, and why _he's_ here, and why the manager's here, but why her?"

Himemiya Uzuki scowled back at him. "Third-year internship. Didn't they tell you?"

"No, my dear uncle assuredly did not," I dryly replied, eyeing Orion or rather trying not to. Orion Hunter had dropped the bell-bottoms and the muscle shirt for a buttoned shirt and black trousers. He wore it with the tails hanging out. "Still doesn't explain why Manjoume Entertainment is allowing three Psychic Duelists into one plane."

"You assume that just because I work part-time with the PR department that I am under the Movement's orders," Hazuki objected. "I am here to manage the accounts. Uzuki is here to help me, and so are you. Therefore, could everyone buckle up right now? We have a seventeen-hour flight to complete. Uzuki, I can see where you hid the gum."

Uzuki sheepishly stuck the wrapped gum into a ready waste container.

Whether it was the reputation of the Titania or Hazuki's glare, Madas held his tongue until take-off was concluded to get out of the chair. He paced the length of the rather comfortably upholstered and furnished cabin lounge. Hazuki ignored him, shuffling through her miniature tablet and murmuring with Uzuki and Orion about something. I glanced out, watching clouds pass and trying not to feel like I just signed my death warrant.

"Say..." I glanced away from the window to stare at a nervous Madas. "Erm... could I have a moment?"

"I'm not entertaining your gay epiphanies," I commented, but waved a permissive hand.

"I'm not gay," Madas snorted as he sank into the opposite chair. "Erm... it's about what happened. At the KC Grand Prix. My Duel with Misawa Ryokai, and afterwards. You gave Galaxy-Eyes back."

My fingers tangled together, merging as I briefly considered how to discuss this. "It needed you," I finally touched on. "Otherwise, it would have started rampaging across KaibaLand to find another. Don't get me wrong, it was just convenient."

"Okay..." Madas frowned. "What's it like?"

"What is?" I asked.

"Being able to see spirits, how it's like?" Madas absently gestured. "You're part of the Arcadia Movement because of that, right?"

I didn't even need to think. "To answer the second question, no. I work with the Knights of Arcadia, and sometimes with the police through the Movement. My connection to the Movement itself stems as me using the Movement as my intermediary agent and that my boyfriend and most people I know are connected to it. As for the first... you asking for private interest, curiosity or what?"

Madas paused. "You were part of Team Black Knights. I thought... I saw the Stygian Dirge tournament, and even before that, the third GeneX and on an exchange trip. Even without Fudo Ryuusei, both of you could have made it big in the Duel world. Yet... you didn't. The Duel world lost two of its talents when you squandered them to different paths."

I stared at him until Madas was squirming, trying to figure out how had this sub-par specimen of common sense survived this long in the Dueling world. "The Professor, and I do mean Fudo Yusei, chose being a scientist over Dueling. Even though the called him the King of Riding Duels, he never looked back. Just because we chose not to follow doesn't mean that we _squandered_ our talents, Madas. I chose something else. Rex chose something else. Even the one who actually beat you, Ryuusei, would have chosen mechanics over Dueling. Duel Monsters is not everything."

Madas winced. "Sorry."

"Good." I settled into the fixed chair and proceeded to ignore him.

Silence passed. I thought Madas would have left if I sufficiently bit his head off over this off-track topic, but apparently he was more stubborn or idiotic than I thought. "You still haven't talked about how it's like."

"Why?" I blandly asked, since there was no other way save defenestration from the Lear jet to avoid the conversation.

Madas fidgeted. "Well... I thought... since I could see Galaxy-Eyes..."

"Just because you can see Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon doesn't mean you can see every Duel spirit. And just because you can see them wouldn't stop them from killing you and eating the body."

"But I have Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon," Madas insisted. "I want to help. Why can't I?"

"You want to... help?" I echoed.

"I don't want to be powerless," he confessed.

"Then walk away."

"You don't understand," Madas frowned. "I... I've been thinking. So has Galaxy-Eyes. The concept... it... he's trying to understand it. Power and having responsibility over it."

"Oh, that," I muttered. "You crashed the whole tournament. In public."

"I..." Madas looked down. "I just wanted... the Aussie irritated me. I just wanted to Duel."

"I'm not your parent, but maybe next time you could think about how Duelists are often used as role models for future generations and how reputation is a large part of continued sponsorship," I frowned. "That was the general message. I don't think Ryokai really knew you could see spirits."

"Yes," Madas sighed. "Erm... er, this is sort of my first overseas tourney."

"What are you guys talking about?" Hazuki snapped, interrupting the conversation. "Come here. We need to finalise the details over who's managing who. Uzuki? Be quiet, alright?"

"Sounds obvious," I pointed out once the younger Himemiya finished her indecipherable screaming. "You manage Madas. I can take Orion."

Hazuki frowned at Orion. "But..."

"It makes sense," Orion suggested. "One Psychic, one non-Psychic. Just in case, you understand. And I think Mr Princeton and I would get along."

I shivered. Somehow, his words were reminiscent of that woman's comments.

Moments passed before the impromptu detail-hashing was concluded and Uzuki discovered the in-flight entertainment, therefore leaving Madas, Hazuki and herself watching _Despicable Me _while I hunted out the dry bar and grabbed the coke. Surprisingly, Orion's firmly gloved hand latched onto the Bailey's Irish Cream beside it. "Got some time?"

"Not like I can go anywhere," I answered tonelessly.

"Good," Orion smiled. It was friendly, and should have been. I was reminded of a crocodile or the one who taught the ice-face Yukio how to be so vicious.

I peered over the papers Hazuki handed me before she turned back to watching the minions beat each other to pulp. "Huh... Lake Pontchartrain. Been there before?"

"All over," Orion affirmed. "The American Southwest still held some of the Native American tribes. I wanted to see if anything could be done for Setsuka in her case. Being able to see spirits was a gift there, on top of being a Psychic."

"I've never heard of you," I commented. "Not from anyone. But you're Psychic, and you can see them."

"Best of both worlds. I don't think you would have heard of me, anyway," Orion idly reflected. "I was part of the first batch of Arcadians, under the Madame. Our code-names were very much our identity within, because then our background didn't matter. It was up to us to fill our code-name with meaning. Setsuka... Setsuka and Ryuusei were the wunderkind of the batch, but I don't think Diana-san paid that much attention to Setsuka. I don't think Setsuka ever formed much of an attachment to me, since I apparently resemble her dead uncle, my father."

"I'm sorry for your loss," I took a sip.

"I don't know about him, other than he tried to destroy a whole city, so I guess it was for the best," Orion shrugged. "You know... Setsuka was cute before she turned into that. Rather terrifyingly precocious, but cute."

"Terrifyingly precocious," I snorted. "An understatement, for Shimotsuki. But cute? You're shitting me."

"She was," Orion insisted, a giggle escaping from his lips. "Cute as a button. I almost thought she was a tiny little doll... well, she set me straight."

"How?"

"Ever get kicked in the balls?"

I winced in sympathy. "Ouch."

"Setsuka... she's family," Orion groaned. "And she cut me off, declared me dead, and still I'm trying to save her from becoming a monster. Am I an idiot or what?"

I shiftily glanced at him. "I don't know. Other than Uncle Jun, and I don't really talk to him that often, I don't have a lot of family. But... you know, I've always known Shimotsuki to try for the benefit of the Movement. Always."

"The benefit of the Movement was to her detriment," Orion grumbled, taking a swig of the Bailey's Irish Cream. "She's on a path to self-destruction that she can't save herself from. I don't want to bury her."

"You're the cousin, and apparently the closest expert on the mind of Shimotsuki Setsuka other than Seika," I supplied, a thought suddenly occurring to me. "Why doesn't Seika remember you?"

"Hell if I know," Orion grumbled. "I don't remember things from when I was five. My knowledge on Shimotsuki Setsuka is ten years out of date; for all I know Seika's memory issues could be manipulated by Setsuka."

"She's more ruthless, cold, and sarcastic," I answered. "Not much of a change."

"She _married_ an Aussie," Orion shot back. "Even though she calls Australia 'that frontier wasteland down under'. It's... look, marriage at this stage is not something I'd admit as typical for her, for Setsuka."

"Then call it a long-term boyfriend thing," I snapped. "Does it matter?"

"The Setsuka I knew had... ideas about fidelity," Orion sighed. "I can't imagine that she could bear to get married and then leave the spouse behind while she went haring off. And married at her age... I don't believe that she would be that dumb."

I took a deep breath. "I'm not an expert on Shimotsuki. In fact, she terrifies nearly everyone she meets, and I'm plenty terrified. But you know something, Orion? I don't doubt that she loves, and loves more intensely than anyone else I've ever met. That Jimmy Cook is Australian, or that both of them were really young, doesn't negate that for once, I saw Shimotsuki as a human being, one who is capable of love and epically screwing things up in the name of love. That's human. The fact that you refuse to accept it only tells me that you think of Shimotsuki as an ideal, or as a monster. Either way, she's not really human in your eyes anymore, right?"

I turned away before I could see Orion's expression, and sank down in a chair far away but close enough to watch sky-blue eyes sharpen to flinty ice, a darker shade compared to Shimotsuki's ice-blue. Clearly, there were some differences there. Orion hesitated, took a swig, then screwed the bottle shut and pulled out a bottle of Evian inside the dry bar. A crack sounded, and he took a swig and half of the bottle down in a gulp. I tried not to look at his Adam's apple bobbing under that olive-toned skin.

Then he met my eyes, and they were flinty hard, a stare worthy even of Shimotsuki Setsuka. "I would do anything to free Setsuka from what she doesn't understand. Even what is necessary."

I just stared back. "And remind me, what happened to you?"

"I didn't expect it. Did you?"

"You're aware that she could kill you, but you didn't think that she wasn't prepared to disembowel you?" I asked. "That she wasn't going to fight back? Then you don't know your cousin that well. She defeated you ten years ago, didn't she? To a student of DA, being defeated by your child of a cousin, and a girl at that must have been damaging to your pride."

"It will not happen again," Orion repeated, but even he did not sound convinced.

"If you can't discard that pride, then it might," I answered. "And I have seen her murder. She _will_ kill you."

The plane shook under turbulence, the movie shorting out for a brief moment as we buckled in and the captain's warnings of a storm echoed over the intercom. Even as I held onto my seat, I watched through the window as sparks flew across a grey expanse of cloud below, and idly, I reflected if the Table was now hanging over New Orleans for the yet to come. Where I might die, were I to hunt Shion Angel.

Let the good times roll.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	73. LXX: Sacred Sword of Seven Stars

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXX: Sacred Sword of Seven Stars**

In the aftermath of Ms Sophia having run off, the rest of the members present were extremely silent. Their silence carried over the Duel field, the silent hum of a generator echoing with the buzz of fluorescent lights.

"Merci? Beatrice?" the dark-haired girl who had barely spoken beside Beatrice whispered.

"I should go... find her," Tsugare-san made his leave, quickly running off.

"Ignore Ms Sophia for the moment," Alexianna-san started as Tsugare-san began to walk away. "You can give us the low-down on what she was hiding from us now, Mu."

Mu Narukami swallowed. "Erm... er... but- Ms Sophia, she said not to tell anyone-"

Kanzaki-san glared at her. "Merci Sophia is not here. You may speak freely."

"But I-"

"Enough, Alexianna," Kaname-san reproached, slinging an arm around the terrified Mu. "Obviously she doesn't know anything."

"Oh, come on," Beatrice complained, grinning maniacally. "You don't think Sophia's _assistant_ doesn't know? I bet she keeps records and everything. Maybe it's all in that PDA she carries, come on."

"I- I don't _know_!" Mu insisted tearfully. "I just know that there's a chance that Justin... J- Justin may be compromised!"

The impact of such news reverberated, a silent wave of knowledge that crashed upon the bureaucracy of the Louisiana Movement.

"Impossible!" Kanzaki-san snapped hotly. "That Stellar is compromised-"

"Stellar? Compromised?" Kaname-san faintly echoed in shock.

"Compromised?" Takeshi-san looked confused.

"A head of the Arcadia Movement has been compromised, and you have no idea?" Kaido and Yamada-san jumped into the conversation immediately, fury and questioning glances in place.

"What proof?" Alexianna-san quickly demanded to Mu. "What proof is there?"

"All the victims..." Mu swallowed. "All the victims were members. Auxiliary members who lived outside the dorms. Texas, Virginia, Delaware, Missouri, Kansas- the mark of the Heaven Movement was in all of them. New York's surveillance is tighter, I don't know of any murders there yet, but Merci- Ms Sophia said, we needed to work with Tilly, we needed to keep a calm face or else, if the lists... the lists..."

"We know that Justin Aquila-san disappeared around five months ago," I broke my silence, causing many of the Louisiana Movement members to jump. "Please, Ms Narukami."

Mu gave a long blow of her nose into a handkerchief she pulled out of her pocket. "We... the victims... Stellar knew all of them. So we thought... Ms Sophia and I, we thought- we thought... erm..."

"You thought the Heaven Movement had someone capable of reading minds, or a form of specific psychometry," Kaido inferred.

Mu nodded. "Tilly... he's the liaison who's lasted longer than anyone from the Bureau. He's been nice, and patient, but... but there's no way we could report what we thought."

"And the lists? The profiles?" Alexianna-san demanded. "So Merci Sophia took over the investigation without telling us, was it?"

Mu flinched. "N- No! It's... it's..." she shot a pleading look towards Kaido. "We don't know how much the Heaven Movement knows, or what are their sources."

A comprehending look came to Kaido's face. "So Ms Sophia and you thought that there could be a mole within the ranks."

"The... outposts," Mu timidly confirmed. "Or somewhere."

"Sorry?" Takeshi-san echoed. "I'm a bit lost here."

"All members are given a personalised _nom de guerre_," Kaido answered. "And all of their information is logged into the system under that _nom de guerre_- I mean, nickname. Under this nickname, the individual Arcadian registers their information with the knowledge that it would be difficult to trace their separate identity in Arcadia to their civilian identity using just the information provided. Short of a verbal confession, it should be all but impossible to connect their identities without access to the system and knowing which profile to search for under which nickname, assuming that precautions are taken to conceal all possible links save for the personally acknowledged."

"Uh huh..." Takeshi-san nodded. "So... it's like an Internet handle. Near-complete anonymity, unless personally given."

"That's what I'm about to lead to," Kaido shrugged. "We rarely keep pictures on file, and all our pictures are encrypted to the main server located to each Movement headquarters. However, this system of secrecy becomes a problem when we need to connect a random _nom de guerre_ to, say, an otherwise normal Duelist. The easiest way to do so would be the compilation of a master list for direct comparison."

"So there's a giant directory of who's who somewhere," Takeshi-san nodded. "Which is the mother-load of the archives."

"More or less, yes," Kaido agreed. "And the only one with access to the archives, besides the archivists, are the heads of the Arcadia Movement. Since Stellar went MIA, and right now according to Ms Narukami, the implication is that-"

"-someone managed to break Justin's mind," Alexianna-san stated, her face pale and her lip trembling, despite the straightness of her posture. "It means that- oh, that explains why everyone targeted was someone Justin might have known."

She then coughed, the tense set of her shoulders spread wide, thrown back as her back straightened. "Kaname-san. Initiate emergency mode, tell the dorms to lock down, keep a weather eye open. Ichiro, archive lockdown, no one bar the Overlord's override can access the New Orleans servers. Beatrice, start security. Mu, come with me, we're checking the archives this instant. Kannazuki-san? Are you coming along?"

"Y- Yes!" I stuttered, almost shocked by the responsibility and fierce decisiveness that Alexianna-san was displaying.

"I'm coming along," Yamada-san automatically replied.

"Good idea," Kaido nodded. "Kaname-san, Takeshi-san, communications. Lead the way."

"What?" Takeshi-san looked blank.

"R- Right!" Kaname-san quickly nodded. "Battle stations?"

"No. All active staff on standby," I ordered. "No moves unless threatened. Narukami-san, I need access to the archives."

"R- Right!" she jumped. "I- I'll lead the way. I- If Merci's run off-"

"No names," Yamada-san snapped. "Lead on, Thunder. And you should know better, Polaris."

I felt myself flush in shame at my mistake. "I- I'm sorry..."

Yamada-san turned to glare at Mu next. "Well?"

"P- Please!" She ran.

Yamada-san barely panted as he set off on a leisurely jog behind her as Mu dashed off, with me panting as I followed behind. "She... she meant well, Yamada-san-"

"She's pitiful as an archivist," Yamada-san snapped in Japanese. "The archive department protects far more than just paper and computers. Its protects the members' privacy and secrecy. With this foolish bint in charge, it's a wonder that all the Psychics in the US South have yet to be killed off because of her. She can't resist torture, or compelling. One threat and she'd probably fold."

"Like me?" I finally asked.

Something in my tone must have given him pause, for he actually glanced back at me. "Excuse me?"

"Like you thought I was weak?" I asked, my voice slightly more cool than I intended as I spoke the syllables that threatened each time. "Like each time you thought I was unsuitable as the head?"

"It was a valid argument," he lightly replied, barely breaking his stride. "You are powerless, physically weaker and incapable of fighting. No matter how well Regulus taught you to throw a Death-match Duel Rope, it is a fact that in a purely physical confrontation you lose. You will always lose. And that..." he trailed off, the awkward silence a glass barrier between us.

"Ya- Cold Wolf?" I whispered as Yamada-san slowed, ever so slightly. "Are you alright?"

"I..." Yamada-san glanced towards me, and then his icy eyes seemed to stare far away. "Hercules... before we left, he asked me to protect you. On top of my duty as head of the Knights of Arcadia, I therefore hold a personal motivation for your safety and well-being."

"Yuko did?" I asked before I could stop myself. "That's... nice. Also... rather distrusting."

"Well, perhaps there was a rational reason for his actions," Yamada-san idly commented. "Or that he was worried for your sake."

"My sake?" I echoed. "That's..."

"I wouldn't know." Yamada-san shrugged, an absent gesture even while jogging through the labyrinthe hallways of the Louisiana Movement. "Though we are twins, he is his own person. He is a good man, you know."

"That he would be worried for me is enough," I confessed quietly. "That you would follow me across an ocean to protect me is a kind enough gesture. Never mind your duty, I appreciate that you are willing to lay your life down for this despite your own feelings."

A soft cough, and I paused, slowing down as I watched Yamada-san stop before a clearly reinforced door that was left ajar. The steel-reinforced door swung open, and I saw Mu peek out before she cringed back where she lay.

We walked in.

The office was sparsely furnished, being of the dark-wood interior decoration scheme. A lot of black, heavy cabinets lined the walls, side by side, separated by a glass door. I knew that if someone tried to steal those files without the key, they would be incinerated. Aside from the secretly dangerous cabinets, the only thing out of place was in the middle of the office.

The long couch had been knocked askew, and crouching behind it was a snarling Ms Sophia. Her dark hair was slapped to her cheek on the right, and slightly singed on the left. As I watched, her eyes flared at the room other occupant, who slowly turned his head to regard us with eyes of gold despite the gun he held pointed at Merci.

Yamada-san shifted himself in front of me, but not in time.

"Well?" Shion Angel asked. "This is a coincidence, isn't it?"

"I think I know how the rest of this goes," Yamada-san commented.

Shion blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Ah, lacking in popular culture. You know, I thought it was the Amish who didn't keep technology," Yamada-san added. "To quote the only halfway decent American show in a while... I'm gonna do you a favour believing you're just an idiot."

Shion's lip curled. "Heathen. No matter your confusing words, you cannot save them all in time."

Yamada-san considered the situation. "You're holding an assault weapon to a Psychic Duelist, and you're about to face up to two more in close-quarters combat. The security feed would have already gotten your face as you infiltrated the building, and if you were to attempt to break the cabinets, the corrosive gas would set the tissue-paper on fire. Otherwise, the sprinklers would go off, also destroying the paper files. The computer system is completely locked down, and therefore there is no other way save for the physical files if you want a list of every Psychic in the American South. I believe that self-defence will protect Ms Sophia should she extend her retribution now."

"You won't," Shion answered. "You won't kill me."

"Why not?" Ms Sophia demanded, her voice raspy.

"I have no reason to believe that your continued state of living is beneficial to myself or the Arcadia Movement at large, either." Yamada-san reasoned.

"You won't kill me, because you want to know what I'm after," Shion hotly protested. "My aim is for a world made free."

"Free from?"

"Free from the spirits," Shion's face twisted. "The spirits who have dragged humanity away from the one Lord, who walk the earth wearing human faces and ruining human lives."

Duel Spirits? Terrors like the Despair of the Dark? Fearsome monsters on a level with gods, who were named for gods... powers far beyond anything I have ever considered. The Duel Spirits... Nii-chan, Setsu-chan...

"Quite... a convenient excuse," Yamada-san deliberated. "And yet, I see only a human agency at work."

"You cannot see them," Shion answered. "But I do not need you to see them, anyway. Logicians like yourself who cannot hear the words of the Lord cannot resist the temptations of spirits."

"So by your own logic, you're fighting an invisible, widespread foe, and you're telling us why," Yamada-san nodded. "Rather faulty logic there."

"No, there is a purpose," Shion answered. "It is the same purpose that prompts Merci Sophia to protect that whore of a priestess over there. It is that same purpose that she made that choice, and I mine. It is the same purpose that led you here today."

I realised, then, that he was addressing me, gold eyes gleaming in a predatory fashion that I felt uncomfortable under. "W- What purpose?"

"Destiny," he simply replied. "Providence has led Pandora back whence she came."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I answered in trepidation.

"You are Pandora," he answered. "You were stolen away, and now you return to us. You are Pandora, the child who we found, and who was stolen away by Kannazuki Shiwasu so long ago."

"N- No," I breathed.

"Yes," he answered. "Black hair, violet eyes, and the surname of Kannazuki... Kannazuki Seika, was it? Star flower of the moon of gods, a suitable name. Better than Pandora."

"It's not true," I faintly whispered. "Not true. I... I had a father. I had a family. All of them..."

"They stole you from the people who found you," Shion snapped. "You know now, you see now. I know of Madame Shimotsuki, I know of Setsuka Shimotsuki, and how you must have suffered at their hands, robbed of your birthright. Have you ever wondered why you were taken, why you were chosen? The Arcadia Movement has no need for a powerless child to lead, and yet here you are, when there are so many candidates who would be more experienced, more powerful, able to do what is necessary. What your purpose was, what your family would have been, they stole it from you."

Mine. Something that was unquestionably mine... and it was stolen? By Madame, by Setsu-chan...? Something that is mine...

"Does it matter?" Yamada-san's question was a needle of rationality.

"Of course it does," Shion's eyes widened. "You took Pandora away from us."

"What Pandora is, or who Kannazuki Seika is, it doesn't matter," Yamada-san defended. "Each time, you've spoken of family, purpose, all of that predestination crap. You've never stated what's her actual _purpose_. You've skipped over that part more or less, which is rather conclusive that you're operating on your own beliefs rather than any rational logic."

Shion aimed at him, but Yamada-san did not stop.

"I'm right," Yamada-san slowly commented. "You don't mean anything good for her, do you?"

"What is good for her might not be good for the rest of the world," Shion hotly protested. "The secret. It's in her blood."

"Iron, red blood cells, white blood cells," Yamada-san flippantly replied. "I don't know what the Madame, or Boss, ever did to Kannazuki-san or to you. What I _do_ know is that right now, Kannazuki-san has a purpose. One which, while not as noble as serving whichever Lord you worship, is just as great in its concept, and she has kept to that ideal no matter her own fate. Kannazuki-san could have easily given up control of the Arcadia Movement, but she endured the training and looks and the beliefs of our members. She has created her own family with her own decisions, her own choice and free will, and as... as a representative of that family, I stand here and challenge you. You make her go anywhere with you over my dead body."

Shion studied him, and then hefted the boxy gun. "That can be arranged."

Ms Sophia dived as the first shot went off, and Mu screamed. Myself, I was shoved forcefully behind the steel frame as Yamada-san merely raised his hands with that same glutinous blue-green in the air. Lead powder dissipated, and Yamada-san dived between two cabinets himself.

A rumble I felt under the floorboards, and the creaking of the walls preluded a fireball that Shion dived away from. The sprinklers went off, dousing the dark office in stale water in the midst of a siren of alarms. Fog condensed about the office, and within the mist I saw Yamada-san ghosting through it.

I caught a breath as I felt something behind me.

"Yamada-san!" I screamed.

Yamada-san turned around, and his eyes widened. "Traitor, you poncy-!"

He never finished that sentence, not before I felt steel impact the back of my head, and somehow I took leave of my senses and fell.

* * *

"Lip balm?"

"Check..."

"Sunscreen?"

"Check..."

"Medicine?"

"Check- we've gone through all of this already, Nee-chan!" Uzuki complained. "If we don't have it, it's too late anyway!"

"It's better to bring our own medicine," Hazuki admonished.

"That medicine nearly got us detained by customs," Orion snapped.

"But there's the prescription," Hazuki reasonably pointed out, glaring at him.

"Orion, you're never going to win this argument," I sighed, glaring at Madas, who had the good sense to sequester himself as far as possible from ground zero. "Drop it."

Having already stretched my legs on the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport grounds, cabin fever was clearly setting in, as well as the healthy gathering of paranoia that nearly all members of the Arcadia Movement I knew were practising. The TSA had nothing on Himemiya Hazuki.

Hazuki's tablet beeped, and the girl herself frowned. "Supercell sightings... Might be delayed. Er... eh?"

"What's wrong, Nee-chan?" Uzuki piped up.

"Nothing," Hazuki shook her head, her ringlets bouncing on her shoulder. "The secretary of the Oceanic Movement, Jet MacKinnon, is within the United States."

"Why is the secretary here?" Madas asked in curiosity.

"I wouldn't know," Hazuki shrugged as she got up and made for the pilot's cabin. "Would I?"

"Don't," I told Madas. "They're all that cryptic, especially those previously under Shimotsuki Setsuka."

"They're badass," Madas confessed quietly.

I privately agreed, but watching Uzuki preen came with unfortunate implications.

"Okay, we're cleared," Hazuki announced, and half an hour later we were flying over Texas towards Louisiana in the Lear jet.

Clouds may have flown past, and the in-flight entertainment might have been top of the line, but I was cranky. Any traveller would tell you that a three-leg air journey was no easy journey, but that statement wouldn't convey the cabin fever and frustration from inactivity. Maybe the reason for the Mile-High Club was because of people being crammed into small quarters for hours on end and it's a kinky way to get exercise in a very small space.

"Erm..." Uzuki was peering out somewhere around Las Vegas. "Nee-chan? That giant cloud looks funny. Look! The middle is rotating"

Around the same time, the jet's intercom came on. "_Warning to all passengers; there is a supercell thunderstorm sighted within two kilometres. We are about to change course- holy shit! Buckle up, masks!_"

"Thunderstorm..." Hazuki shivered as she shoved Uzuki unceremoniously into the nearest chair and began buckling herself in beside Uzuki. Orion's hands were shaking, I noticed as I buckled myself to it.

"What's up?" Madas asked, having already clicked the buckle shut. "Supercell thunderstorm?"

"Possibly... a tornado," I answered, watching Madas's expression drain of all colour. "We are flying close to Tornado Alley, after all."

Of course there's a storm alarm or a metronome or something usually. The thing is, hurricanes and tornadoes were right up there with earthquakes and tsunamis; inconvenient disasters that could happen at any moment, and were happening with extreme prejudice right now.

"_Holy shit! It's following us!_" the pilot was screaming. "_We're being followed by a storm!_"

"We're..." Madas slowly echoed

"Being followed..." Uzuki swallowed.

"... by a storm," Hazuki seemed paler than usual.

Thunder cracked, lightning flashed, and the Lear jet shook as something impacted. The plane shook, and I told my head that breaking my fingers on the headrest would avail nothing to it.

"_Er_..." the pilot swallowed, a familiar voice. "_All passengers. We're being radioed. This is Captain Rafe, Romeo Alfa Foxtrot Echo, over._"

A crackle, and the next words that came out were couched in Satsuki's rasp: "_This is Kujaku Satsuki speaking. I know you're there, Chase. Summer might be able to hold off MacKinnon with a storm of this magnitude, but I am a champion of Her Majesty._"

I kept my breathing shallow but even, as I slowly undid the buckle and collapsed on all fours to crawl towards the pilot's cabin.

"_A supercell is the first step to tornadic formation_," Satsuki continued. "_The resulting tornado from a storm of this magnitude assuming the creation of a funnel cloud will be about a one on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which would strip all the metal off of that jet. Land immediately. Over._"

"What the hell?" Madas protested. "Is that... a Psychic Duelist? What the actual fuck?"

"Language!" Hazuki yelled, but was gripping tightly onto Uzuki's hand as she peeked out. "Erm..."

I poked my head up to the porthole window and stuck my face onto the Plexiglass. Aside for a glimpse of the mesocyclone, I saw- wait.

"Bloody hell," Madas echoed my sentiment.

The Harpie's Pet Mirage Dragon was a scarlet blot against the anvil of the Lear jet, I could tell, as the jet dipped in evasion of the coming supercell. Despite its flesh-and-blood status, or something close to that, it was easily keeping pace behind us, even gaining. I was willing to bet that Satsuki was there, astride the dragon and... and...

"How is she doing that?" Orion asked. "This high up, there shouldn't be enough oxygen-"

"Satsuki was a candidate for Class V status," Hazuki answered, her voice tense. "I assume it might be aerokinesis, where the wind drafts around her must be controlled to counter the violent winds of the supercell and to protect herself. That, or she brought an oxygen tank along with her."

"Yeah, but-" Madas jabbed a finger towards the tiny window. "She's pursuing us! What the hell?"

Then the plane shook again, and Uzuki giggled right as I heard the sound of metal creaking. "Shit."

"Can't you do something?!" Madas screamed towards Hazuki.

Hazuki reflected. "Assuming that my speciality, pyrokinesis, could be applied in a high-altitude environment where it is not only cold and low in oxygen, consider for a moment that my doing so would also burn up all of the oxygen within the plane."

I finally managed to reach the door, slamming it open with my body. "Evasive manoeuvres," I informed the terrified-looking pilot. "What can we do?"

"Oh, sir," the pilot squeaked. His name-tag read as Rafe. "There is no way we can fly through. We'll have to land."

"Closest area?"

He licked his lips. "We'll have to make a run for the local airports. Houston, or New Orleans. What's with that radio message?"

"Er..." I paused.

Another impact, and the plane shook some more. I stumbled, fruitlessly clinging onto the steel frame as Douglas dived for the controls.

The radio crackled. "_This is Satsuki calling in. You are to pull over in George Bush International Airport, Houston, Texas immediately. Over._"

"Ah," the pilot grumbled. "There's your plans, blown up by that storm there. Very beautiful weather, but way destructive."

"It's a day or so, right?" I asked.

"Might be, might not be," the harried pilot answered as he clicked the intercom on. "All passengers, please remain calm-"

Another impact, and this time there came the accompanying creak of metal whose more ominous counterpart the world is not yet prepared for. Tornadoes are the most fearsome and destructive of all meteorological phenomena, and with it there was that utter fear of being caught in one. There was that sound, a low, rumble approaching, utterly different from the screams of two airplane engines, like a train that causes teeth to rattle with each chug and tug-

-wait. _Two_ planes?

The plane slumped, Rafe tugging on the controls and still it was tilting. There was that high note of winds, so loud that even despite the pressurised tin can, I could hear it.

The plane wasn't shaking anymore. That was my first clue.

I rushed towards the window, peering out. The supercell was fading fast behind, and around the Lear jet was... three parties. Piton cords tugged onto the wings on either side, stretched out towards Satsuki's dragon on one hand, and a helicopter on the other.

I glanced back, through both windows, and caught a flash of lightning as well as the sight of two female figures. One with white hair, long and beautiful and incandescent as the lightning her dragon-ride controlled. The other, dark hair whipping in ringlets, blowing a kiss as she perched on a rose-topped staff, smiling as she just sat with preternatural grace in mid-air, magic at work. Both of them had dropped back, though I saw the dark-haired one, wearing a pink dress, raise a hand. Fire flared, about to reach us and possibly break the jet once and for all...

_Bang_.

The explosion might have rocked the jet, but at least whatever guns was on the helicopter kept it from hitting us. There seemed to be a scuffle, and then the Blue-Eyes White Dragon melted away into the clouds.

"So that's why they told us to land," I muttered. "Eh, Rafe?"

"_Testing, testing,_" the radio crackled. "_This is Jet MacKinnon, Oceanic Movement secretary, currently flying on the Mecha Phantom Beast Blueimpalase on your right. Repeat, Juliett Echo Tango, Arcadia Movement. On the left is the suspect I am currently in pursuit of, Satsuki Kujaku, who has kindly agreed to put our mid-air Duel on hold to get you guys through the storm. Right now, the mesocyclone is stable, but the potential for a EF 5 tornado is not to be explored. Can you read? Over._"

"Erm, Captain Romeo Alfa Foxtrot Echo reporting," Rafe answered. "What the fuck are you guys?"

A laugh. "Wrong question, captain. But to answer a different form of it, we are the Arcadia Movement, just passing through. Can we get a passenger to answer?"

I turned back, stumbling to the passenger cabin. "Hazuki! Come here!"

The former Queen of Queens took a while to unbuckle herself, but she managed to get to the cabin on record time. "Yes?"

Rafe turned to the controls. "Hotel Alfa Zulu Uniform Kilo India of the Arcadia Movement, reporting."

"_Fantastic_!" Jet's voice filtered through. "_Hazuki, it's me, Jet. Jet MacKinnon, Juliett Echo Tango. You've seen Aquila on the other side, she's agreed to put aside her differences until we get you guys to GB International Airport, okay?_"

"Aren't you in Australia?" Hazuki asked in confusion.

"Lea's managing, I need to drag Jimmy's sorry arse back down under and I traced him. I promise, you'll be fine."

"Jet?" Hazuki echoed. "Jet MacKinnon? You mean the Oceanic Movement's head and vice-head just ran off to the United States without warning? Erm, over."

"_Well, I was attending the Pontchartrain Lakeside, I did give warning,_" Jet chuckled. "_Just that on my... ah, personal airline, I came across this little birdie and we gave chase. Lotsa mess, you understand, babe. You gonna Duel in it?_"

"_MacKinnon, quit trying to pick up girls in mid-air,_" Satsuki's voice grated. "_She's taken, for one._"

"I- I'd rather not," Hazuki whispered, her face pale. "Erm... I need to go back, Uzuki... it's been a while, Jet. Erm... later?"

"_It's a date, babe. Over._"

"Long history?" I asked as Hazuki meandered out.

Hazuki laugh, the sound bitter and sharp. "Not... not long enough."

The bitter laugher echoed, and it was until she slumped against the frame and I glimpsed the tears that I realised that the Titania was having a breakdown. "O- Oi! Please don't cry... Hazuki? Hazuki?!"

"I knew coming here was a bad idea," she hiccoughed. "I knew it. I just knew it. Why did I have to come back? Why... did I have to see that storm...?"

The siren wail of her crying jag lasted throughout the whole journey, a horrifying prelude of the shattering calm that preceded our journey. I knew that it was going to be tough. I knew that there were Duel Spirits, and they likely had magic and powers and all sorts of shit that I couldn't survive if they got serious.

I hadn't thought what it would look like to the most shell-shocked of Psychics, or what kind of danger I might have dragged them into. I hadn't considered that in sacrificing safety for speed, I had nearly led to the deaths of four others. If it weren't for what I thought to be an enemy and someone I had barely met with a hero complex, the Lear jet could have been taken apart.

I knew Kisara was going to be here. I just didn't expect Marguerite to be. This was the price I paid; in safety and the illusion of it.

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	74. LXXI: Sonic Boom

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXXI: Sonic Boom**

The cold woke me.

I came to my senses in complete darkness. My head hurt, enough to make the old wound on my leg feel pleasant by comparison. My wrists and shoulders hurt even more. My neck felt stiff, and it took me a second to realize that I was on my feet, my hands bound together over my head. My feet were tied, muscles jumping and twitching with cold. The ropes prevented me, the cold started cutting into me.

It hurt a lot. But I was alive, at any rate.

I tried to get loose, working my limbs methodically, testing the ropes, trying to free my hands. I couldn't tell if I was making any progress. I couldn't feel my wrists, and it was too dark to see. The silence made everything all the more terrifying. The cold grew more intense, more painful.

I couldn't escape.

I panicked, thrashing wildly, dull pain flaring in my bound limbs, and fading away into numbness under the cold. I screamed a few times, I think. I didn't have much energy. After a few minutes, I hung panting and hurting and too tired to struggle any more, bound limbs screaming.

I hurt, but the pain couldn't possibly get any worse. A few hours went by, before I was showed how wrong I was.

A door opened and light stabbed at my eyes. I would have flinched if I had been able to move that much. Two large, blocky men came through the door, carrying actual flaming torches. The light let me see the room. The wall around the door was finished stone, but the walls all around me were a mishmash of rubble and ancient brick, and one was made of curved concrete – some kind of piping, I supposed. The ceiling was rough earth, some stone, some roots. Water poured down from somewhere and vanished down a groove worn in the floor.

Stay calm, my mind told me. It sounded a lot like Setsu-chan.

Earth ceiling. Piping. Stone walls. Fire torches. Dark, damp, cold. Conclusion?

"Underground," I realised. Impractical, assuming that the Louisiana Movement knew where we were, but otherwise practical, because then it was a defensible, hidden position. No one would be coming to find me.

The men didn't so much as look at me. One man took up a position on the wall to my left. The other took the wall to my right. Both of them carried guns. No expression on their faces. No words.

Nothing to be said, I decided.

"You'll have to forgive them," commented Shion. He came through the door and into the torchlight, freshly dressed, shaved, and showered. He wore a white shirt, a sleeveless yellow jacket, white skinny jeans, white shoes. The halo-shaped DuelDisk still circled his left arm. "I like to encourage discretion in my employees, and I have very high standards. Sometimes it makes them seem standoffish."

"You don't let them talk?" I questioned.

"It makes reflections of penitence rather difficult, especially when acolytes begin talking," Shion looked annoyed as he glanced towards me instead of all over my prison. "You haven't exactly been conversant yourself, either."

"I suppose your human resources department is hardly overwhelmed with letters," I chose to reply.

"You'd be surprised. I offer quite an educational plan. Our religious studies people are accorded as some of the best scholars."

"You shall have to muster all your skill at preaching when I am found, then," I answered. "The Arcadia Movement is not known as the most reasonable of organisations."

Eyes of gold glittered with something ugly. "Pandora. Sophia's child. You've grown up to be a woman of considerable strengths."

I stared at him for a long second, shivering and startled into silence. I knew precious little of my parents. I have never known my mother, and never hear her name. My father had suffered an aneurysm when I had been about six years old. I had a picture of my father, on a piece of yellowed newspaper. I had a Polaroid instant picture showing my father and I, standing in front of a building I could not remember but I adored it, as a symbol of my past.

They were the only concrete things I had left of my parents. I'd heard stories before, that my mother hadn't run with a very pleasant crowd. Nothing of substance; inferences made from passing comments. People have told me, implied, that my parents had been murdered, murdered by the Madame after some secret only I could provide. I'd shied away from the whole concept, even though I was sure that Kaido had never lied to me.

I probably couldn't trust Shion Angel. He was probably lying. Probably.

What if he wasn't?

Shion just stood there, watching my face with a little smile on his lips. He read me, easily. I avoided looking at his eyes.

"Pandora- would you mind if I called you Pandora?"

"Would it matter if I told you no?" I countered.

"It would tell me something about you," he shrugged. "I'd like to get to know you, and I would rather not make this... awkward, if I could avoid it."

I glared at him, shivering, the bump on my head pounding, and my limbs aching beneath the ropes. "I am Polaris, fourth head of the Central Arcadia Movement. You may address me as such."

Shion just stood back, and regarded my bonds. Another expressionless man came in, lean and thin, with brown hair grown to his shoulders. He pushed a room-service cart. He unfolded a small table and set it up over to one side, where the water wouldn't splash on it.

Shion's left hand drifted to the tattoo on the back of his right. "Very well, then. May I be frank with you?"

I eyed the cart, wondering if it contained hardware intended to frighten me with its potential applications. "I believe your actions speak of a measure of frankness you intend to employ no matter my answer."

Shion watched the valet set out three folding chairs and cover the table with a white cloth. "I have... reviewed your career, as Polaris, since your investiture. You have faced a number of dangerous beings and threats. By and large, they have been idiots. I try to avoid thatwhenever I am able, and that is why you are bound and held without your deck."

"You're afraid of me," I realised.

"You've destroyed a rival, defeated Tenjouin Michiru, and even faced off against Setsuka Shimotsuki and Ryuusei Fudo once upon a time. They underestimated you, as well as your allies. I won't. You could think of your current position as a compliment."

"Yes," I muttered, shaking freezing droplets out of my eyes. "You're too kind."

Shion smiled. The valet opened the cart and reached in for something far more than mere torture devices.

Hash browns. Cheese. Some biscuits, bacon, sausages, pancakes, toast, fruit. Coffee. Hot coffee. The smell hit my stomach, and even freezing as it was, it started crawling around on the inside of my abdomen, trying to figure out how to get away and get some food.

Shion took a chair as the valet left, and poured himself some coffee. "It... took a while to shake your pursuers off. Now we can have the conversation I was intending to hold once I have met you, Pandora. You've no idea how difficult it is to waylay a prophetic messenger."

I remained silent.

His spoon clinked on the cup. "You remain silent to hide your . I did imagine that Shimotsuki Setsuka would enlighten you about Pandora."

"I don't know," I answered. "What Pandora is, what this has to do with me. Obviously you hold no respect for me, otherwise I would be seated and we shall take it to the table as equals."

"Yes," Shion nodded. "I respected her, and therefore I respect you, her successor. Which is quite unusual for me."

"You respected her so much you snatched me and brought me here. I see."

He sipped at his coffee, and closed his eyes in enjoyment. "It worked out that way, through no deliberate fault of mine. I needed to talk to you, without your guard dogs or the lying archivists or the arrogant Louisiana Arcadians hanging about you to refute my every word. I shall tell you, from Changeling to Changeling, everything, including what I plan. No lies. No deviations. No obscurities."

I stared at him. That sentence... that claim... "You're..."

Just like me, was what I wanted to say. Changeling. Born of a human and a Duel Spirit. Stretched between two worlds, belonging to neither. Yet, I have never wished for anyone to die.

"The blood of Spirits flow in my veins," Shion nodded, unperturbed with the revelation he had just given. "My mother killed an extremely powerful Duel Spirit, and as a result all of Summer cried blood feud. Then..."

He stopped. It was the first time that I had ever seen him hesitate.

"...bad things happened, and I was the result," he finished.

I could feel myself shaking. "I- I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." he answered quietly. He picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled at it. "Of course, my mother was part of the Angel bloodline, and she found herself a husband of the same. I was born soon enough, and our work, the work of the Heaven Movement, continued as it had since before. When I was ten, I saw to the executions of the Sophia family."

"Ms Sophia," I realised. "You..."

"The Sophia family has the blood of Fiends and witches," Shion observed. "They remain the servants of the King of the Underworld and its priestess. It was... regrettable that one survived. Merci Sophia... the last sinner of the Sophia family."

He stared at me, at my twitching, injured left leg. I stared back in defiance. "No recriminations?" he asked. "No criticisms, curses?"

"I'm waiting for the rest of the story," I answered. "From what I heard and saw, Ms Sophia lives still. If you had killed her whole family, I consider her grudge justified. But since she is still alive, and you have made no further attempts on her life that I saw, I can only assume that something happened to your Heaven Movement that crippled all of you, enough to bend your organisation to the will of the Arcadia Movement, until now."

He stared at me, stone-faced

"Your father," I recalled. "Your... adopted father? Stepfather?"

"I do not acknowledge the donor," Shion automatically answered. "But... yes. My father was killed by Setsuka Shimotsuki. My mother was cursed by her. I myself... I saw over a thousand of my fellows, of my family, slaughtered in a way that had no trial, no justice, no argument. After that... our work, my work, was stalled permanently. Thousands of Changelings across the globe were absorbed into the Arcadia Movement overnight, rendering it impossible to find any of them. Any of the penitent whose crime was to exist."

How can existence be a crime, I wanted to ask, but I held my tongue.

"Your face is expressive," Shion lightly commented as he took a piece of toast and buttered it. "By itself, no. The existence of a Changeling is of no consequence. But considering that the spiritual sire can and shall control all future descendants that hold their blood, a veritable army is present. Also added that the bloodlines of spirits not only permit their existence on this plane, but go as far as to allow them to lord their existences over us humans as gods and demons... I am performing a mercy upon our brethren, by killing them before they can ever destroy the home we love, and the people we love with it."

"Is it justified?" I asked quietly.

"There is no other way," Shion confessed. "Spirits reincarnate each time they are killed. The selfsame spirit that my mother killed became her... downfall. The ghost that came back to haunt her for the rest of her time in sanity, before... before Setsuka Shimotsuki wrought her curse. Before she died, though... before my father died too, I heard a story. A story that began seventeen years ago, right here, in New Orleans."

So I was still in the city, I reflected. "Ah."

"At the time, of course, the Heaven Movement was a fledgling, and the Madame was... to put it on not too fine a point, setting up shop," Shion admitted. "In that year, the Heaven Movement's orphanage took in a foundling, less than a year old. A baby girl, Japanese-American. Black hair, violet eyes, and smiling."

My hands froze, tangled as it were within my own black locks.

"Barely a year old, and she could walk," Shion continued. "That same year, there was an attack. Unjustified, of course, but then the Heaven Movement back then favoured a scorched earth policy, something that didn't sit well with the Madame Shimotsuki or the NOPD. The foundling screamed, waking our whole settlement, and alerting us as what would have been certain death approached. Of course, she disappeared in the ensuing escape, and we thought we lost the orphaned girl. Imagine the surprise, when the elders before me stole files from the Arcadia Movement – no mean feat, I declare – that not only had the girl survived, she had also been taken across the ocean. Professor Shiwasu Kannazuki, who was not only present then, but also kind enough to save a child from the woman who had not a single shred of empathy in herself."

"H- How do you know?" I croaked.

"The ramblings of a madwoman are plentiful," Shion gave a bitter smile. "It is ironic that my mother would speak more to me while insane rather than while sane. Of course, there is no proof, but what I do know, and have proof, is that there are documents seventeen years ago and leading on for seven years, detailing your existence as Pandora within the Arcadia Movement. Sparse, but always growing."

"The Madame," I whispered. "Only for seven years?"

"Then the Elysium Circle happened, files locked down, and Pandora vanished from all archives," Shion gave a thin smile. "A reason why I respect Setsuka Shimotsuki far more, but it was not easy. Neither to find any of the targets, nor to find you, Pandora."

"Oh..." I faintly whispered. "I... I don't know."

"You wouldn't either," he answered. "This isn't easy for either of us. I'd use some sort of psychological technique on you, but the impact is clear. It is enough for you to know that one of two things willhappen."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. Either you will be freed and sit down to enjoy a nice breakfast..." He picked up a slightly curved and sharp-looking knife from the table. "Or I will cut your throat as soon as I finish eating."

"I- I am... flattered," I stuttered.

"Your history indicates that you are too dangerous to leave alive, I'm afraid – and I am on a schedule."

A schedule? He was working against a time limit, then. "So, business?"

"Business," Shion nodded without preamble. "You have seen how Duel Spirits treat Changelings. You have seen the depravities at which they would resort to. Would you not agree that we have a duty to prevent this? To weed out the tainted stock? Even if it costs our lives, generations to come would be free of this otherworldly menace. To make that happen, I need you."

"You want me to join you," I said. "And betray the Arcadia Movement."

"You needn't if you do not wish to," he added. "I just want you to hear our side of things before you make up your mind to die needlessly. We can talk. After that, if you don't want to have anything to do with me, you may leave."

"You'd just let me go," I echoed.

"I doubt I'd be able to stop you if you truly wished to escape." Shion noted. "Changelings are more durable, even though you insist on wearing this... farce."

"So what says I wouldn't turn around and use it against you?" I gambled on this question.

"Nothing," was the answer. "But I am a great believer in the benevolence of human nature."

"You have murdered so many. Do you actually think you could convince me to join up with you?"

"Yes," he said. "I know you."

"How?"

"I know more about you than you do yourself," Shion insisted. "Such as why you, a child powerless and alone, chose this kind of life. To appoint yourself protector, and to make yourself the enemy of any who would do them harm. To live outcast, laughed at and mocked by most mortals. Why do you do it?"

I had no answer for that.

"It is all you will allow yourself, and I know why."

"All right," I nodded. "Why?"

"Because you are ruled by fear."

_Of what? _I asked this question as well.

"Of power," he answered. "Of the unknown shades that has been in the shadows of your life. Of the loneliness of being the head of the Movement, of holding onto an organisation by the skin of your teeth without reliable friends or allies, alone and untrained and afraid each time."

"Everyone has thoughts like that sometimes." My voice came out subdued.

"No," said Shion, "they don't. Most people never consider such actions. The average person would have no sure way of taking that kind of power. But for you, it's different. You may pretend you are like them, but you are not."

"That's not true," I replied.

"Of course it is. You might not like to admit it, but that makes it no less true."

"I'm not different in any way that matters."

"You look like a mortal, Pandora. Make no mistake, though. You aren't one."

I turned away.

"You are different. You are a freak. In a city of millions, of thousands of Psychic Duelists, you are all but alone."

Something in my throat felt heavy.

"You're afraid, but you don't have to be. There's an entire world waiting for you. Uncounted paths you could take. Allies who would stand with you over the years. Who would accept you instead of scorning you. You could discover what happened to your parents. Avenge them. Find your family. Find a place where you truly belonged."

He had chosen to use words that struck hard on the oldest wound in me. A child's pain that had never fully healed. It hurt to hear those words. It stirred up a senseless old hope, a yearning. It made me feel lost.

Empty.

Alone.

"You are trapped. You are lying to yourself. You pretend to be like any other because you are too terrified to admit that you are not."

I didn't have an answer for that.

"I'm afraid I must ask you for an immediate decision," Shion now met me, eye to eye. The knife in his hand gleamed with what little light there was.

I didn't want to die. But... even so...

"I do not understand," I hissed. "If you are, as you Americans say, on the level... then why have you killed those of the Arcadia Movement."

"It was judgement," Shion insisted. "Justin Aquila made a contract with the Constellar tribe, unknowing of the pain it would cause him. Ruka Morisawa never chose her fate as a Signer, and neither did Rua Morisawa. It was a mercy to kill them, to release them from a fate neither of them wanted."

My blood froze. "Rua... Uncle Rua... Aunt Ruka... you killed them! You killed them!"

Shion watched as I thrashed in my bonds. The ropes didn't break. I didn't get loose. He watched me until I'd exhaustedmyself again. Then he took a handful of my hair and pulled my chin up and back, twisting my head to my right. I tried to stop him, but I was immobilised and exhausted.

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," he recited, as if by memory.

"There is no way to deliver from evil is the subject does not believe it," I spat. "Uncle Rua and Aunt Ruka have done nothing wrong!"

"They assisted the enemy," Shion insisted. "They knew their fates. I gladly killed them, as I gladly watched the Sophia family fall."

"Duel Spirits are not necessarily one's enemy," I countered. "They are only if we offend them. Whereas you, you have killed far more than any spirit ever shall."

"Then there is no negotiation," Shion tilted his head.

"None."

"You stand fast?"

"Absolutely."

"Very well," Shion nodded. "I wanted to make this as painless as possible, but then... come in."

The door opened. A black-clad figure carrying a suitcase walked in, the hand not holding the suitcase reaching up to tuck a stray blond bang away from the only visible amber eye. I drew a sharp breath.

Tsugare-san shifted his weight, not looking at me. "Shall we?"

"We must," Shion answered. "Set it up, Mr Misawa. I believe the welfare of Mr Yamamoto rests upon it."

Tsugare-san flinched, and whatever shock I felt dulled as I realised his circumstances.

"The inception of this procedure requires unconstricted blood flow," Tsugare-san pointed out. "She'll be under heavy sedation for up to ten hours, you'll be fine."

Shion crossed over, cutting my hands free with a single stroke of the knife. I collapsed, his arm supporting my weight as I was roughly settled down onto the concrete floor, and one arm wrestled down for a few tubes to be injected.

"You know, I feel rather apologetic to Chase for this," Tsugare-san continued, but staring towards the blocky men instead. "Pithy one-liners would have been his thing."

My eyes darted about. I was struggling, twitching. "White Rose. It's... deceptive."

"It was intended to be Briar Rose," Tsugare-san informed me as he slid the suitcase open and extracted a needle wrapped in a vacuum pack. "You'd be surprised how many people see that I use Naturia monsters and then mark me as one of the green-thumbed."

"Y- You can break into minds," I breathed as the needle was taken out and sealed into a tube, where I saw liquid flow through it. "While people are asleep. Our dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up we realise... things were strange. What's the aim of all this? Why?"

"Generally... well, there's no way I'm telling you what I want to find, because that's patently obvious," Tsugare-san stripped one of the needles out of its vacuum pack, and attached it to another tube.

"Of course it's obvious," I answered. "Apparently my only value lies in the information inside my head. So are you going to build a safe?"

Tsugare-san clicked his tongue as he prepared a third tube. "I'll tell you a riddle. You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure. But it doesn't matter. How can it not matter to you where that train will take you? That's the reason I'm doing this."

When his hand next appeared, Tsugare-san twisted up with his whole body, levelling a gun. The two shots echoed as the blocky men fell, long dead as grey matter spattered the walls and floor. The arm continued, and Shion could barely give a shout before he was knocked out by a pistol club.

With the same alacrity that he held, Tsugare-san took one of the needles, jabbed it swiftly into Shion's arm, then took one and slotted it into my vein before kicking the door closed and doing the same to himself.

Darkness approached and my vision began to fog. All according to plan, then.

"The first act closes," Tsugare-san's words followed as I fell asleep. "The second act begins. Don't let us down, Polaris."

* * *

The Dragunity Knight – Gae Dearg screamed as it let go of its rope and the Lear jet landed on the runway of the George Bush International Airport, heralded by the oddest of fashions of being tugged by a dragon and a giant airplane. Of course, there was no way for anyone to pursue Satsuki, the dragon and its rider having already taken to the skies once more at a mobility that even the Air Force would envy.

"Well, sorry for that mess," Rafael greeted us the moment I stepped down from the emergency staircase, Hazuki's arm in mine. Orion held the other arm, and between us we were levering her towards the waiting paramedics. "Everyone alright?"

"You try being stalked by a thunderstorm first, then tell me," I answered, turning towards the second of the three men. "I thought you guys were Army, not TSA."

"Stalked by a thunderstorm," Sergeant Austin O'Brien echoed. "Literally?"

I motioned towards the ruined surface of the Lear jet. "You tell me."

A hot paper cup was shoved into my hand, and I realised that I wasn't the only one. Madas was huddled with Uzuki in a pile of orange blankets, and Orion was scanning the compound as the pilot took the chance to escape via paramedics with Hazuki.

Archie O'Brien eyed the cup in my hand. "You should drink that."

I took a sip. Coffee, black and hot, no sugar. "Sugar?"

"Not at the moment," he answered. "A thunderstorm? Is it a Psychic? Or... something else?"

"Yeah, probably," I nodded as the Mecha Phantom Beast dissolved to reveal Jet MacKinnon. Tanned, tall and handsome in the way Apollo might have been conceived, but the grin that should have adorned his face was replaced with worry and frowning towards the direction of Hazuki. There was a definite past here that I didn't know.

O'Brien turned to consider Jet. "And you are?"

Jet snapped off a casual salute that matched the dark-blue beret perched on top of his gold-streaked blond hair. "Codename Hurricane, secretary of the Oceanic Movement, Jet MacKinnon. Here on retrieval, you can contact the New Orleans Movement."

"Exactly our problem," O'Brien snapped. "We can't. One hour ago, Fort Polk and Camp Beauregard reported complete lockdown from the Louisiana Movement quarters on Rampart Street and Canal Street. They aren't taking any calls, and New York hasn't gotten back to us either."

"Okay, then you can get back to Fort Polk," Jet answered casually. "I was just passing through you understand. Fast flight and all."

"There are such things called airlines," O'Brien archly answered. "They have conveniences such as padded chairs, and they can get you anywhere."

"Why spend the dosh when I can make it myself?" Jet reasoned, turning to us. "Hi, I'm the guy who saved your lives."

"Chase Princeton," I took the proffered hand in a quick shake. "Temporarily managing Orion Hunter. Over there is Madas Elvin, his manager's Himemiya- I mean, Ms Hazuki Himemiya, over there with the paramedics. The girl's Uzuki Himemiya, assistant manager and intern. We're the contingent sent by Manjoume Entertainment for the Pontchartrain Lakeside. Thanks for that mess back there."

Jet's eyes flicked towards the prostrate Hazuki, and towards a pale Uzuki, sipping her coffee, and I reflected that my hand could have been crushed in the millisecond before he let go. "I thought... I knew that plane was Manjoume Entertainment, but... the storm. It wasn't normal."

"Satsuki?" I asked. "I mean-"

"It would take a Class V to conjure a storm of that magnitude," Jet reflected. "I know one of the Queens of Queens. We all do." His eyes flicked to Hazuki for a brief moment before he shook his head. "I didn't see Kujaku until she was there. Then I was... convinced to help out."

I mentally agreed that a storm made for a very convincing argument, but Madas evidently didn't agree. "Who was that girl? That one behind Kujaku Satsuki, I mean. White hair, white dress."

We drew a blank on that.

"What will you do now?" Rafael asked once Hazuki was deemed well enough and was sitting with us.

"Get to New Orleans," Hazuki answered, her eyes still puffy as she made eye contact with everyone but lingered over Jet, her eyes turning an intense green. "Make it for the Pontchartrain Lakeside. I'll arrange transport somehow. If we leave now, we could make the drive in five and a half hours, enough to get to the Marriott."

"Five and a half hours?" I echoed along with Madas's stupefied expression. "Hazuki, there's no way any of us knows how to drive an American car. For one, the wheel's on the wrong side."

Hazuki lifted her chin defiantly to glare back. "I do," she said, at the same time as Jet.

Both of them froze, exchanging a long look before Jet looked away first.

The O'Brien father and son exchanged a look with Rafael, who seemed sympathetic towards Jet. Obviously, they thought Hazuki was insane.

"Look," Rafael offered. "You guys can call in the jet with insurance, and then we can arrange alternative lodging and transport. After all, since Mr MacKinnon, all three of us and your group are all headed to the same place, we might as well all go together, right?"

"You're going to the Pontchartrain Lakeside?" I asked.

"Yep," Archie smirked. "Why not?"

The last time you were in a tourney, it was a trap and you were attacked on all fronts, I wanted to say. The last time, you needed the Arcadia Movement to fish you out. The last time, you nearly didn't survive against Shimotsuki Setsuka.

Yet, that wasn't completely true, was it? Archie and Rafael were the guys who survived training with the Central Movement's Knights of Arcadia. They were probably up to any Psychic with enough preparation and fire-power. They could do it.

Could they?

"Sure," Jet answered at the same time that Hazuki opened her mouth. "It'll be fine, right? After all, we're all... most of us, are mature adults. We can survive a night before setting out. The Pontchartrain Lakeside is about the day after tomorrow, anyway."

Hazuki glared at him, but nodded. "Well?"

"Sounds about right," Orion agreed. "We'll get our stuff from the jet first, then dinner, then book rooms."

"Yes!" Uzuki was salivating. "Dinner. Now! Nee-chan!"

"Fine," Hazuki reluctantly answered. "We could all use something. Will you be joining us, Mr de Santos, Mr O'Brien, Sergeant O'Brien... Mr MacKinnon?"

"Sure, babe." MacKinnon smirked in the same fashion that followed a certain Aussie...

"Shit," I finally said once the Titania was safely out of earshot in the restaurant hours later.

The presence of the US Army made customs procedures faster, and we were cleared within fifteen minutes without much hassle. In a parody of Pepper Potts, somehow Hazuki had found three rooms in the airport hotel and a barbecue restaurant. Dinner was two beef briskets with pickles, onions, potato salad, sauce and baked beans on the side were served with alacrity, a harried smile and two carafes of tooth-rotting sweet iced tea.

Jet wiped his greasy fingers on a serviette, ignoring Uzuki and Madas squabbling about the merits of beef vs chicken – Uzuki took chicken. "Yes?"

"You know her," I accused Jet.

"Huh?" Orion turned off from considering his iced tea.

"This is going to be problematic," I said with all the alacrity I could muster. "I'm pretty sure this is the material which soap operas are composed of."

Uzuki turned to Jet. "What he means, in his own way, is that he thinks your presence in front of Nee-chan is going to cause a distraction since Nee-chan's boyfriend isn't around."

Jet laughed, though it sounded forced. "W- What? Boyfriend? Flame-haired, fiery Titania has a _boyfriend_?"

"It's all very _tame_," Uzuki informed us with the gleefully evil cheer of the matchmaker. "Ryuusuke-san isn't very adventurous, and I don't he even knows that he's been accidentally dating her for a while. And Nee-chan pretends she wants to stick with him, but I can _tell_, you know?"

"How old are you? Eighteen?" Orion sounded faintly ill.

That pithy remark earned him a glare. "I remember you," she told Jet.

"I don't think we've met before," Jet answered.

"But we have," Uzuki's eyes widened. "It was with Shimotsuki Setsuka. Flame-haired Titania, Queen of the Plants... and how all her victims could only babble was the flame-haired one-"

"Uzuki, quit gossiping," Hazuki's clarion call broke up the gossip session in time for the red-haired Psychic to slot into the table with the Army men. "We're all set to set off in the morning. I guess..." she stared at the plates of ribs as if they had done something to personally offend her. "...we'll have some time to ourselves."

Jet pushed one small plate over. "Have at it, then."

Rafael took the chair next to mine, unsurprisingly putting the O'Brien family between Hazuki and him. "Old history?"

"Maybe," he allowed. "It's a long story."

"It's not important," Hazuki quickly jumped in.

"The first time we met the Arcadia Movement isn't important? I'm offended," Jet scoffed. "Where was it, Chicago?"

"St. Louis," Hazuki softly replied, looking down at her barely-touched barbecued ribs. "Ten years ago, before the Arcadia Movement managed to get its roots into the American South. Ten years ago. Do you still use that Token deck?"

"I upgraded," Jet simply answered. "Do you still use that Rose deck?"

Hazuki's lip curled. "I upgraded."

"So both of us, who have changed, return to our beginnings," Jet shook his head as he tore a silver of meat off. "What would she call this?"

"...Hindsight."

"Or nostalgia?"

The piece of rib in Hazuki's hand broke into two, marrow spattering on the white porcelain. "You can't have nostalgia for memories you'd rather regret."

"We all have a lot of things to regret," Jet answered. "Especially after the Elysium-"

"Stop." A hushed silence fell over the table at her sharp retort. "It's a coincidence. Just a coincidence."

"That led us to cross a whole ocean?" Jet protested. "It happened, babe. Shit, even the squirt remembers."

"A coincidence," Hazuki repeated. "This is not St Louis. This is nowhere near St Louis. The Circle is dead, all of them are dead, and I saw Regina Mackenzie _die_. I believe you weren't here to reflect on how we met ten years ago, and I don't think you want to remember it either. Shut up and eat." She pushed aside the barely touched plate. "I need the washroom."

I gave a meaningful glance towards a confused Madas and a stunned Orion as the flame-haired Titania stalked away. "Told you. Messy."

Jet scanned us, especially me. "Chase Princeton?"

I met his stare. "I didn't realise my reputation extended that far."

A wry smirk. "Oh, like you wouldn't believe. Accounting departments call you a scourge of bad luck. Did you really blow up a building?"

"Building was on fire," I defended. "Not my fault."

"Of course," he diplomatically replied, his gaze flickering towards the run-down doors at the back and towards the conversation at hand. "And... them?"

"Orion Hunter, codename Goldenrod," Orion tersely introduced. "The other guy is Madas Elvin, not... not Psychic."

Madas nearly flinched under Jet's stare.

"I can tell," Jet nodded as he considered Uzuki. "I see you made it, squirt."

Uzuki pouted, pulling up her ochre-stone pendant around her neck. "Class III only for now."

"You'll be good," Jet replied. "And... very different. I hope."

"So, you knew Hazuki?" I asked conversationally.

"Long time ago," Jet depreciatingly answered. "We met around the same time as Setsuka Shimotsuki really started going to town on the US. About six months before, but it was a while with the Elysium Circle."

"Hazuki was-?" I cut off.

"The Elysium Circle?" Orion politely asked.

"Were you hiding under a rock?" Jet pointedly replied. "Elysium Circle. It was like the Arcadia Movement, except with more of a line towards kidnapping and brainwashing."

"What happened?"

Jet stared back. "To us, or to them?"

"We've never heard of the Elysium Circle," Archie spoke up. "We need to know if they're a threat to the US."

"You've never heard of them," Jet explained. "because they've been wiped off the globe. And the reason you never will... is because they were completely destroyed."

"Destroyed," Sergeant O'Brien echoed. "_Destroyed_."

Jet leaned forward, deliberately keeping light grey eyes level with the older man. "Setsuka. Shimotsuki."

Orion choked on his iced tea.

"Destroyed," the word was whispered in a caress, a benediction. "Under your very noses."

He sat back, grinning in a fashion meant to be disarming as Hazuki returned. "You didn't tell that boyfriend of yours about me, babe?"

"Ryuusuke isn't here," Hazuki put on a smile towards him. "Even then, it was ten years ago. I think you don't ever need to call me by a sexist pet name ever again."

"C'mon, it's our little joke-"

A fist slammed on the table, and with it a rush of flame that scorched the area around her knuckles where they met the polished surface. Acrid smoke flared a tiny bit, like a cigarette being put out, as Hazuki leaned on that fist and the table she had scorched, and made close eye contact with a poker-faced Jet. "_Now_."

Jet swallowed sharply, but otherwise he did not look away. "Too scared? Well, then since we're at an impasse, I propose we settle this like Duelists. Or perhaps you'd like to call in damages for that table?"

Hazuki froze, before she huffed as if she had been caught out. "Code Duello. Format's standard Duel. Place and time?"

"Sundown's in an hour," Jet inclined his head towards the window. "We'll take it outside, airport atrium."

"Nee-chan!" Uzuki squealed. "You're gonna Duel?!"

"If we have that straight," Hazuki lifted her hand and stalked off, leaving all of us to behold the imprint of her fist into the table.

"That's gonna leave a mark," was my pithy one-liner.

O'Brien choked, Archie swallowed, and Rafael whistled. "Hot stuff."

"This is our manager?" Madas turned to Orion.

"Looks like it," Orion commented, examining the imprint. "This takes an Ookazi, knowledge of the principles of heat enthalpy and entropy, and very fine control to maintain this sort of temperature without burning the skin, not to mention incredible focus. All without setting the fire alarm off."

"Hazuki was always talented with fire," Jet commented idly. "Flame-haired Titania..."

"Does this happen all the time?" Orion asked.

"Duelists," we all answered, even Orion.

It was with a very anti-climatic way that dinner and dessert was concluded, and then we made our way out of the airport towards the atrium. As we approached Hazuki in the middle, I realised that the pencils in her French bun had been pulled out, leaving her curls and ringlets curling around her face as if her head had been wreathed in flame. Flame-haired Titania, indeed.

Jet tilted her head towards Hazuki. "We're doing this then?"

"Now or never," was the pithy reply.

"Duel!"

Hazuki: LP 8000

Jet: LP 8000

Jet stared at Hazuki in challenge. "Do your worst."

"Draw," Hazuki started. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight [1000/1000], and with its effect I special summon Firearms Flower [800/800]. With that, I shall activate the Quick-play Spell, Seed of Deception, and special summon the tuner monster, Copy Plant [0/0] from my hand. Copy Plant will copy the level of a Plant-Type monster on the field, such as Firearms Flower, so it becomes level three. I construct the overlay network with these three monsters! Exceed summon! Appear, Battlecruiser Dianthus!"

I stared as the giant battleship of a flower appeared, its pink petals waving, arranged around a base-mounted cannon [2100/1800].

"By detaching one Exceed material from Dianthus, I can inflict two hundred damage for each card in my opponent's hand," Hazuki reported as light gathered in the mouth of the cannon. "Burn."

Jet winced as the impact struck.

Jet: LP 8000 → LP 7000

Hazuki: LP 8000

"I shall set one card, turn end." Hazuki reported.

"Effect damage in the first turn... fearsome," Madas whispered.

"Agreed," Orion nodded.

"Nice, but I'm just getting warm. My turn!" Jet called. "Draw! I'll begin with the summoning of Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf [1700/1200]!"

The churning of rotors signalled the descent of a helicopter, a lupine face gracing its nose as it tilted down and plopped above the atrium. Cables snapped out, and in their shadow a smaller, nondescript plane appeared.

"When Tetherwolf is normal summoned, a Mecha Phantom Beast Token [0/0] will follow," Jet claimed. "Nearly all members of the Mecha Phantom Beast tribe share the ability of being able to gain the levels of all Mecha Phantom Beast tokens on the field, as well as immunity to destruction by battle or card effect while a Mecha Phantom Beast token remains upon the field. Now, I follow with the Spell, Fiend's Sanctuary. This Spell allows me to special summon a Metal Fiend Token [0/0] onto the field. With that, I declare the battle phase. Tetherwolf, attack Battlecruiser Dianthus!"

"What?" Madas hissed. "But that Battlecruiser is clearly-"

"And the effect of Tetherwolf activates," Jet continued. "By tributing the Metal Fiend Token while Tetherwolf is battling, I can allow Tetherwolf to gain eight hundred attack power [1700/1200 → 2500/1200]. Destroy that Battlecruiser!"

"Trap card open!" Hazuki countered. "Wall of Thorns!"

Jet flinched as the Mecha Phantom Beast Token bit the dust. "Ah, my token took the brunt of that. So I'll just set four cards and declare turn end here [2500/1200 → 1700/1200]."

"What?" Madas blinked. "I don't understand."

"Baiting," Orion supplied.

"Oh," Madas echoed.

"Baiting?" Uzuki asked.

"The shenanigans with the tokens was to bait Hazuki's cards," I answered. "She's only got one card in hand, which is a mental game by itself for a Plant Duelist. But then in that conversation, Jet revealed that Mecha Phantom Beast monsters can survive destruction as long as there's a Mecha Phantom Beast Token on the field. So, assume that one of Jet's set cards can destroy the whole field, spawn another token, or it's Limiter Overload."

Madas reconsidered the field with the air of the student who had just learned something. "That's very advantageous."

"Draw!" Hazuki declared. "I'll activate Spellbook Inside the Pot, allowing both of us to draw three cards each. Now, I'll use the effect of Battlecruiser Dianthus again to inflict six hundred damage to you."

Jet: LP 7000 → LP 6400

Hazuki: LP 8000

"I summon Lonefire Blossom [500/1400]," Hazuki announced. "By the effect of Lonefire Blossom, I tribute Lonefire Blossom to special summon Phoenixian Seed [800/0] from my deck. With that, I tribute Phoenixian Seed to special summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis [2200/0] from my hand."

I whistled as one of Aki-sensei's signature cards appeared upon the field. "It's a Plant Burn."

"Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, attack Phantom Beast Tetherwolf with Flame Petal!" Hazuki called as the living flower burst out.

"Continuous Trap, Aerial Recharge!" Jet defended. "This card allows me to special summon a Mecha Phantom Beast Token [0/0] onto the field, so Tetherwolf will survive!"

"But you shall take damage anyway," Hazuki analysed.

Jet: LP 6400 → LP 5900

Hazuki: LP 8000

"When Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis has attacked, it is destroyed after damage calculation," Hazuki finished. "And upon its destruction, you shall takes eight hundred damage. Scatter Flame!"

Jet: LP 5900 → LP 5100

Hazuki: LP 8000

"Now, I shall declare an attack with Battlecruiser Dianthus," Hazuki pointed. "Barrage Tetherwolf!"

Jet: LP 5100 → LP 4700

Hazuki: LP 8000

"End phase," Hazuki announced. "I banish Phoenixian Seed to revive Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in defence mode. Turn end."

"Aerial Recharge requires that I sacrifice a token monster or a Mecha Phantom Beast to it during each player's end phase as maintenance cost," Jet announced. "So I choose the Mecha Phantom Beast Token."

"So that's why he didn't use the effect of Tetherwolf," Uzuki nodded. "He needed to maintain Aerial Recharge."

"Draw!" Jet called. "I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Megaraptor [1900/1000]."

Another plane followed, this time more voluminous and bird-like, almost predatory and sleek as it floated down.

"Aerial Recharge allows me to special summon a Mecha Phantom Beast Token once per turn," Jet called. "Also, when a Token monster is special summoned to my side of the field, Megaraptor throws in one more token [0/0]. I tribute one token to use the effect of Megaraptor; I shall add one Mecha Phantom Beast monster from my deck to my hand, such as Mecha Phantom Beast Harrilard. Because of the sole token remaining on the field, Tetherwolf and Megaraptor both gain three levels to become level seven. I use these two monsters to construct the overlay network. Exceed summon! Ready for take-off, Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack!"

A giant cargo aircraft parked into view. Although, it might be charitable to abandon the aircraft moniker for a name along the lines of 'mutated machine-creature'. The nose had been twisted out of shape, steel beams protruding out with the barest shard of painted metal to show the features of a dragon atop that of the giant white plane [2600/2200].

"I shall detach one overlay material to special summon two Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens to the field," Jet defended. "Now for the effect of Dracossack; by sacrificing one Mecha Phantom Beast on the field, I can target one card you control and destroy it! I choose your Battlecruiser! Target lock-on, fire!"

The draconic metallic head turned, and with a creak and a whine of machinery, a blast that glowed orange impacted and destroyed the Battlecruiser.

"I see!" Madas yelped. "That effect that nearly all Mecha Phantom Beasts share between the tokens don't only grant immunity towards destruction; they also allow for level manipulation! And given the speed of the Duel right now, that means Jet can summon rank four or seven monsters easily!"

"However, the effect of Dracossack prevents it from attacking during the turn its destruction effect is used," Jet added, ignoring Madas's comment. "I'll declare turn end, and therefore I sacrifice one token for Aerial Recharge."

"Draw!" Hazuki called. "This card... Trap card, Xyz Reborn activate. Revive, Battlecruiser Dianthus!"

The airship reappeared, seemingly much, much smaller compared to the giant cargo plane and its floating carry-on token monster.

"What?" Uzuki noted. "Why?"

"I shall activate the Spell, Monster Reborn," Hazuki declared. "Come, Lonefire Blossom. Now, I sacrifice Lonefire Blossom to special summon Malina, Princess of Sunflowers [2800/1600] from my deck."

A burst of gold light heralded the appearance of the dark-skinned woman, her lower body trapped in the middle of a sunflower, purples and golds surrounding her with a sunny, happy aura of power. Her head was crowned by a head-dress of sunflower petals, and she beamed openly as she surveyed the field.

"I move Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis to attack mode. With that... I..." she trailed off.

"Use Battlecruiser Dianthus to attack the last token, Tytannial to destroy Dracossack, and Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis," Madas assessed. "But Jet's got four cards in his back row, including Aerial Recharge. One of those has got to be something to stop Hazuki from attacking, like Mirror Force or Sakuretsu Armour or something."

"Tytannial," Orion reminded him. "So long as Tytannial is on the field, kiss that thought goodbye. What I think is that he's set Staunch Defender or Justi-Break."

"Staunch Defender- oh," I nodded. "That sounds plausible. After all, he's got to protect the tokens somehow."

"This Spell..." Hazuki froze, staring at the card. "This card..."

"Both of us know what you hold, Titania," Jet declared. "You, of all people, should recognise that memento."

"... I do," was the hoarse reply. "I do... and I just want to forget. I just... I just don't want to feel. As long as everyone is safe... as long as U- Uzuki is fine... I don't want to remember. I don't have to feel, to think. She took me in, like so many, but she wouldn't think for me... she wouldn't think for me. I- I'm just so tired. I don't want any more surprises, any more adventures or pain or loss. I just want to stand and take a deep breath and remind myself... that I'm alive. That I can just remain like this. I wish... I wish..."

Hazuki drew a breath. With that single action, her chest lifted, her back straightened, and the nervous demeanour she was projecting began to fade before she opened clear, amber eyes that burned like her hair.

She inserted the card she had drawn, and with it Jet seemed to grow tense. "I activate the Spell, Rank-Up Magic – Key to the Gates!"

"What?" Madas sputtered. "R- Rank-Up Magic?"

"Rank-Up Magic..." Orion echoed.

"I re-construct the overlay network with Battlecruiser Dianthus!" Hazuki cried. "Chaos Xyz Change!"

Overhead, the base-mounted cannon shed petals to coat itself, spinning like some giant demented top, until its top widened into a circle, and its base tapered until it resembled some giant space station, far larger and more majestic than the simple machine from whence it came [2400/2000].

"Bloom beautifully, Chaos Xyz Battleship Cherry Blossom!" Hazuki declared. "And by the effect of Key to the Gates, I can attach this card to Cherry Blossom as an Exceed material. With that, I activate its effect; by detaching an Exceed material, I can inflict three hundred damage for every card on the field."

"Three hundred?" Madas exclaimed. "That's-"

"Six on Jet's field, eighteen hundred," Orion calculated. "Three on Hazuki's field at the moment, total twenty-seven hundred."

"Falling Leaf Barrage!" Hazuki snapped, as a hail of bullets showered down upon Jet.

Jet: LP 4700 → LP 2000

Hazuki: LP 8000

"Battle!" Hazuki shouted. "Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, attack that Token!"

"Trap card, Staunch Defender!" Jet defended. "This turn, you've got to attack Dracossack!"

Hazuki ducked her head as the Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis gave a scream and dashed forth, destroying itself as it was set aflame. "But, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis will inflict effect damage to you!"

Hazuki: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Jet: LP 2000 → LP 1200

"Not only that, but when one other Plant-Type monster I control is destroyed, the effect of Malina allows me to destroy other monsters," Hazuki pointed as the Flower Princess giggled. "Destroy that token! Solar Ray!"

"Trap card, Impenetrable Attack!" Jet defended. "Stand tall, my token!"

The light hit and part of the wing shredded, but otherwise the plane still stood.

"Fine. Malina, attack Dracossack!" Hazuki called as Malina aimed and fired.

Jet: LP 1200 → LP 1000

Hazuki: LP 7600

"Turn end," Hazuki defended.

"Being beaten down to only one thousand points..." Orion frowned. "He's already past the safety belt. If he can't win this turn..."

"Turn end," Hazuki concluded. "End phase, I banish Seed of Flame to special summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in defence mode."

"At the end phase, I tribute the token to maintain Aerial Recharge," Jet called. "I don't understand. Why so serious?"

"T- Testing my skills," Hazuki defended.

"Really? Sounds more like a case of serious denial," Jet waggled his eyebrows.

"Get on with it," Hazuki bristled.

"Fine," Jet growled. "My turn. Draw!"

"Malina, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, and Battleship Cherry Blossom," I analysed. "Gonna be a pickle."

"I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Harrilard [1800/800]," Jet called as another plane, this one with a fox's face on the nose, wheeled onto the field. "And then, I use Aerial Recharge to special summon one token. I tribute the token to activate the effect of Harrilard, and special summon a Mecha Phantom Beast monster from my hand. Come, Mecha Phantom Beast Coltwing [1600/1500]!"

Another plane flew down from above, white but with wings spread like a bird's. Two small token-planes followed its descent down.

"When Coltwing is special summoned, it can special summon two Mecha Phantom Beast tokens," Jet elaborated. "So, since both Harrilard and Coltwing are level four, the presence of both tokens amount to both of them becoming level ten."

"Rank ten?!" Madas sputtered.

"Level manipulation and token generation," I reminded him.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" "When the hero dashing across the sky joins hands with the princess of the garden, the wonders of this great, big world bloom! Exceed summon! Arise, Skypalace Gangaridai!"

A creak resounded across the entire terminal, as the budding crowd began mumbling and babbling. A series of clouds was formed by the Solid Vision, which coalesced to give deep grey clouds. Clouds parted, and then the giant machine descended, made of two bulbous compartments attached on either side of some wide-propeller engine thing that served as the hub of a transport capable of functioning close to something like the SHIELD Helicarrier [3400/3000].

"You're not the only one who can't let go," Jet declared as he held up one of the two cards left. "I activate the Spell, Rank-Up Magic – Key to the Gates!"

"That guy too?" Madas exclaimed.

"Counter Trap card, Pollinosis!" Hazuki defended. "I tribute Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!"

"Counter Trap, Do a Barrel Roll!" Jet defended. "By tributing all Mecha Phantom Beast tokens on the field, I can negate a Spell, Trap or monster effect!"

Hazuki cringed as her card shattered.

"Now, Key to the Gates," Jet nodded. "I re-construct the overlay network with Skypalace Gangaridai! Chaos Xyz Change! Greatest of the legendary cities, reign across the skies!

The airship became more tapered, and a giant square-shaped cannon began to take form. The purple and gold of the Skypalace flaked off, sterile white the only thing this new monster was painted. It was less of a Helicarrier... than of a spaceship with a giant weapon [3800/4000].

"Chaos Xyz: Skypalace Babylon!" Jet shouted as the Spell joined with the monster. "Now, battle! Skypalace Babylon, attack Malina with Destiny Buster!"

Hazuki: LP 7600 → LP 6600

Jet: LP 1000

"And the effect of Babylon; it inflicts half of the destroyed monster's attack power onto the opponent whenever it destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the grave," Jet indicated as light gathered around the giant cannon and flared. "Secondary Disaster!"

Hazuki: LP 6600 → LP 5200

Jet: LP 1000

"Now the effect of Skypalace Babylon," Jet pointed. "I can detach one Exceed material, and have it attack again, so I choose your Battleship Cherry Blossom. Multiple Rusher!"

"That's... going to hurt," Orion summarised in concern as the second attack streaked through the air.

Hazuki: LP 5200 → LP 3800

Jet: LP 1000

"And its effect, Secondary Disaster!" Jet continued as the beam fired.

Hazuki: LP 3800 → LP 2600

Jet: LP 1000

"Just nice," Jet pointed as Dracossack took off, wheeling straight. "Dracossack, lock-on, direct fire!"

Hazuki: LP 2600 → LP 0

Jet: LP 1000

"What a turnaround..." Madas hissed.

"One good mind-fuck... yeah," Orion assessed.

"He beat one of the Queens of Queens!" Uzuki protested. "He beat Nee-chan!"

Madas's eyebrows rose. "Erm, these are the Queens of Queens we're talking about, right? The four-woman team who managed to kick the collective asses of Central? Himemiya Hazuki, the Titania? On par with Kujaku Satsuki, Hinamori Seiran and Shimotsuki Setsuka?"

Jet had sidled up to Hazuki's side, and was currently bestowing a grin on her. "Why, babe, I won."

Hazuki twitched. "Say it one more time, and I shall not be held accountable for my actions."

"What, that I won or the 'babe'-" Jet's words died as Hazuki made eye contact with him and whatever he saw caused his words to shrivel up and die inside.

It was also the first time I saw Hazuki break her lady-like behaviour before stalking off. "Fuck off, pillock."

Jet actually stared as she walked off, head held high. It was Uzuki who broke the resulting tension: "Nee-chan! You said... you said a bad word!"

* * *

_**Rank-Up Magic – Key to the Gates**__**  
Type: Normal Spell  
Effect: Target 1 face-up Xyz Monster you control; Special Summon from your Extra Deck, 1 "Number C" or "CXyz" monster with the same Type as that monster you control but 1 Rank higher, by using it as the Xyz Material. (This Special Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon. Xyz Materials attached to that target also become Xyz Materials on the Summoned monster.) Then, attach this card to the Summoned monster as an Xyz Material.**_

_**Let's be clear on one thing; I'm not too sure about US Customs and Excise practices with regard to local flights, but I'm quite sure that passports and everything still apply somehow. I'm also not actually sure if the George Bush International Airport has an attached hotel, but I know most international airports to have them nowadays, so I assumed yes. Either way, some enterprising hotel chain might have already built one next door, and Chase might not be up to describing it, so to him it's just 'the airport hotel'.**_

_**Please review!**_


	75. LXXII: Contract with the Aquamirror

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXXII: Contact with the Aquamirror**

For a moment, I only blinked at the sunlight falling across the sheets, golden and warm on my face. A stripe of cream yellow, like a silk tie, and I curled and uncurled his fingers as if it were something I could grasp. It felt languid, in a way that made waking feel like something new, something special.

This place was-

I sat up.

The curtains shimmered by the white-framed window, too gauzy to actually be anything but frippery. The bed was a wooden frame, the wood polished and white. There was a woollen carpet on the floor, clear against dark parquet. A shelf stood on the other end of the room, away from the bed, the corners covered and child-proof, the shelves filled with books and toys. A silver rattle. A grinning Fortune Fairy doll that I had hated. A Marron plushie whose black button eyes shone.

A copy of _Coraline_.

After being told to read a bedtime story to me, Setsu-chan had started with _Snow, Glass, Apples_. I had never read Snow White the same way ever again. That story was followed by _Coraline_... so, this was a memory?

"Finally," I heard Tsugare-san comment, and I tugged the bedclothes aside as I got out of the plush bed.

It hadn't survived the fire, I reflected. Nothing on the upper floors had survived the fire.

Tsugare-san's pale complexion stood out, a ghost of a face against the shadows of the morning sunlight. "Where are we?"

"My old room," I whispered. "The Shimotsuki manor, before... before Madame and Rafael-jiisan died. And you, Tsugare-san?"

"Koichi... there was an investigation, Koichi was investigating," Tsugare-san informed me. "He disappeared. On the same day I was informed about your appointment with me in New Orleans as a favour, I got a visitor. There were implications, proof of Koichi still being alive, and my working with them temporarily. Until they could get something from you, and then they'll return Koichi to me."

"I see," I neutrally answered. "And the reason that you are telling me all of this, without any form of justification, is that obviously you have also seen the flaw in this plan. Therefore you hope for an alliance in exchange for our help."

"They've murdered," Tsugare-san agreed. "I've informed the Londoners, and I was about to inform the Orleans people before this happened. I left a thumb drive behind with evidence and leads for Kaido to start with, hopefully he can trace either of us. Obviously, the Heaven Movement has no intention of allowing either of us to live past setting a foot outside of the door, not if they want to continue without the Arcadia Movement stepping in."

"A triple agent," I realised. "You're a triple agent."

"Not the first time I've done something like this," he agreed, motioning towards the door. "I might be speculating right now, but we might be within your subconscious mind. Are there any horrors waiting for us?"

I walked over on the plush shag carpet, and the door creaked open as I pulled it. The hallway I stepped out to was marble-tiled, polished to a shiny cream with patterns. The walls were painted a light blue, corners curved out or in, and there was no paintings. Doors and windows and lights lined the room, but they were otherwise identical to every hallway I had ever remembered of the Shimotsuki manor.

It was also empty save for one person.

She stood there, opposite me. The black that she wore was in her pleated skirt, her pinstriped shirt, her shiny buckled shoes, her long hair, tied back in a ponytail. Her white stockings, her complexion, her hands itself, were white. Her lips redder than snow. Her eyes, her eyes were wide, and cold as ice itself in their brilliant shade of sapphire ice-blue. She was much, much shorter and younger than me now, but all I could recall then was the quiet and terrified fear of someone who could dispassionately relate the stories of mutilation and horror of a terrified queen and her vampiric stepdaughter of snow-white skin, blood-red lips, ebony-black hair.

She smiled; I expected fangs to appear. I nearly screamed.

"Hello," the much younger Shimotsuki Setsuka of my childhood whispered.

Behind me, I heard Tsugare-san nearly step back.

"You're not supposed to be here," the tiny girl continued, her expression wide though unsurprised. "You were never supposed to come here."

I swallowed. "I came here, though."

"You did," she agreed.

"What is this?" I asked as I relaxed somewhat. "I know you cannot read minds, Setsu-chan."

"What do you think this is, then?"

"I do not know."

"And I do not wish to tell you."

"If this is my mind, then should you not comply to my wishes?" I asked.

Again, I was treated to a small smile, the kind of smile that indicated that not only was I comically missing the point, I had gone so far from it as to waver in the opposite direction. "Yes, your conscious mind wishes to know. Your subconscious mind wishes otherwise. There is no amount of evidence that would convince me, that the subconscious cannot wish away."

My eyes narrowed. "So you are my subconscious."

"I am the one your subconscious chose to hide your secrets."

Tsugare-san snorted. "Well, looks like you chose a hard nut to crack."

Despite the seriousness, I could hardly help but smile. "I chose correctly, then. Setsu-chan would never reveal a secret overtly. Covertly, that is a different matter."

I faced her once more, eyes square to meet. "Setsu-chan was always telling people secrets. But always couched in a way that we had to think to get to the secret. And when we do, it becomes an open secret; that is, everyone knows, but no one can prove it."

"The _secret du Polichinelle_," Setsu-chan agreed. "You hid it here."

I smiled. "I do not know French. I admit that I have never known a word of French in my life. The only French phrases I know, would logically come from people who I know _do_ know French. Setsu-chan, or the Madame, or Rafael-jiisan. There would therefore be no reason for French to exist here, only Japanese. Not unless one of them had been here before."

"What do you mean?" Tsugare-san asked in a hushed voice.

I faced the ghostly one square in the eye, and I felt my smile wipe away. "For one thing, I would _never_ trust my secrets to Shimotsuki Setsuka. So you can take the mask off, Shion Angel."

A gunshot rang out, and the younger Setsuka screamed, her face peeling as the ice-blue shattered to give way to Shion's anguished gold. He collapsed against the wall, one arm bleeding and gasping as he pressed the other, uninjured arm to his chest, which bloomed red.

Behind him, the taller figure lifted the semi-automatic to her lips and idly blew away the smoke. "See. You can keep your own secrets."

"For another," I continued, as the adult Shimotsuki Setsuka, clad in denims, boots and a bustier strode over and took Shion up with one arm to slam him into the wall. "There is always only _one_ way left open to the secret, _if_ this was the work of Setsu-chan, at the detriment of all other ways. That open entrance is useless if it cannot be found within the maze of my mind. You failed to find that entrance, and so you tried to masquerade as the horrifying Setsu-chan of my past, unaware of what it was. It was an old horror, one that worked well _as long as you didn't talk_."

Shion Angel stared, horror in his eyes as the Shimotsuki Setsuka of my consciousness laughed and slammed him into the floor, one boot automatically lifted to slam into his throat. The gun lifted, and we blocked our ears as she methodically aimed for his limbs. He screamed, voice high and reedy with pain.

"Lastly," I continued. "If anyone has ever hidden secrets in my subconscious, it would not be Shimotsuki Setsuka. So you actually chose the wrong guise in which to infiltrate this place. Setsu-chan is far too large of a personality to ever be masqueraded as."

Shion eyed the barrel of the gun as my subconscious sentinel aimed down at his eye. "What would you do, then?"

"If it be worth stooping for, there it lies in your eye; if not, be it his that finds it," I murmured as I walked past the ghost of Setsu-chan, Tsugare-san following after a brief hesitation. "Obviously, I am going to find this secret that has your Heaven Movement so eager to make enemies of us to get their hands on. I am then going to see for myself what this would change."

"It will change everything," Shion Angel promised, his gold eyes never looking away. "I promise you, it will change everything."

I waved a hand. "Setsu-chan... send him with my regards, if you please."

If I turned around, perhaps, I would have seen the grim smile directed towards Shion Angel as she pulled the trigger.

Tsugare-san did look back, though, and he shuddered as he hurried behind me. "She's... this is your _mind_?"

"Yes," I nodded as we ascended a flight of stairs.

"You do know that he's waking up already, right?"

"Then we shall talk when we have woken too." The stairs whirled right up in an infinite spiral, completely silent save for echoes of sound on marble and our pants. "White Rose. You were someone who specialised in stealing secrets."

"Not... that successful," Tsugare-san admitted. "It's more... interpretation. I can do some botanokinesis, that's not a lie. But mind control... really, I know people more talented than I am. The main issue is that those people always resort to brute control, motor reflexes, whereas... my skill lay in a different direction. Misdirection, illusions, beliefs... the mental areas."

"I know," I answered as we rounded a third time. "And so did the Madame. You threw off the lot you had, and exchanged it."

"I wasn't cut out for it," Tsugare-san argued. "Ryokai was always the more ruthless."

"Still, the result was that your life was irrevocably tied to the Movement, and thereafter your escape was nearly impossible," I continued, still climbing. "There was no reason why someone with your ability would have ever been let out of the Central Movement, which is mainly focused on training, much less been posted to an alternative outpost focused on reform in London. I can only assume that a deal was cut with Setsu-chan."

"I was sent to London, seemingly to take a scholarship at the University of London," Tsugare-san agreed. "I actually did study. I was all set to disappear until I was deported back."

"And your second chance occurred with Yamamoto Koichi," I whispered.

"I love Koichi, that's not arguable," Tsugare-san snapped. "I'm sorry," he immediately apologised after. "It's just... people look at me, and they see either a philandering slut or a man-whore. Koichi's the only one outside of the family and the Movement who's never treated me any differently. I loved the Movement's ideals, but I wanted a life outside of it, away from the danger, and... a life where I didn't have to feel alone. You know that feeling."

I nodded as we reached the seventh spiral. "I do. Either way, a series of events led you to here, where you have placed me, Shion Angel, presumably yourself, and who knows how many more under sedation to break into my mind and steal a secret."

"It sounds like a movie plot," Tsugare-san agreed as I stopped. "What the...?"

I looked down, at the end of the seventh spiral where the end was left hanging off, then I glanced down purposefully where the rest of all six spirals of staircases lingered above. "Paradox. That movie admirably summarised what you were trying to do."

A mirror glimmered at the end, its gold flaring frame glittering in the light. Liquid spilled from the mirror's surface, always calm and placid despite the churning waterfall that came from it, the blue uninterrupted and smooth.

"You see, there's only one reason for anyone to break into my mind," I continued. "To plant one, or extract one. I would be shot down if I were to try anything independently with the Arcadia Movement, so planting an idea is out. That leaves stealing an idea, information. Within my mind there are secrets of the Movement. Passwords. Archive access. The lists."

"You already know them," Tsugare-san accused. "So why did you tell Shion Angel that you were going to find out?"

"If he wanted any information about the Movement, he should have targeted Kaido or Nakamura-san, or even Ms Sophia or Ms Narukami. Not me," I answered, considering the mirror as the liquid began to flow _up_ instead of _down_. "No, this has to do with what he told me. The girl who was stolen away."

"I thought it was a ploy to get me time," Tsugare-san pointed out.

"Unlikely," I considered as the water crystallised into ice, a path leading to the mirror. "I think he was telling a true story. Something that, at least, he truly believed in. If this existed, then we would have found leverage to buy time with. If not, then we would have bought time to think of a way out regardless. Setsu-chan would have played it out to buy for time. Always, time."

A solid path of cloudy ice formed before our eyes, and I sighed.

"Through the looking glass, we find ourselves," I murmured as I ran on the path. "Through the looking glass, we find truth."

It felt like water, splashing through the looking glass.

* * *

_Made it to New Orleans. Thunderstorm brewed up on the way here. Am fine. Please eat three times a day, I am going to check with Yuko to make sure of it._

I sent that post through Facebook, and also sent another message with nearly the same, albeit more detailed, content to Youkai. Halfway through breakfast of steak and eggs – which I cannot believe actually _exist_ – Hazuki dropped to my table with alacrity and tea.

"No coffee?" I asked.

"Get it yourself." She downed her own tea with the sort of fortitude that could only be achieved by regular scalding. "It's funny. I got a taste for tea from her."

"Shimotsuki?"

Hazuki nodded. "Fussy about her tea, she was. Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Assam. Almost any sort of tea was stocked in the house. She hated coffee. The coffee maker met death by defenestration the one time Glen was idiot enough to bring her a cup."

"It was thrown out of the window?"

"Almost with Glen. The Cold Queen can get infuriated when it comes down to coffee versus tea." Hazuki unhappily regarded her tea. "It's nice, but they put too much sugar into this."

"Mmm," I regarded Hazuki. She'd been a year younger, and also the Vice-Head of the Queens' Disciplinary Committee in DA Queens. Our circles, needless to say, were pretty damn far apart even during tournament season. I mean, compared to personalities like Shimotsuki, it was painfully clear that Hazuki wasn't making the cut to even wallflower status. "Uzuki?"

"Still asleep. Madas is somewhere around the region of imitating a zombie, according to Hunter-san," Hazuki politely yawned before considering the butter croissant in her other hand and biting it. It gave me an opportunity to consider my answer towards Hazuki's knowledge of Madas's morning zombie tendencies.

"Still," Hazuki said with relish, the calories literally fuelling her awake, "we could probably make it in time for the Pontchartrain Lakeside and register in the Marriott the night before the tourney starts. Best not to get anyone lost."

I thumbed through the files to Orion. "KaibaCorp?"

"KaibaCorp is sponsoring Drake Lancaster," Hazuki answered. "They also have another old hand, Rodriguez the Viper."

"Adrian-san? Oh, I know him," I mentioned. "He took Rex on a sabbatical or two. Reptile deck, mainly focused on Indian reptiles. And Lancaster runs a Wind deck as well, right?"

"Yes," Hazuki answered. "Other than those two, the Arcadia Movement itself is fielding... Merci Sophia and... Jet MacKinnon."

Silence fell over our table. A TV loudly echoed. People kept babbling, Americans loudly self-involved in their own spheres.

"That... explains so much," I muttered at last. "So the whole fracas last night was him trying to psych the competition?"

Hazuki shrugged. "It's... complicated. Him and I."

I let that go. "Anyone else?"

"Archibald O'Brien, runs a Hazy Fire deck hybrid," Hazuki reported. "I've seen him. Nothing notable. The Heaven Movement is fielding... Shion Angel."

I would have spat my coffee, if I had any. "Well, damn."

Hazuki peered at me. "Something wrong?"

I hadn't told her why I had piggybacked the trip for. "Erm... he's tough, right?"

She kept giving me the Kubrick stare, but relented. "Yes, for someone who had had a profile earmarked by Shimotsuki Setsuka personally."

"Personally? The Ice Queen marked him? What, for death row or something?"

Hazuki's eyes flashed about, and she hunched into her paper cup. "He became the head of the Heaven Movement seven years ago following the Night of Walpurgis. We think that his arrangement was that of a figurehead, but recently in the past five years he's been gaining momentum on the American stage. He hasn't branched out internationally, but that's more due to the hard-line fundamentalist stance of the Heaven Movement than any lack of talent on his part. The Duelist world doesn't like its Duelist to come as preachers."

"That bad?"

Hazuki consulted her handy little tablet. "He's been commenting on the 'outside threat' and how 'people must stand together'. It seems that what he lacks for is certainly not charisma, only experience."

"It looks like he might not need experience," I pointed out. "You said it yourself, Shimotsuki Setsuka had a profile on him."

"Nakamura-san just mentioned it. I can't confirm it outside of the Arcadia Movement," Hazuki sounded troubled. "Not yet, anyway. Once Uzuki graduates, the Movement's obligation would be concluded, and then we can leave."

"You're leaving the Movement?" My surprise must have been reflected, for Hazuki gave me a look.

"We siblings aren't meant to stay forever," Hazuki shook her head, switching to Japanese. "I don't want that for Uzuki. Maybe as a liaison, or as a manager, she's talented. And then, later, if I can... Seiran owes me. She can take Uzuki, train her to fight, much, much more than I can. But I have to give her a chance to experience options other than the Arcadia Movement."

"You don't have to do anything, you know," I pointed out. "She knew what options she had when her psychic powers happened."

"She thinks," Hazuki insisted. "That's only because she's always thought of Psychic powers as... as the defining trait of herself, of me, of us. She has so much before her, Princeton-san, but she still thinks that the Arcadia Movement is her only option. I... I just want her to have a chance."

"I heard that Uzuki can test out as Class III, maybe Class IV. So can you." I paused. "What about you?"

"M- Me?" Hazuki looked down at her cooling tea.

Before my eyes, her hand might have glowed a dull red, or the paper might have been singed, or the tea rapidly boil before my eyes. It certainly led to the drink super-boiling in her hand.

"From nearly eight years ago when I entered the Movement, I tested out as Class IV," Hazuki reflected. "Before that, I already knew how to hurt people with my powers. And I felt nothing then, during... during that time. They had Uzuki, you see, and she was in danger. The victims... they were nothing. Just Duelist after Duelist after Duelist to destroy. After that, I couldn't fit anywhere else outside of the Movement. I couldn't live like an ordinary girl. As a Psychic Duelist, and as one of the Queens of Queens, I'm not a normal person and I can never live like one."

My knuckles drummed a tattoo on the hardwood table-top. "I know it's hard. Youkai told me himself, that it can be a lot easier to remain with the Arcadia Movement. To just... keep fighting. Not to abandon the front lines, not for peace, but because there's no other job we can imagine that's more exciting. But it's also dangerous."

"Precisely. Despite the lack of action, many higher-level Psychics primarily remain with the Movement merely as a sign of solidarity and power consolidation, not to mention holding a job," Hazuki explained. "Just for the challenge of facing powerful Duelists and the chance of representing the Arcadia Movement is why Uzuki wishes to stay. That's why...

"When I met Shimotsuki-san, and after that Seiran, and Satsuki, and Yukio-san, I felt a bond with them."

She paused, and that's when I saw the oncoming rush of oestrogen. "Oh bloody hell."

She was sniffling quietly. "I admired them. They had experienced pain, for the sake of protecting something, and they were willing to throw their lives away for it, to make the gamble, the sacrifice. For me to force Uzuki away from a path she doesn't know, to consider other options... I must follow too. That's why I shall leave the Movement after this, and try to live normally. It'll be hard, for me and for her, but I wish... I just want her to try normal life. To not think about cards hurting, or games where we risk our lives exist, or worry if the next storm that hits Neo Domino was caused by Youkai. As an older sister, I just want to give her a chance I didn't have."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, awkwardly offering her the clean serviettes on hand. "What am I, everyone's gay best friend or something? I'm a Duelist, not a psychologist!"

Hazuki blew her nose. There are people who can cry and look pretty doing it, but Hazuki wasn't one of those. Her eyes were slightly swollen, her nose red, and her mouth creased. "I'm sorry. This must be awkward for you."

"I can't handle crying girls, I don't understand what it's like to have younger siblings!" I continued. "Whatever experience I have is babysitting Seika and Reina, and nagging that imp of a boyfriend to eat during meals! You have a drink on hand, so I can't offer you one! Speaking of which, take the tea already!"

She gurgled a laugh out that turned into a sputter as she sipped, spilt a bit of the hot liquid, and also choked. Awkwardly, I stood up with more dry serviettes as I waved them at her chest, right before I felt pain in my ear.

Next, I realised that the ground had swept out from under me, and my skull felt like it was getting crushed under a boot. I realised then that it was, in fact, about to be, and somehow it went off, and I groaned as I struggled to a sitting position.

The Americans were staring at us, clearly watching a furious Jet being hauled off of me by Hazuki and swearing a blue streak. There were a lot of f-words and c-words, and some more creative uses of hitherto unforeseen Australian that I dared not transcript lest the censors have a field day. Suffice it to say that MacKinnon had a creative vocabulary and no shyness about using it.

Hazuki decked him one, and I felt a rush of hot air before I realised that she had heated her punch. Jet groaned, doubling over to meet Hazuki's knee in his middle before she slapped both his ears, sending his head away from her.

"There is nothing between us, Jet!" Hazuki was screaming at him. "For one thing, I already have a boyfriend! For another, he's gay! And attached! You didn't need to _assault_ him!"

She stalked out, flinging an extra hundred at the stunned counter-manager, as Jet awkwardly stared from her retreating back to me, and then offered an arm. "Erm... sorry?"

"Did something happen?" Rafael asked me on the road.

We were currently on a drive from Houston to New Orleans, and so far it was tense. Somewhere the boys had dug up a truck, but Sergeant O'Brien was occupied in Dallas, leaving his boys to escort us instead in a Hummer H2.

"No."

"Then why...?" Rafael made a wave meant to encapsulate the general sense of wrong silence in the air between either end of the glorified truck. Where Hazuki and Jet were hanging.

"I wouldn't know," I chose to answer, pressing the ice-bag to my head.

"They're scary," Uzuki muttered. "Did something happen between Nee-chan and Jet?"

"It's complicated." I elected to answer.

"She's our manager?" Madas hissed. "She's... Himemiya-san is alright, right?"

"It's teenage drama," Orion waved. "They need to cool off a bit before we stick them in a room together to face off their differences."

"We might just die from it!" Uzuki hissed. "No."

"It's their problem, right?" Madas asked. "I mean, it's not our problem. And I don't really feel like wading between two Psychic Duelists right now, pardon me."

"Neither of us want to," Orion huffed.

From the shotgun, Archie gave our huddle a flat look. "What are you doing?"

"Planning," Uzuki gaily shot back and then ignored him as she considered us. "The Hummer is large enough for a Duel, right?"

"A Duel got us into this situation in the first place!" Madas hissed.

"It's a good idea," I nodded. "Not an official one, but a table-top Duel. Orion and Madas, you guys need to review strategies, and this way you can distract Hazuki. Uzuki and I will tackle Jet. Okay?"

They nodded, and so Madas cheerfully announced a practice Duel with Orion, and then Uzuki dragged Hazuki over in discussions of strategy and general advice while I plopped down next to a daydreaming Jet.

His eyes focused on me for a moment, before he glanced towards Hazuki and looked away. "I'm sorry, you know. I really am."

"Yeah, all is forgiven and that crap," I sighed. "Mind talking... I'd like to know what I got thrown down for, really."

Jet paused, as Madas yelled the first move.

"Duel!"

Madas: LP 8000

Orion: LP 8000

"I special summon Photon Thrasher [2100/0] from my hand!" Madas called. "Now I'll summon Photon Delta Wing [1800/900]! I construct the overlay network with these two monsters, Exceed summon! Come, Starliege Paladynamo [2000/1000]! Then I'll set two cards and end my turn."

I snorted.

"What's wrong?" Jet asked.

"Madas's move," I explained. "He's drained his starting hand by four cards for field presence, whereas his opponent hasn't even made a move."

"My move," I heard Orion's voice, clear and yet soft, as if sound itself would have echoed for him regardless of the effort needed to speak the words. "I play Swords of Blazing Light. Now as long as I summon no monster or you have less than five cards in your hand, no monster of yours can declare attack. With that, I'll play Magical Mallet to shuffle four cards from my hand back to my deck and draw four cards. Okay, done. Activate One Day of Peace, both players draw one card and neither takes battle damage until next turn. Turn end."

Orion... it was at times like this that you really remember that Orion was also related to the Madame by blood, and through her to the legendary bloodline of witches that was never proven.

"... dammit."

"I taught Setsuka. I'm not that easy to beat."

"But there's only one card defending him," Jet whispered.

"Two," I answered. "One Day of Peace."

"Draw!" Madas yelled. "I'll activate the Spell, Photon Trade, discarding a Photon monster to draw two cards. Turn end."

"Smart," I muttered. "If he tried anything now, he won't increase his hand size and it'll be a waste because of One Day of Peace. But next turn, when he draws, Madas would have five cards in hand, negating the effect of Swords of Blazing Light. Then he can pull out crazy stunts and win."

"Assuming that Orion Hunter is playing what I think he's playing," Jet corrected. "And that Orion doesn't finish long before that."

"You can recognise it?" I asked.

"Exodia is one of the first rules they teach," Jet snorted. "South Academia's a lot of things, but ineffective ain't one of them."

I nodded. "True, that. You're working down under, right? Under Jimmy Cook?"

"Stupid idiot," Jet muttered. "Fool in love, he is. We all are."

I watched him. "I see. A fool in love."

"Draw," Orion was psyching Madas out, his face serene and calm, barely hurried. "Spell card, Upstart Goblin. I draw a card, you gain one thousand life points."

Madas: LP 8000 → LP 9000

Orion: LP 8000

"The advantage of an Exodia Duelist lies against battle-hardened Duelists," Hazuki explained. "Because Exodia decks do not traditionally rely on inflicting damage but rather exploiting their win condition, therefore Exodia decks become a mix of search and stall."

"Why didn't Central ever teach that?!" Madas hissed, wrinkling his nose.

"None of the Duel Academias teach it," Hazuki primly answered. "S- Shimotsuki-san told me."

"She did, didn't she." Orion said. It was flat, and contained a measure of barely spoken horror. "Draw. I set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" Madas whooped. "I got five cards in hand, bye bye, Swords of Blazing Light! Now, I'll activate the Field Spell, Photon Pressure World."

"Switch in tactics," Hazuki provided commentary.

"I'll summon Photon Crusher [2000/0], and the effect of Photon Pressure World activates," Madas continued. "When a Photon monster is summoned, all players that do not control a Photon monster will take damage equal to the level of the monster times one hundred."

Orion: LP 8000 → LP 7600

Madas: LP 8000

"Next, I'll tribute Starliege Paladynamo and Photon Crusher to special summon my ace monster, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon [3000/2500]!" Madas cheered.

Orion: LP 7600 → LP 6800

Madas: LP 8000

"Shifting gears from battle to burn damage, impressive," I muttered.

"Galaxy-Eyes, direct attack!"

"Trap card, Defence Draw."

"Aww, man!" Madas scowled. "Turn end."

"It's not fair," Jet observed.

"Who'd you think would win?" I asked.

"Between the two of them? Orion Hunter. It's the more obvious choice. But Galaxy-Eyes? I heard it could rival the Blue-Eyes White Dragons."

"Turn end," Madas called.

"Draw," Orion considered his hand. "Ah. Swords of Revealing Light. Turn end."

"... _Dammit_! Duel me seriously!"

"This is also an acceptable method of Dueling," Hazuki answered. "There are other Duelists who utilise different methods other than battle. Burn damage, deck destruction, alternate-win conditions are all strategies permitted by the other."

"Draw!" Madas called. "Turn end."

"But it looks like its master is also impatient," Jet observed. "A bit like Hazuki."

"Really?"

"Draw," Orion still looked vaguely amused. "I'll summon Royal Magical Library [0/2000], and activate Wonder Wand, gaining one Spell Counter on it on top of five hundred attack power [0/2000 → 500/2000]. Now, I'll pull out the Spell, Broken Bamboo Sword, and equip it to Royal Magical Library. That's another Spell Counter. I activate Golden Bamboo Sword, so I draw two cards. Third Spell Counter. I use the effect of Library, remove all three Counters to draw a card. Then I tribute Royal Magical Library to use the effect of Wonder Wand, and draw two more cards."

"Seven," I counted.

"I set a card. Turn end."

"See?" Jet chuckled, almost to himself. "Hazuki would look like that, so pissed off. So angry, frustrated... worried. Drove nearly everyone half-mad with her antics then. Now... now I don't know. She won't let me back into her life."

"Draw!" Madas called. "I won't lose. I won't. I activate Photon Sanctuary to special summon two Photon Tokens [2000/0] to the field. Then I tribute both to summon Photon Caesar [2000/2800]. When Caesar is summoned, it summons another Caesar from my hand or deck. I've been waiting to test this new monster for a long time!"

New monster? I perked up.

"Oh?" Jet sounded interested.

"I construct the overlay network with these three level eight monsters!" Madas called. "Exceed summon! Come-"

"Oi!" Uzuki's sharp cry interrupted the Duel. "You're supposed to make a summon chant!"

"Are you... insane?" Madas scoffed.

"But, that's the appeal of Synchro and Exceed!" Uzuki sputtered. "Speaking the words, giving them form, that's- ah!"

It wasn't deliberate; one moment all was well, the next moment somehow we had been tossed. Hazuki cried out as she stumbled and fell, and Jet groaned as he clung onto the side he was on. I clung onto the other, feeling like I was being tossed about a frying pan.

Rafael was shouting; his words were only temporarily indistinct, and I had no idea what was more comforting, the ignorance or the knowledge of-

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Indeed, a sharp veer left, and Orion shouted as what looked like a spark arced towards and through the windows, and Jet and I let go of the metal sides to cling to slipping upholstery.

"No!" Hazuki lashed out as Madas tried for the door. "Metal conducts electricity!"

Uzuki raised a card, and said something. The door was blown out in a flash.

Rafael made our ride skid, and right there, as it stopped, we scrambled out in some manner resembling order to get out of the electrified vehicle.

"What the fuck?" Archie swore the moment Rafael and he got out.

From above, the sight of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is magnificent. Let it not go unsaid that Duel Monsters' legends didn't have power of their own. Even without the history behind it, its sleek power and silver-white skin would have already shown its sleek, deadly appeal, not to mention the rage in crystal-blue eyes and sparks crackling where it hovered.

She dropped from its back, landing on her feet. She was wearing a simple sun-dress of white, with cornflower blue stripes. Her shoes, also white and blue, matched her long white locks and clear blue eyes. She was elegant, graceful, almost ethereal, and her beauty was as great as her power. I would know. Kaiba Kisara was not the type to be pushed over.

Summer's champion held the power of Summer with her, glowing like the suns of a thousand Julys.

Overhead, a swarm of rustling wings was heard, and I saw the swarm of multi-coloured butterflies descend. A cloud formed, and from it Vanessa landed lightly on her booted feet. She wore a green bodice shirt that left her sleeveless and her shoulders exposed, and jeans shorts held up with a belt. Two daggers were stuck into her belt loops.

A crash, and I turned with the rest of them as I beheld the truck being smashed. I was wrong. It was being cleaved apart, the macabre joker wielding the scythe relentless in its assault to take apart our ride. Its master just stood there, grinning at us with beady eyes hidden behind blond bangs. His thumbs tucked into his belt loops, he grinned at us in a button-down shirt, jeans liberally smeared with oil, and cowboy boots complete with spurs. Leo Sterling really didn't know when to quit.

Of course, the last member was a bit of a surprise. She descended in a cloud of bio-terrorism perfume on her staff. Dusting her pink dress casually, Marguerite ignored all of us as she checked her boots, ruffled her collar and fixed her staff to her satisfaction before beaming at all of us.

"Isolation and murder," Archie hissed, backing slightly.

"Look, one of them has a brain," Leo Sterling sneered behind us.

"Oh, shush, Leo," Vanessa scowled at her fraternal twin. "Marguerite?"

Marguerite shook her head. The heat didn't seem to affect her all that much. "No. It is not I who must kill him now. Well, Lady of the Blue-Eyes?"

"I know already." Kisara glared at her, and I was surprised to see the sheer venom directed by her towards the Duel Spirit. "As champion of Summer, I am required to halt the machinations of Winter. That includes killing the one she named as Emissary."

"You brought all three of you guys, plus Marguerite, for little old me?" I scoffed, even though my heart was in my mouth. "Kinda overkill, isn't it?"

"You survived a war between Duel Spirits," Kisara replied. "And you nearly always had Misawa Nowaki around you."

I scowled at her use of Youkai's real name. "He's not here."

"With three Psychics, two soldiers and the holder of the Galaxy-Eyes, on top of potential allies, not to mention having already been offered the mantle of champion twice," Kisara explained. "Should you defect to Winter, Winter shall gain an incredibly dangerous power."

"I'm not with Winter. And I'm trying to find a rogue agent for you guys anyway, or did you miss that?"

"Rogue agents are manifold," Kisara answered. "Those who go rogue are usually isolated, to be picked off at leisure by Winter or the enemies of Summer. The danger of your situation is such that the Lady of Summer has been sent to confirm your demise."

By the way she was shooting dirty looks at Marguerite, I had no doubt as to whom she was referring to.

"Kisara, please don't," I whispered. "I'm your friend."

Kisara's brow crinkled, and she looked morose as she glanced meaningfully towards Marguerite.

Marguerite was smiling, toothy and anticipatory. "Hurry, child. The other side of I approaches with each footstep of time."

The other side?

"Oh, I'd prefer to feed him to my garden," Marguerite licked her lips. "Did you see what I did to Vergil?"

Leo flinched, though his face remained impassive.

"Valentine didn't deserve you," Vanessa murmured, her face saddened. "Neither did Ichimonji. It was a mercy."

"It doesn't change that I didn't kill him. Your brother did," Marguerite answered lightly, smiling. "Well, Lady of Blue-Eyes? Will you strike now? Or shall you wait?"

"I know why you chose here," Kisara whispered.

"_Comment_?"

"You didn't want to go near Orleans," Kisara spoke loudly. "Neither did you want to approach the British Isles."

Marguerite's eyes narrowed.

"There's something in New Orleans, right?" Kisara commented. "Something you're terrified of. Something you don't want to approach. That's why you arranged the storm, the ambush."

"Nonsense, it's merely convenient," Marguerite simpered.

"I don't think so," Kisara answered.

"Why wouldn't you? I do not lie."

"You're not exactly lying. It's also not the only reason," Kisara raised her chin. "I sent a messenger to New Orleans. I suppose she's on her way here."

Marguerite's vacant eyes turned flinty sharp. "What did you-" She stopped, looking towards the east before turning her back. As she did, I heard the sound of horses' hooves and a neigh.

"No."

"Yes," Kisara gave a small smile.

In a storm of petals, the horse stepped down, pure white coat gleaming against brass buckles and filigree patterns in the leather. Its rider dismounted, swinging one shapely armoured thigh down and then kicking off to land neatly on both feet.

"Whoa," Madas was the first one to react.

She wore pink, a baby pink armour that contrasted with the silver under-armour at the joints. Pink petals flared out behind her head, and her cloak was a deep burgundy behind her. Silver plates covered the bottom half of her face, her forearms, her chest, her thighs, shins and feet. A sword hung from her hip, its guard a wide shield against her leg. Despite its length, she was perfectly comfortable standing there in full armour.

Marguerite's lips had thinned. Her eyes wide and angry, and her grip on her staff tight.

"_Margot_," she hissed.

Margot, the Chevalier de Fleur, looked back in answer. "It is I, Marguerite. Sister dearest."

"You are no sister of mine. You know it as well as I do."

"Neither are you a sister of mine, and yet it seemed only polite. We are as close as sisters. Perhaps closer."

"Still bearing the standard of the _fleur de lis_?" Marguerite sneered.

"Always."

"Who are you?" I asked.

The Chevalier de Fleur turned her head to regard us with glowing eyes. One gauntleted hand swept to her sword. "I have many names, but you mortals call me Margot, Chevalier de Fleur. I am titled _Chevalier de la Fleur Brave_, bearer of the standard of Winter, guardian of Orleans. Enemy of the Sorciere de Fleur."

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	76. LXXIII: Southern Cross

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXXIII: Southern Cross**

I landed on my feet.

"Ow!" Tsugare-san landed, falling onto the hard floor. "This is...?"

The room was wood-panelled, I saw. It was barely furnished, but seemed solid enough. Peeling paint covered a wallpaper, the remnants of truly horrendous upkeep all around. At the far end of the room was a desk, and at it sat two people; a man and a woman, opposite sides of the desk.

The man was balding, tired and old, his dark hair thinning, and his glasses perched on a snub nose.

The woman was certainly more outstanding. She wore a pure white halter top, and dress pants along with moccasins on her feet. Her dark hair was a cascade down her back and around her shoulders, and on her left arm was a folded DuelDisk.

"... unusual genetic code..." the man was explaining.

"Is it?" I heard the familiar drawl from her.

My heart thudded in my chest. Behind me, I thought I could hear Tsugare-san bite off a curse. "No..."

"Shiwasu, you can see for yourself," the Madame continued, idly playing with a lock of her dark hair. The same long hair Setsu-chan nearly always kept tied up in some fashion... "This girl is the proof of your research. This girl is the missing link you were always looking for. Fox-blooded, changeling, half-blooded, it does not change. This is your proof."

"They're not real, Diana. They... they can't be."

"Setsuka exhibits such traces. Even Ryuusei's genome had them." the Madame dismissed. "Both of them were human, normal. So how do you account for this? Conclusion: spirits are real, and physically capable of copulation with human beings. Hence the existence of the child."

"But... this... this discovery will change everything." Papa sputtered.

"Think how many more there are. Hidden, unknown, amongst the seven billion people on the globe. Think how many there must be. Monsters and gods alike, Shiwasu. This is proof, proof needed to complete the veil."

So I looked upon my father, and his face upon the Madame's revelation was... stunned. Shocked. Disgusted.

"You helped me find the research for the circle," Madame replied. "And I gave you proof of the validity of your hypothesis. Half of this child which bears a genome not of this world. You know what I want to do."

"You want to reveal the existence of monsters," Papa breathed. "You want to curse this child, your daughter, and your apprentice to death."

"They shall be lauded as gods."

"No, they won't. Salem witch trials. Inquisition. Never mind persecution of witchcraft. This makes no sense!"

"It makes every sense."

"No, it doesn't." Papa shook his head, agitated. He was bespectacled, I noticed. Age-worn. Yet he still looked warm, despite his harried expression. "A revolution. A revolution for armaments, personnel... institutions. You want to use this to further the Arcadia Movement."

"It makes sense. Psychic Duelists are humans too. Humans with power are the only ones who are on hand to counter such a threat-"

"Diana, stop. What you're proposing is to manufacture a villain for your Movement to play hero to."

"One single event to turn the tables on history, Shiwasu. You've seen Misawa-kun. You've seen Psychics abused and terrified and ostracised. This is a chance! The Heaven Movement must have known it, they kept the child to bleed her out. Her blood contains the secret to tearing the veils apart."

"How do you know?"

"Because the records said so. O negative, the ultimate donor. They tested it, and they found that intravenous injection of her blood would induce temporary Sight."

"Bloody hell, they bled a pint out of the girl for shooting up?! She's only three!"

"Two and a half, birthday in October first actually. Either way, Shiwasu, you publish this, and we can go global. It'll all work out."

A pause, the silence hanging in the air. And then Papa stood up.

"This are the only results?"

"I can always get a copy again, if you want. There's the electronic copy."

"I'll need that."

She slid the USB drive over. "Shiwasu? What are you-"

Madame didn't finish; Papa had broken the drive and torn the results apart like so much confetti, before taking a lighter to burn the pieces left. It didn't quite take, but he was persistent, and soon the paper was so much ash in the waste-paper basket.

"I'm going to take her far, far away from you," Papa hissed, clearly angry. "She'll be named Seika Kannazuki, like the daughter I wanted. I'll invent a woman out of thin air if I have to keep her safe. But in no future after this, Diana, will I ever allow you to will a child to her death after what happened to her."

"You..." the Madame seemed stunned, almost childlike in her bewilderment. "Why? She means nothing to you or I, or the plan."

"She means everything now," Papa spat, and then, turning on one heel, he left.

The scene changed; the dream opened with Papa and what looked like a young Kaido conversing. I saw my past self smiling at Papa, occupied with coloured papers he bought for me.

Madame walked in; they exchanged barbs.

Madame left, with the oddest smile I had ever seen. In her hand was a diagram of three intersecting circles. Papa was left with the saddest expression I had ever seen.

I saw him take a sip of water, and continue working. I was tucked into bed, and I fell asleep. Papa continued working, late into the night He rested his head on the papers, and then abruptly, he sat up.

"That... bitch," he hissed, his face going abruptly pale as he tore apart the papers. "Seika... you're not going to her. Not now, not ever."

He had barely moved a few steps, but then he collapsed back onto his desk, the look of shock on his face plain as day.

Morning came, and the housekeeper came in and screamed as she saw the dead body of my father. I had never seen his corpse before; now I was unsure if I ever wanted to.

"Oh god," Tsugare-san hissed. "The Madame killed him."

"We can't come to that conclusion."

"It's plain as day. She killed him," Tsugare-san echoed with the utmost certainty.

I had no idea how to answer to that.

Again, the dark-panelled floor melted away, replaced with the grand halls of the Shimotsuki manor. There was a heater nearby; the manor itself was heated, save in one room.

"_Gwenda Reed stood, shivering a little, on the quay-side. The docks and the custom sheds and all of England that she could see, were gently waving up and down. And it was in that moment that she made her decision – the decision that was to lead to such very momentous events._

"She wouldn't go by the boat train to London as she had planned.

"After all, why should she? No one was waiting for her, nobody expected her. She had only just got off that heaving creaking boat (it had been an exceptionally rough three days through the Bay and up to Plymouth) and the last thing she wanted was to get into a heaving swaying train. She would go to a hotel, a nice firm steady hotel standing on good solid ground. And she would get into a nice steady bed that didn't creak and roll. And she would go to sleep, and the next morning—why, of course—what a splendid idea! She would hire a car and she would drive slowly and without hurrying herself all through the South of England looking about for a house—a nice house—the house that she and Giles had planned she should find.

"_Yes, that was a splendid idea._"

"That story..." Tsugare-san's mouth twisted. "What is it?"

"_Sleeping Murder_," I answered, my brow furrowing. "Agatha Christie. But... it's in English."

We walked in. That young, never vulnerable Setsu-chan was there, curled up in a duvet. Beside her was Rafael-jiisan, holding onto the titled book. I saw myself there, my younger self desperately trying not to show my fear.

"C- Could I listen?" I heard myself say. "I- I won't be a bother..."

"Of course," Rafael-jiisan warmly smiled. "Setsuka?"

If Setsu-chan looked displeased, the frosty smile she gave him did not show it. "I don't think she could sit through this book."

"Okay," Rafael-jiisan nodded, closing it. "What book d'you think I should read, then?"

"_Grimm's Fairy Tales_."

Rafael-jiisan paused. "Setsuka, the only copy of that book... it really isn't meant for children. How about-"

"No," Setsu-chan insisted. "Grimm's Fairy Tales. They're traditional, aren't they?"

"How about the Disney ones?"

"Mama doesn't care for the Disney ones. We don't have them."

"Setsuka, _ma petite_, we have to consider your sister as well-"

"I am considering her," Setsu-chan pointed out. "Or should we just plough through the story that was originally meant for adults instead and leave Seika confused? These stories, she can comprehend them."

It was around fourteen that I read Disney stories, and at that time I had been wondering how much cleaner it was, compared to the macabre tales of pseudo-horror that had haunted the rest of my childhood. Watching my younger self curl at the foot of the bed, Setsu-chan still and unmoving, and Rafael-jiisan reading out loud of the fate of Rapunzel and her twins, or the horribly gory deaths of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, or the trials of the Brother and Sister, or the story of Briar Rose was... saddening. Terrifying. Haunting.

My younger self hid under the blankets as the door opened. "Master. Missy. Have you seen Seika-ojou?" I saw Nakamura-san speaking. "Madame has summoned her."

Rafael-jiisan looked away. "No, I haven't."

Setsu-chan was looking at the heap of blankets, which seemed to be shivering.

"Missy?" Nakamura-san prompted. He, too, was staring at the piles of bedclothes.

"I do not see her," was Setsu-chan's reply.

Nakamura-san nodded, and left. The door closed after him with a certain finality.

"That was good of you," Rafael-jiisan praised.

"I did not wish for the story to end. Continue reading."

"Ah, _ma petite_," Rafael-jiisan murmured. I saw his hand reach out, patting her head. "One day your _Maman_ will see sense. Then our family will be together."

Setsu-chan kept staring at him, at the way Rafael-jiisan was lying to her. Her expression did not change at her bald reply: "I would not forgive her anyway."

Rafael-jiisan nodded, but his face was sad. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be."

"But I do," Rafael-jiisan whispered. "Seika?"

Setsu-chan patted the lump. "She's asleep. Come back in the morning."

Rafael-jiisan fixed a stern look onto her, but nodded. "Good night, Setsuka. Seika."

"_Bonne nuit_, Papa."

The door closed, and my younger self crawled out into half-darkness.. "Are they gone?"

"A _stupid_ question."

I cringed, and so had my younger self. "I- I'm sorry, Setsu-chan. But... I can't go through another story. They sound scary. I- I don't want to go back to my room."

"Why not?"

"I-" And here I had cringed. "I think there are monsters under my bed."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said. I remembered relaxing slightly, but then she blithely continued, "monsters exist in the darkness. Everywhere in the darkness. You can't run or hide from them, you can only just hide and hope they don't eat you."

"I- I don't want to be eaten!"

"Then listen to the stories. These stories are told for more than just to sleep to. These stories can be true, one way or another. That is why you have to listen."

"I- I see. So... Setsu-chan was protecting me? From... from which monster?"

"Not a monster," Setsu-chan had replied. "From the witch. From the witch who dresses entirely in white like a burial shroud, and who's just waiting to _eat_ you."

"W- Witch?" my younger self and I echoed.

"Yes," Setsu-chan had agreed, smiling serenely. "From Mama. Mama who took you in, who is feeding you up and making you learn, so that she can eat. You. Up."

"That's... that's just mean," Tsugare-san commented as the younger me began to crying.

"I came in, Madame kept paying attention to me, and I might just have taken her mother away. She was justified." I saw myself crying, that time during the first of many story sessions, and then the scene melted away. We were in the expanse of the entrance hall, and there I saw the Madame and a blonde women confront each other.

"Sophia's youngest!" the blonde woman was screaming. "You took her away! You drove her to forget!"

"I don't need to answer to you!" Madame countered, conjuring a volley of fire. "Your son suffered from the same affliction you're being plagued with. I can offer him freedom. Our aims are one and the same, Ms Mackenzie."

"You want to kill all spirits!" the blonde woman countered. "I want to unite us both! What's wrong with that?!"

"To unite a species that thinks humans the lowest of scum, with the species of humans who believe spirits do not exist is the highest illogic," Madame countered. "Spirits and humans do not coexist. Have not coexisted in a time. And history has proven that such coexistence inevitably led to the downfall of great civilisations, as humans are made pawns and toys of great powers. Reason, and freedom from such thoughts, is the only true way."

"You want spirits to enslave the human race," Madame shrugged. "I don't want that. I don't want anything but the best for the Arcadia Movement. If I can kill Ruin, then so much the better. But the key to your plan is in my hands, Regina Mackenzie-"

Madame cut off, crying out as one blast impacted on her shoulder, enabling the Splendid Venus to hover, staff raised-

"Madame!" I cried, with my younger self.

-Madame Shimotsuki's eyes were wide, as she was struck down.

I screamed, both younger and present selves of me.

"Madame!" Tsugare-san shouted, despite himself. No one paid attention to him anyway; we were mere ghosts of the present compared to this world of the past, the real horrors that followed as Setsu-chan came, Rafael-jiisan died, and the manor caught on fire.

Like wisps of smoke, the burning manor faded, and I saw Setsu-chan leaving me with the Fudo family. My younger self was crying; sadly, she clung onto Setsu-chan's arm.

"Setsu-chan, did I do something wrong?" I kept crying. "I don't want to leave. Setsu-chan..."

I saw Nii-chan, much younger but already growing up, place an arm around my smaller form and direct a glare at her. "Why? Seika needs you! Seika's your sister!"

Setsu-chan kept staring at the two of us, her mouth compressed in a thin line. "A Kannazuki has no place in the house of Shimotsuki."

"This isn't about names!" Nii-chan defended. "This is Seika! Didn't you risk everything for her? Didn't you think of her as your sister?! What kind of big sister are you?!"

"Plus," Setsu-chan continued. "I cannot provide what she would require in family, comfort, or emotional well-being. To that end, Professor Fudo has agreed to take her in, the daughter of your former colleague. You shall make a better brother than any sister I could be. Goodbye, Seika."

"N- No!" I clung onto Setsu-chan. "Setsu-chan, Nee-sama! Nee-sama!"

She slapped me.

I remember it... I didn't want to live during that time. But Nii-chan... Nii-chan, and later the rest of the Arcadia Movement, gave me that reason.

My younger self cradled her bruised cheek.

"Shimotsuki!" Nii-chan bristled in shock. "Why you- Seika, are you alright?!"

"Nee-... O Nee..." the dark-haired girl in front of me whimpered.

"Who's your big sister?" Setsu-chan turned her back on me, her plait wavering. "I have no other family. I have no sibling. I have no sister. With that, Kannazuki Seika, we bid each other farewell."

As Setsu-chan walked away, my younger self began crying... crying over the loneliness and pain of being alone and abandoned.

"Shh..." Nii-chan held me close. "You'll be alright, Seika. You'll be alright."

"But... Nee-sama... Setsu-chan doesn't want me... no one wants me... no one cares. No one cares..."

"I care," Nii-chan desperately answered. "I care, you see? I care... that's why, Seika... please don't cry."

* * *

"Well, this is a turn-up, ain't it?" Leo snickered from the sidelines at Margot's simple announcement.

Vanessa seemed worried. Kisara was unhurried. The only one of the Summer assassins who was concerned was Marguerite, and obviously none of the Summer agents were too worried about her. I'd wager that none of them would even cry for her.

"Now!" Jet yelled.

Hazuki raised a hand, causing a wall of ivy-covered stone to rise from the ground. Jet lashed out at Leo, causing the taller blond to fly back and off with his Gimmick Puppet. A giant airplane appeared in the middle of the arid roadside.

"Right," Orion nodded in comprehension, grabbing Madas and Uzuki to herd towards the Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack. Archie and Rafael followed immediately, Archie cradling what looked like a Remington in both hands, pointed down as he followed them on a tactical retreat. I ran behind, making sure that all the documents we brought were still in my duster pockets. Documents were more of a paiin than clothes to replace.

"So damn glad I was told to bring a carry-on," Madas wheezed once Uzuki, Orion, Archie, Rafael, him and I were in the relatively large airplane. "Do we hide?"

Hazuki's footsteps echoed, and Jet wheezed as he dragged the red-haired Duelist by the arm into the cabin. It was fairly roomy inside, if you could get over that it was, more or less, a giant hologram. The metaphorical ground vibrated, once, twice, and rumbled constantly.

Sweat dripped down his neck as Jet swallowed. "I can't transport this many people by myself, so I'm going to need help."

"I can muster the most focus, I'll take the direction," Orion volunteered. "Titania, your skill at structural maintenance is top-class, work with Hurricane. Kraehe, defend the plane. Princeton, get out of the plane and call the Orleans people."

"How?" Uzuki stared, wide-eyed.

"What?" I sputtered.

We ducked as all the windows shattered. Sparks arced from them, and I saw flashes of white and blue alongside the body of the giant holographic airplane we were in.

"Make like car chase," Orion diplomatically replied as he sat, cross-legged. Watching how calm he was, it was eerily like Shimotsuki. "Hurricane, the card. People, if you would please contribute to maintain our state of living, thank you very much."

Jet slapped the black-bordered card down, meeting Hazuki in the eyes. She glowered, but set her hand upon it as well. Uzuki screamed as gouts of fire met sparks of electricity.

"They can do that?" Madas yelled.

"I'm as surprised as you are," I answered, edging to look out of broken windows. The Dracossack rumbled, a mechanical whine of turbines and being taxied along a dusty road.

Margot was back on horseback, her sword unleashed as she used it to unleash volley after volley of visible cuts. Marguerite, floating in the air, dodged most of them, though I could tell that aerial battle was not her forte. A thump, and I saw one of Vanessa's knives come. I ducked back in, just in time to see one of the neat daggers land where my eye would have been.

Its owner withdrew her hand. "Leo!"

A groan, and the airplane shuddered, fatigue setting in as part of it seemed to tear. "Hold up, Nessie! Just poison them!"

I had an epiphany as I turned to Madas. "Shit."

"What?" Madas looked about, wild-eyed.

"They're going to unleash a swarm of poisonous butterflies on us," I answered. "Vanessa can control poisonous insects, that's her ability."

"We're screwed," he moaned, sinking to the ground.

"Not yet," I shook my head. "I need to call for help, and apparently I can't do it inside the plane. If we can get a monster out to defend the Dracossack in time, we'll make it. We'll all make it."

"How?!" Madas nearly yelled. "We're being chased after by three mad people, one of which can control dragons, I might add, and a psychotic sadist bitch with sister issues fighting with a knight in bloody shining armour and a white horse! This is insane!"

"Sanity is overrated," I sighed. "But, Galaxy-Eyes. Contractors can make their contracted spirits solid."

Madas stared at me. "And you?"

"I don't have a contract," I shook my head. "And I'm holding a phone with satellite access. That's why Hunter placed me to make the call."

_You do, _Rei's voice rumbled. _You merely choose not to._

"Anyway, you're going to have to go up there, and challenge Kisara," I explained, ignoring him.

"Are you insane? I'll be killed!"

"No," I shook my head. "She can't kill you. I'm the target. Since you're not connected to me, and you're just on business, technically you have every right to deal with Summer for ruining your trip on this. I can't go, I'm the target. If you go, we might have a chance or you guys might go down with me. Oh, and I'll die."

Madas stared at me. "It's a bit scary how you can consider imminent death par for the course."

"Either way, if you're going to work with me here, and we're going to save everyone," I nodded as I swept aside shards of glass that were already disappeared, forgotten by Jet. "Great power requires great responsibility. What responsibility is higher than being a hero?"

"You're _insane_," Madas looked like he could throw up.

I reached out, and hauled myself halfway through the porthole window. Fingers scrabbling for purchase, I managed to lever myself out to the roof before I had to dodge the knife. It's not as easy as you think; my arms were screaming with the effort, but being twenty and highly motivated to continue living does wonders for what you'd do while desperate. I caught onto the next knife, which fell to narrowly miss my face.

"Leo!" Vanessa screamed as I held grimly onto the wrist I had trapped. Using her as leverage, I got myself to my feet, crouched low as I considered the Sterling and Trent duo. I may have kicked Vanessa as I scrambled up; mother figures in my life or not, I wasn't keen to die.

Madas scrambled up silently behind me, flat on his stomach to consider the tableau before him. Behind him, there was something else – Margot and Marguerite were exchanging barbs and blows, clearly willing to ignore us but also hitting us with where their magic had chipped the surface of the Dracossack.

Madas swallowed, scrambling to crouch. "Oi! I wanna speak to your boss! Kaiba Kisara!"

Kisara hovered on the back of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, whose maw crackled with another Burst Stream of Destruction. She was considering Marguerite's fight more often than us. "What?"

"You just crashed my tournament chances!" Madas yelled. "I want payback!"

Kisara's eyes widened, before they settled on just staring at him. "Why? I hold no debt to you. You were just on the sidelines. Should Chase Princeton die, it shall no longer be your matter."

"I'll decide what's my business, and this is one," Madas scowled. "Don't look down on me!"

"But it does not matter what I think of you," Kisara reasoned, but dropped onto the plane's surface, the Blue-Eyes melting away into thin air. "I have seen your skill. Despite what you may think, you are not the best Duelist of them all."

"I'll show you!" Madas yelled, unlocking his DuelDisk.

"So be it," Kisara eyed him, conjuring her own silver-white DuelDisk.

"Duel!"

Kisara: LP 8000

Madas: LP 8000

"I'll begin, draw!" Madas called. "If I control no other monsters I can special summon this card from my hand. I special summon Photon Slasher!"

A card appears on the field before it was slashed apart. From the pieces appeared a swordsman, large sword already poised to strike [2100/0].

"I'll then normal summon Photon Crusher [2000/0]!" a towering bruiser wielding a two-baton club appeared on the field.

"I construct the overlay network with these two monsters!" Madas called. "Exceed summon! Arise, Starliege Lord Galaxion!"

The warrior that appeared shone with gold light, wielding a blade in each hand as it stood proud [2000/2100].

"I'll then use his effect; by removing two Exceed material I'll special summon my ace monster from my deck!" Madas called as above, what looked like a supernova began to grow. "The galaxy that lurks in the darkness, become the light of hope and my very servant! Let the embodiment of light now descend!"

The galaxy spiralled into a single form before taking shape, revealed to be a shining dragon of the stars. "Grab hold of the stars, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

It bellowed proudly [3000/2500].

"And in exchange you have finished two cards in your hand," Kisara assessed.

"I'll set two cards, turn end," Madas affirmed. "Try and get to me now, then."

"I shall indeed try," Kisara acknowledged. "Draw. I activate the Spell, Dragon's Mausoleum. I shall mill Blue-Eyes White Dragon with the effect of Dragon's Mausoleum. If I had used its effect to mill Dragon's Mausoleum, then I can mill another Dragon-Type monster from my deck to the graveyard. I choose The White Stone of Legend. The effect of The White Stone of Legend allows me to search for a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my deck and add it to my hand. I activate Trade-In, discarding Darkstorm Dragon to draw two cards."

Madas shook his head. "What's the point?"

"Quick-play Spell, Silver's Cry," Kisara called. "With the activation of this card, I can special summon from my graveyard one Dragon-Type normal monster. Appear, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

From the skies it descended, a large, silver-white legend that inspired pure fear in anyone it met [3000/2500]. Madas abruptly paled as it roared, fuller and stronger than anything I could imagine.

"I shall summon Maiden with Eyes of Blue [0/0]," Kisara announced as the white-haired maiden appeared on the field. "With that, I equip her with Raregold Armour. When Maiden with Eyes of Blue is targeted for an attack or card effect, I can special summon from my hand, deck or graveyard a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so come, Blue-Eyes!"

The second Blue-Eyes appeared, far more terrifying than anything else I could imagine [3000/2500].

"Next, I activate the Spell, Ancient Rules, to special summon the third and last Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Kisara's eyes were wide, bluer and fuller and utterly, utterly calm as the third and last Blue-Eyes appeared [3000/2500].

A symphony of all three rang, loud and true [3000/2500 × 3]

Madas looked sick, but then recovered and answered, with false bravado. "What a- about it? So you've filled your field with three... giant beatsticks... and I'm outnumbered. You think you can touch me?"

"I activate the Spell, Delta Attacker," Kisara finished. "When I control three normal monsters with the same name, all of them can declare direct attack on my opponent. Go, Blue-Eyes! Triple Burst Stream of Destruction!"

"Trap card, Nutrient Z!" Madas quickly yelled, as the nutrient solution poured over him the moment all three blasts hit.

Madas: LP 8000 → LP 12000 → LP 3000

Kisara: LP 8000

"It's a reckless move," I muttered. "Too much power."

Kisara panted, resting her weight on one leg as she stared across the field. She was certainly in better condition than Madas, splayed out as he was. "Main phase two. I tune level eight Blue-Eyes White Dragon to level one Maiden. Light, shine brightly! The radiance of destruction shines with azure eyes across the skies. Synchro summon! The shield of the Blue-Eyes, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon!"

With a resounding bellow, the monster appeared, gleaming silver with its scaly body. Its dark blue eyes glimmered, star sapphires against a backdrop of gleaming electrum as the dragon bellowed [2500/3000].

"And, I shall construct the overlay network with the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons," Kisara continued. "The storm of demise arises, the clouds swept apart. Exceed summon! Come, Thunder End Dragon!"

The electric blue monster appeared in a haze of plasma and overwhelming power [3000/2000].

"With that, I shall trigger the effect of Thunder End Dragon," Kisara called. "by detaching one overlay unit, all other monsters shall be destroyed. Thunder End!"

"What?" Madas sputtered. "T- That's- you'll destroy your own monster!"

"Will I?" Kisara shook her head as the storm raged. "You misunderstand. With the special summon of Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon, all Dragon-Type monsters I currently control cannot be targeted by or destroyed by card effects until the end of the next turn. It shall not be destroyed so easily. Galaxy-Eyes, the copy of Blue-Eyes... a requiem begins for you."

Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon howled its outrage and pain, right where it died with Galaxion in a storm of lightning.

"I shall set a card, turn end," Kisara serenely announced.

"That's..." Madas was shaking. "That's impossible. This kind of power... this is impossible..."

"Kaiba Kisara, codename Otohime," I answered the unspoken question. "Class IV Psychic Duelist, and contender for the Queens of Queens when they were still in school."

"I couldn't match up to Satsuki-san," Kisara looked more despondent than anything. "Against Hinamori-san, I failed, and Himemiya-san won by a stroke of luck and field control. Not to mention Shimotsuki-san, who was more powerful and ruthless than any of them. My physical health prevented me from participating as often as I would have liked. But now..."

She threw her shoulders back. "I am healed. And I am a Kaiba. You would buck up now if you wish to continue living."

Madas swallowed, shaking. "Win? Win against this?"

I watched Madas, a boy just entering adulthood and still trying not to cry once all the rose-coloured glasses had been shattered. It was clear that whatever DA Central taught on Academy Island, it hadn't covered walking head-on into danger. Despite legends of Yuuki Judai's charmed school life, not all students had everything equal. "Madas, snap out of it."

"Snap out? Snap out!?" Madas's laugh was hysterical. "I don't want to die!"

"Oh, come on," I changed strategies. "Is this how a hero should act?"

"I'm not a hero," Madas insisted.

"You haven't chosen to be one," I answered. "Some rise by sin. Some by virtue fall. Right now, you're falling, so you can fall, you can die, or you can choose to fly. Madas Elvin... Heroes aren't made or decided by fate, or something. Everyone gets the call to adventure. But what makes a real hero? It's _choice_. It's having power, and resolving to be better, stronger, reach higher despite the obligations of power. Freedom has its merits, but power from responsibility is also power. This is your power, your choice."

"Don't listen," Kisara whispered, countering my argument too fast to be anything but real panic. "He is lying. Nothing but an ignoble death awaits you should you resist us."

I opened my mouth, but then I spotted something making for me and I dived. The slipstream caught on my coat, and I scrabbled for purchase at the same time as the scythe landed where I would have been standing.

"Ah, I missed," Leo Sterling grumbled, his Gimmick Puppet cackling as it raised its scythe arm. "Nessie, you get his neck, I'll deal with him."

Vanessa's hand appeared next to me, a dagger raised. I looked up, to meet her eye to eye. "You don't have to do this."

"I do."

"What about West?"

Vanessa's mouth remained a thin line. "I cannot afford for Ryuusei to notice him. I will do anything for two people in this world. Do you understand?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "I do. And... I'm sorry."

Vanessa's eyes widened as I shouted: "Now!"

Vanessa screamed, her body knocked off course as the bullet clipped her side. She spun with the momentum, hair fluttering out behind her head like some enormous butterfly as I dived and scrabbled away from the twins.

"West Academia," Archie panted, still in the shooting pose where he was aiming at Leo. "You're under arrest."

Leo snarled, charging forward. Archie rolled, coming up with the gun and shooting again with the lack of hesitation that came with fear. The bullet pinged, I think, but then I saw Leo fling something to the ground as he jumped and caught onto Archie. Or at least, he would have if a ballet shoe hadn't slapped him in the face.

"Made it," Uzuki panted, left arm wrapped around the window. "Hey, ugly! _Ookazi_!"

The giant fireball caught on, and Leo gasped as he was thrown off Archie and onto the roof. Archie threw something, and I saw the high arc of the cuff as it landed and latched onto Leo's hand. Leo stared down before attempting to tug the cuff off.

"I'll fight!" Madas yelled, and I turned to look at him. In blue and white, he looked messed up, sharp and contrasting of Kisara's pearlescent impression. Part of his arm kept twitching, as if he had lost muscle control, and he stared at Kisara with no small amount of terrified defiance. "I won't give up! I'll tell you now, even if you hit me with lightning, I'll stand and fight! This deck, and Galaxy-Eyes, won't let me down!"

"Bravery means nothing without ability," Kisara calmly countered. "I have ended, it is your turn."

"Please... don't let me down. I draw!" Madas called, his voice broken with the desperation of the truly fearful. "I activate the Spell, Galaxy Zero! Revive, Photon Slasher!"

Slasher revived, sword ready.

"Now, since I control a Photon or Galaxy monster, I can normal summon Galaxy Knight [2800/2600] without Tribute," Madas declared as the knight appeared. "When you do this, I can target one Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon in my graveyard and revive him in face-up defence mode if possible, at the cost of Galaxy Knight losing one thousand attack power. Revive, Galaxy-Eyes!"

The dragon appeared by the knight [2800/2600 → 1800/2600] in a shower of sparks, clearly displeased when confronted with the two silver dragons of Kisara.

"Now, I'll play Aurora Draw to draw two cards since it's the only card in my hand," Madas declared. "I activate Upshift, changing Photon Slasher to match the level of Galaxy-Eyes, to become level eight."

"Three level eight monsters..." I muttered. "Rank eight."

"With Photon Slasher, Galaxy-Knight, and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, I construct the overlay network!" Madas called. "Radiant galaxy, here and now become the striking light, and show yourself! Exceed summon!"

With his shout, I felt an impact, and I thought I saw Kisara's head wavering as she tried not to cringe in the face of the black hole- wait, what?

The black hole spiralled overhead, red light pulsing, and I distantly saw a three-headed dragon take form of the red light. It glowed dully; ebony black plates patches of darkness against red-pulsing skin, armoured black claws chips of blade against paws and claws and talons. All three heads, crested with the same blue-black, rose to bellow its rage across the Texan desert [4500/3000].

"This power..." Kisara paused. "This..."

"Descend!" Madas shouted. "_Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon_!"

* * *

_**Please review!**_


	77. LXXIV: Aerial Recharge

_**Call of Darkness**_

* * *

**LXXIV: ****Aerial Recharge**

The memory faded.

We were standing in empty space, with nothing but blackness in sight. Nothing greeted our eyes, merely inky blackness that hid everything.

"I'm not human," I breathed.

It was like a tide of doubts crashing down. I was utterly alone. I knew of no other Changelings. Ryuusuke-san was just as bad at dealing with his own situation, never mind my own. My father had died at the hand of the Madame. Setsu-chan discarded me once the Madame and Rafael-jiisan had died. Orion-san didn't care enough to take me, and neither did Nakamura-san care. Jii-chan and Baa-chan only took me in out of an obligation.

The blackness shuddered, and I could feel it advancing.

"Oi," Tsugare-san hissed at me. "Calm down."

"No one wants me," I whispered. "I'm no good to anyone, they only wanted my blood. Just that I was a Changeling who didn't know anything, who could be _controlled_- I hate it. I don't want it. I just... I just wanted to be loved. I just wanted a family. I was a fool... I was a fool who didn't know her happiness."

"Think rationally," Tsugare-san hissed. "This is your mind. There should be nothing hidden from you. So why is everything _black_?!"

The volume of his words sho0cked me back into the waking world.

True, I knew I wasn't wanted, and frankly... that news shouldn't shock me. So why did it?

_Nii-chan loves me, _something whispered to me.

Yes... Nii-chan loved me. It can't be that everything was a lie. It can't be that the Setsu-chan who kept with me, who protected me, would just abandon me like that. I had ten million yen in the bank; a single payment for everything of my care involved. Setsu-chan hadn't absolved all responsibility... she had just cut off all outside ties. And Nakamura-san... she had left Nakamura-san to me.

The answer was staring me in the face, under a pane of glass into which facet upon facet had been carefully placed to conceal, hide and frighten us into thinking that there had been nothing.

My sobs ceased. My voice gained strength. And I quietly declared: "Are you going to keep hiding secrets from me, Setsu-chan?"

Ice formed, frost crystals gathering in empty space to define a room, a hallway that led straight before and behind us.

"Welcome," the bloodied Setsu-chan whispered as she materialised from the shadows.

"I require access to the memories hidden from me," I answered levelly. "Stand aside."

"This door was never meant to be opened," she answered.

"I don't care," I protested. "Setsu-chan, you've hidden the truth from me, in me, long enough."

"The truth is plain as day," she answered dismissively. "You were never wanted. You were never needed. Even the Arcadia Movement would do as well without you. So what if your blood isn't human? So what if your mother isn't around, your father is dead, and your entire family with it? Are you not a living being? Are you not capable of free will, of feelings, of struggling to live a pathetic life, no matter the _cost_?! Or has all your independence been sapped out of you by self-pity?!"

Even Tsugare-san stepped back from her murderous expression, but I winced.

"If you weren't here... if you weren't here... _my parents would still be alive!_"

Cold power surged, like a train barrelling forth, and I curled as it slammed into me.

"Give me a reason," the chilly, cruel tone of Setsu-chan hissed into my ears, a music so sharp as to nearly pierce my eardrums. "Give me a reason to spare your _miserable_, _pathetic_ life."

"You... are not Setsu-chan," I snarled back.

A long silence passed, before, very quietly, "You lie."

"No," I tiredly answered. "You were never a part of Setsu-chan. You are not Shimotsuki Setsuka, you are not the Winter Queen. You were... you were always the Setsu-chan I yearned for. The big sister I wished for and got... for a time. But, Setsu-chan, the real Setsu-chan, she made you, a part of myself, the big sister I wished for, to guard my memories. As long, as that yearning remained... you remained in power. You stood sentinel over the secrets Setsu-chan and the Madame hid in my mind, once upon a time."

"Stop," the voice was weak, quiet. "You're lying. Stop deluding yourself. Leave."

"The Setsu-chan I wished for would display emotions, would display care and concern and wishes... all of them being emotions I have never seen on Shimotsuki Setsuka," I whispered. "That's why, once you showed your anger, once you blamed me... the illusion shattered. There's no prestige to pull off, because Setsu-chan was never here, no shadow of her was here. Except for you, who took her face... my yearning. Setsu-chan."

A tinkle of glass, breaking and falling over the ice. Setsu-chan, the shadow of myself, the one who held the fragment of Winter's power necessary to perform the deception that had kept my thoughts from me the entire time. The broken-porcelain face and the wide, too wide eyes, stared at me. "No... this..."

"Please stop hiding," I baldly commented. "We already know. You are I. So... please, open the door. I want my memories back. I want my free will back. I want my right to informed consent back. That's why... please. Let myself choose, don't hold me back."

The Setsu-chan that stood there lifted a hand to the crack in her mask, the mask sealing under her touch. "I have no key. For you to access these forbidden memories, for you to recall the heritage hidden within you, you need the key."

"Key?" Tsugare-san echoed. "You mean... the password? You can't mean an actual key?"

I looked at her, her shoulders thrown back and newly serene eyes staring at me. "_Memento mori_."

Without answering, Setsu-chan turned her back, and the road of ice extended, stretched before her in a split second as if it had always been there. Without beckoning, she walked slowly along the road.

"Looks like we follow," I whispered.

A heartbeat later, Tsugare-san's footsteps echoed behind me.

* * *

The latest giant dragon to join the field roared. Madas, its tired master, was halfway about to collapse in his Duel against Kisara. Uzuki and Archie had teamed up against the Sterling-Trent twins, and I was clinging onto the edge of the Dracossack for dear life. Beside the running giant Mecha Phantom Beast we were currently onboard battling through the assassins of Summer, Marguerite and her Winter-allied sister figure Margot – don't ask, I got confused right after Margot introduced herself – were battling in skill of sword and magic.

Kisara: LP 8000, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon [2500/3000], Thunder End Dragon [3000/2000], 1 set card, 1 in hand

Madas: LP 3000, Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon [4500/3000], 1 set card, 1 in hand.

"When Neo Galaxy-Eyes is summoned using Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon as Exceed material, the effects of all other face-up cards on the field become negated," Madas announced. "Photon Howling!"

Neo Galaxy-Eyes screamed, the sonic cascade shattering the electric air and the silvery mist that covered Kisara's field. The Duelist herself screamed: "No!"

"Now, I'll activate the effect of Neo Galaxy-Eyes," Madas called. "By detaching one overlay material, I'll detach all remaining materials from Exceed monsters you control, and Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon gains a permanent boost of five hundred attack power and can attack up to that many times during each battle phase this turn [4500/3000 → 5000/3000]."

I blinked. "What's... the point?"

"Now, I activate Photon Sublimation, banishing Photon Crusher and Photon Slasher to draw two cards." Madas announced, slowly drawing. "I've drawn all the pieces needed! Now, I equip Neo Galaxy-Eyes with Photon Wing. Once per turn, I can choose one Exceed monster, and allow the equipped monster to gain attack power equal to two hundred times its rank by detaching all of the chosen Exceed monster's Exceed material. I have only one, so please, Neo Galaxy-Eyes!"

"What?" Kisara tilted her head as the dragon swallowed its last two material [5000/3000 → 6600/3000]. "I see. You're not trying anything but a direct attack. Photon Wing allows the equipped monster a direct attack upon using its effect."

"Precisely," Madas confirmed. "Neo Galaxy-Eyes, direct attack! Ultimate Photon Stream!"

"Counter Trap, Negate Attack!" Kisara quickly defended.

"Counter Trap, Solemn Judgement!" Madas countered. Neo Galaxy-Eyes arose, bellowing its rage and pride before it unleashed its wrath.

Kisara: LP 8000 → LP 1400

Madas: LP 3000 → LP 1500

"That..." Kisara panted, struggling. I felt it, the impact. The cascade of sonic concussions upon us, the presence of the dragon called by the contracted, the bond of Duel Spirits, contractee and contracted.

"Main phase two, Miracle Galaxy!" Madas called, slapping the card down. "If during this battle phase I took no battle damage, I can conduct my battle phase a second time! _Numéro deux_, Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon! Shine, radiant one. Lead the way to our life! Ultimate Photon Stream!"

This time, as Neo Galaxy-Eyes shot its second blast, Kisara sighed, as if already in preparation for defeat.

Kisara: LP 1400 → LP 0

Madas: LP 1500

Madas sank to his knees, shivering. "Goddamn it... I can't move..."

"What do we do?" Vanessa was grumbling, walking towards Kisara, crouched low as to avoid the slipstream.

"We must complete the mission," Kisara confirmed.

By their side, Leo skidded, having freed himself from the cuffs and Archie. The African-American man had a blooming bruise on one cheek; obviously a product of Leo. "I vote we kill Galaxy-Eyes and the sweet-princess. They're the highest threat."

"Our target is the spirit caller," Kisara reproached. "The others are not our purview."

"Galaxy-Eyes resisted us, and sweet-princess has the potential to make a contract with the Madolche," Leo panted. "I'm pretty sure the Chief wouldn't mind if we take out the competition."

"Ryuusei holds no purview here," Kisara argued, but her eyes flared white. "But you are correct."

Thunder crashed, lightning flickered overhead, and my heart was in my throat as the winds picked up with tornadic proportions.

"Vanessa, take the spirit-caller," Kisara ordered. "Leo, you will assist me in taking down Madas Elvin and Uzuki Himemiya."

Leo smirked, already rushing at the surprised Uzuki.

I dodged a knife, and was already scrabbling to the parts of the plane that stuck out enough to cling onto. "Vanessa, you don't want to do this."

"My opinion doesn't matter," Vanessa defended. "I am an agent of Summer, of the Ivory Throne and the Land and Light. I regret having to kill you, but the balance is more than us. More than this."

"I'm just trying to find the people who killed Aunt Ruka and Uncle Rua!" I spat. "What's wrong with that?!"

"Nothing is wrong," Vanessa placidly replied. "Do you not think that we of Summer also believe you in the right?"

"Then why the heck is Ryuusei sending assassins after me?!"

"Because you are working for Winter."

"I'm not!" I screamed. "I've never worked for Winter, I've never accepted a job from Winter, heck, I'm pretty sure Winter hates me!"

"Can you truly argue it?" Vanessa asked. "You were the one who drove King Summer from his home, back to the otherworld. You were the one who challenged Kaiba at the Duelist Kingdom, assisting the agenda of Winter. You were the one who foiled the play by the Evilswarm Bahamut and Ophion, who in turn died, and the sole remaining leader switched his allegiance to the Silver Throne. Your actions, though you think are neutral, has the effect of distributing power to Winter while taking from Summer. No matter your actual feelings on the politics the Courts share, your existence is undeniably useful to the Queen of Winter, that you may as well be her Emissary in this matter. Shion Angel is... was, under the rule of Summer. No matter his actual feeling, he is part of the Court. For you to judge him would be to disrespect the sovereignty of Summer, to upset the balance of the Courts, and create a renascence of struggles unprecedented. So, despite your claims of Winter's enmity towards you, you are undeniably useful to the Winter Queen, and hence you remain alive. It is also this same usefulness that means, either you must turn back... or I must regret to kill you."

I stared at Vanessa, placidly informing me of my place and the disruption I must have caused between Duel Spirits, Vanessa who loved West and couldn't bear for his pain, but who must kill me anyway. "I can't turn back."

"You have only one other choice." the knife blade she held glowed softly green. "I shall make this painless."

"I have to find Shion Angel and drag him to justice," I argued.

"You think you have to, but you don't," Vanessa argued. "You could always turn away."

"Like you did?" I asked.

Vanessa stopped.

"Like you made a deal to kill your abusive uncle and aunt," I continued. "Like you stole the Chaos Emperor Dragon to frame Yukio and Yuko's father. Like your brother murdered Hayato Ichimonji to silence him."

I heard heels clicking behind me, and vines sprouted to grab at my limbs.

"Does it matter?" Marguerite's voice was amused, behind me. "Well, Marshal?"

"I will not murder someone who cannot fight back," Vanessa gritted her teeth. "This is not your business, Marguerite."

"_Au contrarie_." Marguerite dismissed. "With about thirty centimetres and ten kilograms, he would have an advantage."

"Ten kilograms?" I yelped, as Vanessa shot a poisonous glare at her. "Wait, you mean you're-"

"Shut up," Vanessa snapped. "You talk about my weight and I will slice your tongue out."

My teeth clicked shut.

"Why are humans so sensitive about this, I will never know," Marguerite remarked.

"Why are Duel Spirits so sensitive about their family, I wouldn't know." I countered. "Well?"

"Oh, you do have a smart mouth," Marguerite clapped her hands and beamed. "I remember Vergil... or was it someone else? Anyway, they had a smart mouth too. But they died, you see. They weren't useful. And the boy was ever so dull, especially during the hunt. Good dogs don't try to bite their masters, and Hayato did."

"I don't know what's worse," I remarked, trying not to show how I wanted to flinch away. "That you forgot about the guys who made a deal for power with you, or that you don't think of Ichimonji as human."

"He made a deal, he lost," Marguerite reasoned, pacing to in front of me. Her staff clacked onto the metal shell of the Dracossack. "That's all there is. Are you _terrified_, spirit-caller? Hmm?"

"You're going to kill me," I drawled, trying not to show my fear.

"I?" Marguerite stared in wonder. "No, I won't. Little Nessie is going to kill you. Nessie, dear, go on, then."

Vanessa stared at her with undisguised hate.

"Now, Vanessa," Marguerite's voice turned an edge. "You don't want to disappoint His Majesty, do you?"

"Ryuusei doesn't mind that much," Vanessa shrugged.

"Do not mistake kindness for weakness," Marguerite snapped. "He is kind because you obey, and he is the one you owe your life to."

"He is kind because he wanted to, not because of politics or power or obeying him," Vanessa countered. "Fuck off, Marguerite."

"Can't," Marguerite smugly answered. "I am to observe you."

"You make a lousy observer, then."

"Peanut gallery," I sang, getting a smile from Vanessa.

The vines tightened in warning. "Hmm, you're quite valuable," Marguerite pondered. "Tell me, do you think the Atlas first-born would trade something for your return? The Goblin King was truly, deeply unhappy that Reina Atlas was taken away."

I stilled. "Reina?"

Marguerite smirked. "How did you think the Goblin King knew of the former Dark Signer? How did you think he knew whom to target?"

"The Labyrinth under Old Domino," I growled. "That was you."

"The Goblin King has nothing to do with me," she replied. "It was a suggestion. One that he was eager to take."

"You bitch." I snarled. "You're a psycho queen-bee twit. If you're putting some mind-control lock on Ryuusei, I will fucking end you."

"It's impossible for her to control Ryuusei," Vanessa pointed out, glancing up at the overcast skies. "Marguerite?"

"What?"

"Behind you."

The sword pierced through Marguerite.

Somehow, as Marguerite turned her head, I thought she had been prepared, her eyes closed as she faced her masked sister/

Margot's shining armour spattered with white as Marguerite stared down at her pierced midriff. "Margot... you... bint."

"We were once two sides of the same coin," Margot whispered as she drew her sword out of Marguerite's insides.

"We... we were betrayed," Marguerite hissed, her staff clattering to the ground. "Love of the Motherland... and hate for the Motherland who forgot us."

"It wasn't a choice," Margot whispered. "You are as much part of myself as I am part of you. Sister, sleep. Dream the dreams that do not hurt, and when you return, maybe your hate shall have abated."

"My hate, for men, for the grubs who seek power... never shall," Marguerite groaned, but her form shattered anyway.

"What the hell?" I asked. Vanessa seemed to be as surprised as I felt; she certainly looked nervous. "She... she's your sister."

"We are two sides of the same coin," Margot answered without preamble. "The warrior and the witch. We had listened to the voices of spirits, and answered their call to save our land. We have borne the standard, we have lifted the sieges, and yet we were forgotten, cast away upon falling into enemy hands. Trial, false words, and death by fire followed. Love... and hate, both, cast us apart. And at the time, I had not dared to think... by the time I listened to the words of Queen Maeve and amassed enough power to follow, it was too late. Gilles had fallen. Prelati was bewitched. And that was the first time I killed the other half of myself."

Her cloak fluttered, and she used it to wipe the long blade. "I detest it. Yet, Marguerite is not dead."

"What do you mean, Margot?" I asked.

"Samhaine approaches," Margot nodded, as if to herself. "Marguerite will not die, not from such a paltry stroke. Marguerite and I shall cross paths again."

She snapped her fingers, and the horse galloped up beside the moving Dracossack. "Fare thee well, spirit-caller, mortal Duelists. My sister's enmity is long, but I bear hope for her yet."

"I don't understand," I shook my head. "If you've killed her several times over, then how is she still alive?"

Margot considered me, and I had the feeling I was being judged. "You cannot truly kill half of yourself, no matter how you try. I apologise for every bit of pain Marguerite has ever caused you. Our paths shall cross again."

Margot left, at the same time the dark horse touched down.

Angelo blinked down at me from his position on the horse. "Did I miss something?"

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